How I would’ve answered the families and households section of A level sociology paper 2 (AQA, 2017)

Last Updated on January 11, 2019 by

Hints and tips on how I would’ve answered the A level sociology exam paper 2, 2017 (families and households section)

2017 Paper two exam questions and answers

Question 04: Outline and explain two ways in which changing gender roles within the family may have affected children’s experience of childhood…

For starters, identify two changes to gender roles – three obvious ones to target include:

  • the fact that both men and women now work
  • The fact that child care and parenting roles have changed
  • the fact that there is greater equality in the domestic division of labour

Then you simply need to link these to aspects of the experience of childhood:

  • Toxic childhood
  • disappearance of childhood
  • basic socialisation
  • age of parents
  • family size (number of siblings)
  • marriage and divorce

You could also criticise the extent to which things have actually changed!

Question 05: Analyse two ways in which migration patterns may have affected family structures…

I covered this in this recent blog post here

Question 06: Applying material from item D, and your own knowledge, evaluate functionalist explanations of the role of the family in society (20)

This really does just appear to be a standard ‘evaluate functionalism’ essay – all you need to do is a basic intro to functionalism, then your four standard points – Murdoch, Parson’s functional fit theory, stabilisation of adult personalities and gender roles, then conclude.

The item (which I won’t reproduce here) is pretty standard – it just wants you to emphasise increasing family diversity and the fact that families may well be dysfunctional, so evaluating from mainly radical feminism, and Postmodernism and the personal life perspective…!

Not a bad half of a paper TBH.

A Level Sociology Families and Households Revision Bundle

Families Revision Bundle CoverIf you like this sort of thing, then you might like my A Level  Sociology Families and Households Revision Bundle which contains the following:

  1. 50 pages of revision notes covering all of the sub-topics within families and households
  2. mind maps in pdf and png format – 9 in total, covering perspectives on the family
  3. short answer exam practice questions and exemplar answers – 3 examples of the 10 mark, ‘outline and explain’ question.
  4.  9 essays/ essay plans spanning all the topics within the families and households topic.

 

 

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