O–Level

Sociology O Level Notes

Article # 491

Features:
 Sufficient for excelling at both Paper 1 and Paper 2.
 Complete course outline, paper pattern with concerned percentages
 Concise yet comprehensive enough to be used as a quick revision guide.
 Important topics discussed in greater detail to cater syllabus requirements.
 Past paper questions after every chapter.

Author:

Shahraiz Chishti
Learning Alliance, Lahore Alma

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Title Sociology O-Level Notes

Author Shahraiz Chishti
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Preface
The book has been written for students appearing in O-levels and IGCSE Sociology. The text is supposed
to be read in conjunction with the course book. As a stand-alone book it will help students understand the
course and can be used as an excellent revision guide due to its brief nature.
The book includes questions from Past Papers, which will further augment the student’s ability to score
high in the examination. A detailed syllabus outline has also been added to ensure that students
understand what is expected of them.

About the Author

The Author Mr. Shahraiz Javed Chishti completed his MBA/BBA in Marketing and media with minor in
social sciences from LSE and did his O levels from Aitchison College Lahore.
The author has been a renowned teacher of O/A Levels Business, Commerce and Social Sciences. He
has not only been a teacher but a debates coach as well. He has coached parliamentary debates and
Model United Nations to multiple schools and was also the Co-Coach for the Pakistan team that went to
the World Schools debating championship held at Stuttgart Germany. In his university he himself was an
excellent public speaker who represented Pakistan in multiple competitions held in Germany, Malaysia,
India, Macau, Thailand and Philippines.
Contact information: 0321-5555731

Acknowledgment
Knowledge is not created it is discovered. In this journey of discovery many individuals guide and help
you. Therefore I would like to thank my family and friends who have provided constant support.
My teachers and colleagues have greatly augmented my skills as a person and a writer and I would like
to show my gratitude by thanking them.
The Author Mr. Shahraiz Javed Chishti completed his MBA/BBA in Marketing and media with minor in
social sciences from LSE and did his O levels from Aitchison College Lahore.
Syllabus and Paper Pattern

Paper 1 – Total 90 marks and 60%. Time: 2 hours

Unit 1 Theory and methods Q1 Compulsory question - 45 marks

Unit 2 Culture identity and Q2 Choice based question (Attempt either Q2 from Unit
socialization 2 or Q3 from Unit 3 – worth 35 marks)
Unit 3 Social Inequality Q3 Choice based question (Attempt either Q2 from unit
2 or Q3 from unit 3 worth 35 marks)

Paper 2 – Total 70 marks and 40%. Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Attempt 2 out of 4 questions. One question from each unit.
Unit 4 Family Q1 (Attempt two questions from the given four, each
worth 35 marks)

Unit 5 Education Q2 (Attempt two questions from the given four, each
worth 35 marks)

Unit 6 Crime, Deviance and social Q3 (Attempt two questions from the given four, each
control worth 35 marks)
Unit 7 Media Q4 (Attempt two questions from the given four, each
worth 35 marks)
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O Level Sociology Notes 1 Contents

Contents
Unit-1: Theory and Methods ..................................................................................................... 4
How do sociologists interpret society?.................................................................................... 4
How do sociologists study society? ........................................................................................ 5
Practice Questions related to Theory and Methods ............................................................. 16
Specimen Paper 2016 Paper 1..........................................................................................16
May/June 2015-P12, Q2....................................................................................................17
May/June 2016-P12, Q1....................................................................................................18
Unit-2: Culture, Identity and Socialization ............................................................................. 20
Relationship between individual and the society....................................................................20
Diversity and variation in human behaviour ...........................................................................23
Practice Questions related to Culture, Identity and Socialization ....................................... 30
May/June 2015-P12, Q2....................................................................................................30
May/June 2016-P12, Q3....................................................................................................30
Unit-3: Social Stratification .................................................................................................... 32
What is social stratification? ..................................................................................................32
What are the main features of social inequality and how are these created?.........................34
Practice Questions related to Social Stratification ............................................................... 48
May/June 2015-P12, Q2....................................................................................................48
May/June 2016-P12, Q3....................................................................................................48
Unit-4: Family .......................................................................................................................... 52
What are the different types of family ....................................................................................52
How are family roles changing ..............................................................................................58
What are the changes affecting the family .............................................................................62
Practice Questions related to Family..................................................................................... 65
May/June 2015-P12, Q1....................................................................................................65
Specimen Paper 2016-P2 .................................................................................................65
May/June 2016-P22, Q3....................................................................................................65
Unit-5: Education .................................................................................................................... 68
The Function of Education ....................................................................................................68
Practice Questions related to Education............................................................................... 83
Specimen Paper 2016-P2 .................................................................................................83
May/June 2015, Q2 ...........................................................................................................83

