Families | AQA GCSE Sociology (8192)
Families
- 98 questions
- 6 subtopics
- Paper 1
- Paper 1
Families is examined in Paper 1, The sociology of families and education.
It covers functions of families, family forms and diversity, conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour, changing relationships within families, criticisms of families and divorce in Britain since 1945.
Sample questions from Families
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Functions of families
What is the educational function of families?
Show the answer
The educational function is teaching children basic skills and knowledge before and alongside school. Parents teach language, manners and a sense of right and wrong. -
Functions of families
How did Parsons divide the instrumental and expressive roles between husbands and wives?
Show the answer
Parsons gave the instrumental role to husbands and the expressive role to wives. Parsons saw these complementary roles as partly rooted in biology, since women bear and nurse children. -
Family forms and diversity
What is cohabitation?
Show the answer
Cohabitation is a couple living together in a sexual relationship without being married or in a civil partnership. ONS figures show cohabiting couples are the fastest-growing family type in the UK. -
Family forms and diversity
Who were the Rapoports, and what did they argue about British families?
Show the answer
Robert and Rhona Rapoport were researchers who studied families in Britain and America. The Rapoports argued in 1982 that British families were diverse and that no one type was typical. -
Conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour
How do functionalists, feminists and Marxists differ in their views of conjugal roles?
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Functionalists see roles as complementary and becoming more equal over time. Feminists see conjugal roles as unequal because families are patriarchal. Marxists argue that wives' unpaid domestic work keeps workers fit for capitalism at no cost to employers. -
Conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour
What did Stephen Edgell find about decision making between couples?
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Stephen Edgell studied middle-class couples and published his findings in 1980. Husbands made the important decisions, such as moving house, while wives made everyday decisions about food and children. -
Changing relationships within families
Why did Willmott and Young think the symmetrical family had developed?
Show the answer
Willmott and Young linked it to rising living standards, better housing and more married women in paid work. Smaller families and labour-saving technology also made home life more shared. -
Changing relationships within families
How have relationships between teenagers and adults changed?
Show the answer
Adolescence is the stage between childhood and adulthood, roughly the teenage years. Young people now remain dependent family members for longer, which can cause conflict over independence.
The 6 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Functions of families | Murdock's four functions, Parsons on primary socialisation and the stabilisation of adult personalities, instrumental and expressive roles, and feminist and Marxist challenges including Engels. | 16 |
| Family forms and diversity | Nuclear, extended, reconstituted, lone-parent and same-sex families, cohabitation, monogamy, polygamy and communes, and the Rapoports' five types of family diversity. | 16 |
| Conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour | Segregated and joint conjugal roles, Bott, Oakley on housework and the conventional family, Edgell on decision making, Pahl on money, dual-career families and the double shift. | 16 |
| Changing relationships within families | Pre-industrial families and industrialisation, Willmott and Young's symmetrical family and stratified diffusion, privatised families, the new man, caring for relatives, and arranged marriage. | 18 |
| Criticisms of families | The idealisation of family life, Leach, patriarchy and double standards, the class deal and gender deal, dysfunctional families, Zaretsky, and Delphy and Leonard. | 16 |
| Divorce in Britain since 1945 | The changing divorce rate in England and Wales, the laws of 1949, 1969 and 2020, secularisation, women's changing status, empty shell marriages, serial monogamy and the consequences of divorce. | 16 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA GCSE Sociology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 578 questions with their answers.