Category Archives: Family diversity

Defining the Family

Posted on August 8, 2016 by

Functionalist Sociologist George Peter Murdock used the following definition of the family as a starting point in his classic cross national study of families in more than 250 societies. ‘A social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. … Continue reading →

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Families and Households in the UK – Social Trends

Posted on April 18, 2016 by

This post summaries some of the changing trends (and continuities) in family and household structure in the UK, using data from the Office for National Statistics which collects a range of data annually on families and households in the UK The … Continue reading →

Posted in Family diversity, Marriage, Divorce and Cohabitation, Resarch Methods, Statistics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Sociological Perspectives on Single Person Households

Posted on January 21, 2016 by

Why are increasing numbers of people all over the world living alone? (Scroll down for a video summary) According to a recent book by Eric Klinenberg: Explaining the Rise of Solo Living, this is a global phenomenon and mainly reflects … Continue reading →

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The Sociology of Personal Life

Posted on December 12, 2015 by

   The personal life perspective on the family is essentially an Interactionist perspective and makes two basic criticisms of structural perspectives such as Functionalism, Marxism and Feminism’. Carol Smart is the main thinker associated with this perspective. ‘They tend to … Continue reading →

Posted in Families and Households, Family diversity, Social Action Theory (Interpretivism and Interactionism) | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Why Do so Many Twenty Somethings Live with Their Parents?

Posted on May 25, 2015 by

For the video version of what’s below please click here This post is designed to help you revise the ‘increasing family diversity‘ of the AS Sociology families and households module 1. Not quite adults – Vital Statistics   According to the Office … Continue reading →

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Three ways in which family life varies by social class

Posted on April 29, 2015 by

Item 1 – Middle class couples are more likely to get married than working class couples The proportion of people in the highest social class who are married has increased to more than two-thirds in the past ten years. This … Continue reading →

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Examining how family life varies by ethnicity in the UK

Posted on April 26, 2015 by

I’ll repopulate what’s below with links when I get a chance! Data from the latest (2011) census shows that 86% of the UK population are classified as ‘white’, 7.5% as ‘Asian’ or ‘Asian-British’, 3.3% as’ Black’, 2.2% as ‘Mixed’ and … Continue reading →

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Evaluating the view that the nuclear family is in decline (part 3/3)

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

Some commentators argue that the extent of ever increasing family diversity has been exaggerated Robert Chester – The Neo-Conventional Family Robert Chester (1985) recognises that there has been some increased family diversity in recent years. However, unlike the new right, … Continue reading →

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Explaining the increase in family and household diversity (part 2/3)

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

4. Feminism: Changing Gender Roles Liberal Feminists and Late Modernists would point to the increasing number of women going into work as one of the most important underlying structural shifts in Late Modern Society. Rather than needing to depend on … Continue reading →

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Explaining the increase in family diversity (part 1/3 )

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

This is part 1 of 3 posts outlining the underlying factors which explain the increase in household diversity 1. Changing patterns of marriage, divorce and cohabitation The increase long term decline or marriage and increase in cohabitation and divorce can … Continue reading →

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