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O Level Sociology Notes 2 Contents

May/June 2016-P22, Q3....................................................................................................83

Unit-6: Crime, Deviance and Social Control .......................................................................... 86
What are crime deviance and social control ..........................................................................86
What are explanations of crime .............................................................................................94
Practice Questions related to Crime, Deviance and Social Control .................................. 101
May/June 2015 ................................................................................................................101
Specimen Paper 2016-P2 ...............................................................................................101
May/June 2016-P22, Q3..................................................................................................101
Unit-7: The Media .................................................................................................................. 104
Who controls the media?.....................................................................................................104
What is the influence of the media?.....................................................................................113
Practice Questions related to the Media ............................................................................. 121
May/June 2015 ................................................................................................................121
Specimen Paper 2016-P2 ...............................................................................................121
May/June 2016-P22, Q3..................................................................................................121
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................123

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Unit-1 3 Theory and Methods

Topics
Unit-1
 How do sociologists interpret
society?
 How do sociologists study
Theory and society?

Methods

O Level

Sociology
TEACHERS NOTES

Shahraiz Javed Chishti

Cell: 0321-5555731
shahraizchishti@gmail.com

| Gulberg | Johar Town | Wapda Town |

| DHA Phase-1 | DHA Phase-4 | Saddar Cantt |

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Unit-1 4 Theory and Methods

Unit-1: Theory and Methods

How do sociologists interpret society?
Intro - What is sociology
 The study of human social life, groups and societies.
 Sociology explores the social factors that shape human behavior and the way that
society influences our daily lives.
Structuralism Interpretivism
 First of the two main approaches  Micro level approach in which
towards sociology. individual is important.
 Macro perspective.  We grow up in society norms but
 Societies are seen as sets of structures always have an opportunity to choose
in which individuals play different roles from different identities. People own
– Individuals have little choice. thoughts are important. The meanings
 Emile Durkheim – suicide: not different individuals give to the society.
in countries but different between  What people say about the crime is
countries. important.
 In societies with support networks –  People make the societies.
religion – strong connections leads to  Socially available labels:
lower suicide rates.  Age, gender, social class,
 Durkheim used positivist’s methods. nationality, roles in families
Examples: Correlations and causation. such as a parent, religious or
political organization.

Conflict vs. consensus approaches

 Consensus – for equality in society or agreed norms. Status or power: values can be
shared on religion for instance. This is a stable form of society.
 Conflict: where values are not shared such as societies with different wealth are
unstable.
Functionalism Marxism Feminism
 Consensus approach.  Conflict approach.  Conflict approach.
 Focus on social functions  Different social classes –  Patriarchy exists and
and ask – what keeps the bourgeoisie (upper class) males are more dominant.
society together? and proletariat (working  Discrimination for women
– Schools help children class). exists in work, education
run economies.  Radical change and equality etc.
– Families social norms are required.  Some say feminism is anti
(next generations can  Politics and economics as men.
learn). well:  Types:
– Prison (to keep criminals – Proletariat will be – Liberal feminist: Argue
off the roads). exploited – on wages – that equality has been
never paid full wages. reached and that only
– Schools ensure people fail equality promoting
and accept low position in laws are required.
society.
– Mass media distracts the

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Unit-1 5 Theory and Methods

society for the main issues – Radical feminists:

such as capitalism. societies
fundamentally
patriarchal - need
conflict and radical
change.
– Marxist feminist: how
class and gender work
together.

How do sociologists study society?

What is sociological research?
 The study of human social life, groups and societies.
 Sociology explores the social factors that shape human behavior and the way that
society influences our daily lives.
 Sociologists must select and use evidence in a balanced way or other sociologists may
criticize the research. They focus on group (rather than individual) behavior and discuss
the social influences on human life.
Research Types
 Primary or Secondary.
 Different methods of research exist.
 Important to follow proper procedures – others will question your research.
 Positivism vs. Interpretivism (main two approaches to study the society).
Positivism Interpretivism
 Produce quantitative data such as in  Positivists may be able to describe a
scientific subjects (chemistry, physics social world but interpretivists want to
etc.): understand why an action is taken.
– Quantitative data: facts and  Example: To understand why crime
numerical values. takes place.
 Scientists are not guided by values but  Major differences between positivism
data. and intrepretivism.
 Bias may exist in values and sampling  Positivism:
methods. – Assumes society has objective
 Experiments are difficult in sociology social facts.
and therefore questionnaires and – Support quantitative data.
surveys are required for quantitative – Use experiments and
data. questionnaires.
– What kind of group behaves in
a particular way?

