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The question above came up in the June 2023 topics in A Level Sociology paper, culture and identity section, as a 10 mark question. Below is the Mark scheme for a top band answer only and some thoughts on how you might go about answering this question. Mark Scheme: 8–10 marks Answers in this band will show very good knowledge and understanding of two ways thatconsumption may be related to…

This is a question which appeared on the June 2024 AQA A Level Sociology topics on sociology (paper 2), the media section. I include below an answer which should get 10/10. The trick here is to make sure you read the Item and pick up on the two main points: One = accepting mainstream culture Two = rejection or rebelling against mainstream culture. You then need to use theories and examples…

Managerialism is the belief that all forms of work and human activity can be improved through the same techniques of management: targets, metrics, efficiency, and performance indicators. Skills, judgement, and meaning are treated as secondary to data, growth, and outcomes that can be measured. This way of thinking has its roots in neoliberalism and has spread far beyond business. Today,…

How Digital Convenience Is Reshaping Expectations of the State We now live in a social world where Deliveroo can deliver dinner in twelve minutes, Amazon can get a phone cable to your door by the next morning, and TikTok generates a relentless stream of novelty every few seconds. The scale of convenience that even a middle-income earner can now purchase is historically unprecedented. After…

Sexual violence against women in public spaces has become one of the most politically charged and socially revealing issues in contemporary Britain. While governments often respond with promises of tougher policing and harsher sentencing, recent evidence suggests that the core problem lies not in a lack of laws, but in systemic failures within policing itself. A major inquiry published in 2024…

Over the last half-century, sociology has been forced to confront a rapidly changing social world shaped by digital technologies, globalisation, and information flows. Few sociologists have been more influential in making sense of these changes than Manuel Castells. Castells argues that we have entered a new historical phase — the Information Age — in which networks of information, capital, and…

The decline of youth clubs in the UK is one of the austerity era’s quietest but most damaging failures. While politicians talk endlessly about “supporting young people”, the very infrastructures that once gave youth structure, belonging and adult guidance have been systematically dismantled. The UK’s political class loves to talk about “supporting young people” while simultaneously torching the…

For the past two decades, social media has dominated our lives — shaping how we communicate, shop, learn, and even think. But as John Burn-Murdoch notes in his recent Financial Times column, the tide may finally be turning. The endless scroll that once hooked billions is starting to lose its hold, particularly on the younger users who once defined it. From a sociological point of view, this…

Angela Rayner’s story has always had a tabloid-ready air about it — the council house upbringing, the quick intelligence, the unyielding northern grit. She was, if briefly, Labour’s shining best hope for authenticity — a deputy leader who could spout policy in one sentence and plain common sense in the next. But her latest resignation has left people wondering whether the system was ever out to…

A recent article in The Week (5th September 2025) “AI Chatbots: Are They Dangerous Friends?”, explores the growing phenomenon of people forming emotional attachments to artificial intelligence companions such as ChatGPT and Elon Musk’s Grok. Originally launched as advanced tools for writing, learning, and creativity, chatbots have rapidly evolved into something far more intimate — virtual…

In sociology, the motherhood penalty is well documented: women’s earnings often decline after having children, while men’s earnings remain relatively stable or even rise. However, new research by academics at Warwick, Essex, and Exeter universities suggests that not every child is equally “costly” for mothers. Their large study of 40,000 UK households found that mothers seem to pay more when they…

From the end of World War II to the early 1970s the USA experienced rapid economic growth, which resulted in increasing prosperity and upward social mobility for the vast majority of its citizens. The social and political landscape of the country changed too, with the Civil Rights movement, organized opposition to the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and feminism becoming prominent. In 1973,…

In your study of Is Sociology a Science?, one of the key debates is whether scientific knowledge can truly be seen as reliable and objective. Traditionally, science has been respected for its rigorous methods—observation, measurement, replication, and peer review—which are designed to minimise bias. However, recent evidence shows that science itself is facing a credibility crisis. Fraudulent and…

GB News, launched in June 2021, is a UK-based free-to-air television and radio news channel offering a blend of opinion-led content and traditional news. Summary GB News has grown significantly in viewership, even overtaking more established news channels in certain slots. It is broadcast widely across multiple platforms. Owned by Sir Paul Marshall and Legatum, it features high-profile…

Intro Terms such as modernity, postmodernity, modernism, postmodernism, late modernity and late modernism are central to sociology, but they are often used in confusing ways. This post provides clear definitions of each, highlights the key differences, and explains why these distinctions matter. It is designed as a reference guide — with links to in-depth posts on each theory and…

Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998) was a German sociologist best known for developing systems theory, a highly influential way of analysing modern society. Luhmann argued that society is not made up of individuals, but of communications. According to his theory, modern life is divided into distinct social systems – such as the economy, law, education, politics, and religion – each of which functions…