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Unit-1 6 Theory and Methods

The Research Process

Aims and Hypothesis

Sociologists ask questions about the social world. When they carry out research, they put these
questions in the forms of research aims and hypothesis.
Research aim set out what the researcher is planning to investigate and give a clear focus to
the study. Budget etc. depends on the Aims.
A hypothesis is a hunch or informed guess. It is usually written as a statement that can be
tested and then either supported by the evidence or refuted (proven wrong).
Research Aims or Hypothesis:
1. The media causes violent behaviour. Hypothesis
2. People have a stereotypical view of women because of the way in which they are
represented in the media. Hypothesis
3. To find out and compare the pattern of divorce of white and Asian families in the
UK. Aims
4. To find out if the family is still important today and to understand people’s
experience of different types of family. Aims
5. Prisons do not help to reduce crime. Hypothesis
Pilot Studies
 A pilot study is a small-scale trial run carried out before the main research.
 It can save time, money and effort in the long run because the researcher can check
whether the chosen research method (interview, questionnaire, etc.) is likely to be
useful.

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Unit-1 7 Theory and Methods

Selecting Samples
 What is a sample? – A sample is a selection of the population used for a study.
 Why use a sample? – Because it’s expensive and time consuming to question the whole
population.
 How to select a sample? – A sample is selected from a sampling frame. A sampling
frame is a list of members of the population, for example, a school register, a list of
membership subscriptions or the Royal Mail’s list of postcode addresses.
 If the sampling frame is inaccurate it may make the sample unrepresentative (not typical
of the general population). An unrepresentative sample does not allow for
generalisations. Generalisations are statements and conclusions that apply to the whole
population, not just those who have been sampled.
Probability sampling

Simple Random Sampling

Each member of the population has an equal chance of being included.
A computer selects numbers simply at random.

Systematic Sampling:
Involves taking every ‘nth’ item from the sampling frame, for example
every 4th name from the register. If the population consists of 1000
people and a sample of 100 is needed, the researcher will select a
number between 1 and 10. If this were 5, then the 5th, 15th and 25th
names – and so on up to the 995th name would be selected.

Stratified Random SamplingInvolves dividing the population into

strata (subgroups), such as age and gender. The sample selected
would be proportionate to the population. So if there are 200 boys
aged 15, in a school of 1000 students, 20 boys would be chosen in a
sample of 100.

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Unit-1 8 Theory and Methods

Non-Probability Samples
Snowball Sampling:
This sampling technique requires the researcher to make
contact with one member of the population, gradually
gaining this person’s confidence until they are willing to
identify others in the same population who might
cooperate.

Quota Sampling:
In this sample you are required to include a number (quota)
of people from categories such as female, teenager, Indian,
disabled, in proportion to their number in the wider
population. So if the population is 10% Indian you must
ensure 10% of your sample is as well.

Purposive Sampling:
This sample is selected according to a known characteristic,
such as being a policeman or a MP. .

Opportunistic Sampling:
This sample involves just using anyone who happens to be
available – it is not particularly representative so cannot be
used to generalise.

Data Collection
 Once a researcher has carried out a pilot study, made any necessary changes to it and
selected a sample, he or she is ready to begin the process of gathering data. Data can
be collected by using one or more methods from a range of research methods such as
questionnaires, interviews and observations. When data is collected by doing research
in the above stated way, it is known as primary data.
 Data Collection.
 The research Process.
 Data Analysis.
Data Evaluation
 Before the research can be published it is evaluated by other experienced sociologists.
This form of peer assessment acts as a form of quality control.
Difficulties in research
Ethical issues effecting Research
 Ethical issues are those issues that have a moral dimensions such as harm of distress
may be caused to the participant.
 People involved so researcher and respondent should not be harmed.

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Unit-1 9 Theory and Methods

 Some guidelines:
– Participant should not harmed.
– Informed consent taken.
– Not invade participant’s privacy.
– Participants should not be deceived.
– The research should be confidential anonymous (whenever possible).
 Ethical issues effecting Research.
 Harm – fully aware of the harm – both physical and physiological.
 Informed consent – What is the research? Information needs to be provided about gray
areas.
 Invasion of privacy – Does agreement to an interview mean that all questions need to be
answered?
 Deception – Respondents should not be deceived.
The main methods used in sociological investigation – Primary research
– Questionnaires
– Interviews
– Experiments
– Case studies
– Longitudinal studies
– Participation observation
– Non participation observation
– Content analysis
– Triangulation
Questionnaires
 Types of Questions:
– Closed ended: pre coded with limited answer responses available. Example
being (yes or no options to answer a question).
– Advantage is ease of data analysis, disadvantage is not having a required option
- (please specify to cure this problem).
 Scaled question are also available.
– Open questions: Some times can answer at length. Why people choose. Still can
be coded but are more difficult to code compared to close ended.
 Ways of administering questionnaires:
– Self-completion questionnaires: there is no additional guidance from the
researcher. Postal questionnaires have the advantage of larger numbers, but
researchers can’t monitor. It also has a low response rate.
– Structured interviews: the interviewer reads out the questionnaires. The
questions are standardized. The advantage is higher response rate and correct
question understanding. Disadvantage is of time.
 Telephonic or face to face is a possibility for conducting the
questionnaire.

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Unit-1 10 Theory and Methods

Reliability and validity

 Reliability: research can be repeated with same responses.
 Validity: when findings accurately reflect reality.
 Social surveys are reliable mostly but not valid.
Interviews
 Types:
– Unstructured.
– Semi structured (guide is present).
– Focus groups (how people respond in a group. Group dynamics are important
because some people may be silent or dominating).
The interviewer does not need a schedule of questions and it is more like a conversation. Focus
on the interviewee:
 Guidelines:
– Make interviewee comfortable.
– Certain order should be maintained.
– Language used should be understandable.
– Quite and private setting.
– Quality recording machine (can’t remember everything).
– Some types of questions.
– Introductory questions: can you tell me about?
– Follow up questions: what do you mean by?
– Probing questions: Could you say a bit more
– Indirect questions: Why do people feel?
– Silence: So that more detail can be provided
Strengths: Limitations:
– Detailed and valid data. – Time consuming.
– Flexibility allows for detail. – Not able to make generalizations as
– Interviewers can access the honestly. standard questions not used.
– Bring out info for further study. – Less reliable than structured questions
(how would you replicate?)
– Interviewer needs to be highly skilled.

– Responses effected by interviewer

bias:
 Unintentional way the questions are
asked.
– May be effected by interviewer effect:
Interviewer’s age, gender ethnicity.

Experiments
 Neglected way but the closest to natural science – positivists prefer this method.
 They minimize subjectivity (the researcher’s views influences).
 Cause and effect relations are being established (dependent and independent variable).

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Unit-1 11 Theory and Methods

 They are reliable and valid.

 Two types:
– Laboratory experiments: artificial setting and flawed- may be spoiled by
Hawthorne effect or observer effect.
– Field Experiments:
 Ethical problems exist.
 People get angry about strange situations.
 Researcher can loose control over the experiment.
 But they are a very effective way of getting to know behavior.
Case Studies
 A detailed study of one group or event.
 Can be qualitative and quantitative.
 Example of a case study: Car worker in UK factory paid more and behave like a middle
class person. This study was done via the case study method.
Strengths: Limitations:
– Can explore different aspects of a – Only apply to case so generalizations
case. are a problem.
– Deep and detailed account of a case. – The findings cannot be replicated.
– If a case is carefully chosen then wider – Deep involvement of researcher can
conclusions can be made. influence the findings.
– Can be tested by other researchers as
well.

Longitudinal studies
 A survey taking place at intervals for a long time – Survey and interview.
 Generally used by governments.
 Panel studies: Where nearly the same people are studied.
Strengths: Limitations:
– Survey research only a snapshot – Time and commitment are required
where as this is a long film. from respondents.
– What factors have contributed for a – Being a part of this research changes
change? the participants therefore reality of
– Respondents will provide valid data as responses is still a question mark.
they have been committed. – Inevitable drop out from the research.

Participation and non-participation observation

Participant observation:
 World of the subject – getting in that:
– Getting in: covert or overt. For covert you need to share characteristics of the
people.
– Staying in: gaining trust – note taking can spoil that.

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Unit-1 12 Theory and Methods

– Getting out: damage relationships. Being impartial. Detached is the key to

success for this method.
 Covert and overt:
– In covert the researcher becomes a full member. The group cannot discover the
true identity. It is hard work and requires some illegal activity. Criminal group
study. Note taking is a problem.
– Overt where the researcher tell the group. Can easily take notes but the group
may behave differently.
Strengths: Limitations:
– Validity. – Overt can affect behavior, as
– Deep understanding of the group. the respondents know that they
are being studied.
– Reliability low as can’t be done
again.
– Can’t make generalizations.
– The researcher needs to have
social characteristics of the
group.
– A lot of energy is required for
covert.
– Researcher looses objectivity
as he/she becomes close with
the group.

Non-Participation observation:
 The researcher is just observing or video recording.
 Used for quantitative data – how many times an action is taken.
 Used when groups unwilling to cooperate.
 To make sure the behavior is not effected with the presence of the researcher.
 Not know the meaning people attach to actions – This is a problem.
 People may also accuse the researcher of his or her own assumptions (reliability and
validity is a problem).
Content Analysis
 Study the content of documents and mass media.
 Define a set of categories and classifies the material by seeing how much does it
appear.
 Media does not show disabled people for instance. Count the number of time disabled
people are shown and count the number of times normal people are show. Bias in media
can be figured out by using this method.
Strengths: Limitations:
– Statistical form where mass – Statistics are interesting but
media can be studied and does not tell us why they are that way.
recommendations can be made – What categories to use?
such as asking the media to – How to allocate material to

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Unit-1 13 Theory and Methods

show more deaf people. different categories.

– Reliable.
– No respondents’ ethical
problems are limited in nature.

Triangulation
 Triangulation.
 When a variety of methods are used.
Strengths: Limitations:
– Quantitative data with qualitative (more – Time consuming.
reliability and validity). – Researcher needs to be skilled in both
– Check validity of the research. areas.
– Reliability checking various sources. – Positivists and interpretivist approach
– Balance between methods. differs and difficult to combine together.

The importance of evaluating research

 Three issues:
– Practical: time and money plus response rates and how to transcribe long
interviews is also an important aspect.
– Ethical: anonymity, informed consent, confidentiality, harms and risk are all very
important ethical concerns.
– Theoretical: Positivists and interpretivists, Validity, reliability representativeness
and research bias:
 Validity: Accurately reflect reality, participation observation and
unstructured valid. Reliability not strong in these methods. Validity is more
important for interpretivists and less so for positivists.
 Reliability: extent to which results can be confirmed with repetition.
Surveys are more reliable. This is less valid as respondents are not
truthful while responding to surveys.
 Representativeness: Sample a smaller version of the population. It has
to be of the same gender age etc. Does it apply to the population?
Sample error; which is the difference between the population results and
sample results, can occur. Sample error can be reduced by having large
random sample or stratified random sample.
 Research Bias: Researchers own views such as political; can affect the
research. Positivists say that this should not happen but interpretivists say
it is acceptable. Research views are an imposition problem. This can
happen through social characteristics of the researcher.
Data types
 Primary.
 Secondary (once was primary).

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Unit-1 14 Theory and Methods

 Qualitative (by interpretivists).

 Quantitative (by positivists).
Secondary data types
Quantitative secondary data (official stats):
 National and local governments.
 Hard statistics - Free from any error or incompleteness (birth, marriages and death
rates).
 Soft statistics - depends on people making decisions on what to record (crime and
unemployment statistics).
Strengths: Limitations:
– Readily available and free of charge. – Interpretivists argue that these are
– Produced by research that is well socially constructed rather than
planned – more valid, reliable and objective facts. Increase in motoring
representative. offences or just that police reports
– Part of longitudinal research thus more now?
shows trends. – Stats are not accurate – UK census
– They allow comparisons to be made missing 1 million people.
over time and between regions. – Politics can affect these.
– For policy makers and sociologists. – Comparisons cannot be made – an
increase in crime rate could just mean
that more activities are illegal now than
in the past.
– Marxists argue that stats reflect the
ruling class. Stats drawing away from
white-collar crimes.

Quantitative Data (non-official stats):

 By religious groups, charities etc.
 UK Sutton trust carries out research that is quantitative in nature.
 Diagrams, Charts, graphs and tables.
Qualitative (historical data):
 Letters and diaries.
 Intention of being published vs. not published (One of the most important questions is
whether it is ethical to publish these if the person is not alive or if the family does not
consent).
 Politicians favorable view of themselves (in their books and diaries).
 Autobiographies – many years after the event has taken place. Favorable viewpoint of
the person involved.
 Some documents not public.
 Household accounts, wills, photographs may not be public data.
 Strengths:
– High in validity.

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Unit-1 15 Theory and Methods

– First hand accounts of people involved.

– Descriptive details and insight missing in statistics.
 Limitations:
– Unrepresented.
– Check against other sources.
– Biased.
 Media content.
 Newspaper, TV programs, radio shows etc.
 Documentaries.
 There may be bias in programs.
 Movies may be a representation of life at that time.
 But writer’s imagination also comes into play in movies and books so they may not
depict reality.
 Interpreting and evaluating secondary qualitative data is essential.
– Who wrote the text (poor people didn’t write so old text is generally coming from
upper class)?
– Why was the source written – should it be read by others or is it private?
– Is it biased?
– Is it typical for that type of social actor?
– Is it clear how the author meant for the document to be looked at?

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Unit-1 16 Theory and Methods

Practice Questions related to Theory and Methods

Chapter 1

Specimen Paper 2016 Paper 1

1 Source A: Questionnaire Survey measuring wellbeing in the UK.

Great Britain, adults aged 16 and over

Monitoring questions
Socio-economic groups How satisfied How happy How anxious
are you with were you were you
your life? yesterday yesterday?
Married/Civil
7.7 7.6 3.4
partnership
Cohabiting 7.5 7.3 3.3
Marital
Single 7.1 7.1 3.6
Status
Widowed 7.4 7.3 3.2
Divorced, separated
6.5 6.9 3.7
or former civil partner
one-person
Household 6.9 7.0 3.5
household
Size
2 or more people 7.5 7.5 3.4
In employment 7.6 7.5 3.3
Economic
Unemployed 6.3 6.8 4.0
Activity
Economically inactive 7.4 7.4 3.5
Respondents graded their answers on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 equals not at all and 10
equals completely.
Adapted from: April, June, July and August 2011 Opinion Surveys (ONS)
(a) From the evidence in Source A, identify the two groups who are most satisfied with their
lives. [2]
(b) Identify two ways of selecting a sample for a questionnaire survey. [2]
(c) Using information from Source A, describe two reasons why it might be difficult to
measure happiness using questionnaires. [4]
(d) Describe two strengths of using questionnaires for sociological research. [4]
(e) Describe two strengths and two limitations of using official statistics in sociological
research. [8]
(f) Explain why positivists prefer using large-scale surveys. [10]
(e) Describe two strengths of using questionnaires for sociological research. [8]
(g) To what extent do quantitative research methods lack validity? [15]

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Unit-1 17 Theory and Methods

May/June 2015-P12, Q2

Population by age groups and sex (percentage of total population)

Source A
Data found at:
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/population-pyramids/population-pyramids-percentage.htm

(a) From the evidence in Source A, identify two trends in population growth since 1950. [2]

(b) Identify two methods that could be used to collect population data. [2]

(c) Using information from Source A, describe two reasons why quantitative data can be
used to make generalisations. [4]

(d) Describe two strengths of using field experiments in sociological research. [4]

(e) Describe two strengths and two limitations of using primary data in sociological
research.
[8]

(f) Explain why quantitative research methods are thought to be more reliable than
qualitative research methods. [10]

(g) To what extent should sociological research be scientific? [15]

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Unit-1 18 Theory and Methods

May/June 2016-P12, Q1

Source A
Rosenthal and Jacobson ‘Pygmalion in the Classroom’ (1968)
Rosenthal and Jacobson designed an experiment to test the hypothesis that teachers’
expectations of their pupils’ ability creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.
They selected a random sample of 20% of primary school pupils in California. The researchers
then gave these pupils an IQ test. Their teachers were given false test results, where pupils with
high scores were selected at random. These were not necessarily the pupils with the highest IQ
scores.
The pupils were then given a second IQ test eight months later. Those pupils with a high score
in the false test had made the greatest gains in IQ.
The results of the experiment appeared to support Rosenthal and Jacobson’s hypothesis that
the way teachers interact with pupils with higher IQ scores encouraged those pupils to do better
in school.
(a) Identify two reasons why researchers might use a random sample. [2]
(b) Identify two methods that might be used to research classroom behaviour. [2]
(c) Using information from Source A, describe two ways in which field experiments might be
unethical. [4]
(d) Describe two reasons for using a hypothesis in sociological research. [4]
(e) Describe two strengths and two limitations of using the structuralist approach in
sociological research. [8]
(f) Explain why research using one method may not be accurate. [10]
(g) To what extent does bias impact on the validity of field experiments? [15]

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