Families and Households

Past exam questions

Jan 2012Explain what is meant by the ‘dual burden’ (Item 2A). (2 marks)

Explain the difference between the expressive role and the instrumental role (Item 2A) (4 marks)

Suggest three ways in which the differences between children and adults are becoming less clear in society today. (6 marks)

Examine the reasons for, and the effects of, changes in family size over the past 100 years or so. (24 marks)

Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess sociological views of the impact of government policies and laws on family life. (24 marks)

June 2011Explain what is meant by the ‘social construction’ of childhood (Item 2A). (2 marks)

Suggest two ways, apart from those mentioned in Item 2A, in which government policies and/or laws may shape the experiences of children today. (4 marks)

Identify three reasons why the birth rate has fallen since 1900. (6 marks)

Examine the reasons for changes in the divorce rate since 1969. (24 marks)

Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the contribution of feminist sociologists to an understanding of family roles and relationships. (24 marks)

Jan 2011Explain what is meant by ‘net migration’ (Item 2A). (2 marks)

Suggest two reasons why people may migrate to the United Kingdom, apart from that referred to in Item 2A. (4 marks)

Identify three ways in which greater ethnic diversity has contributed to family diversity (Item 2A). (6 marks)

Examine the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage and cohabitation in the last 40 years or so. (24 marks)

Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that the modern family has become more child-centred. (24 marks)

June 2010Explain what is meant by ‘serial monogamy’ (Item 2A). (2 marks)

Suggest two reasons why there has been an increase in cohabitation (Item 2A). (4 marks)

Identify three ways in which childhood may not be a positive experience for some children. (6 marks)

Examine the reasons for, and the consequences of, the fall in the death rate since 1900. (24 marks)

Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that, in today’s society, the family is losing its functions. (24 marks)

Jan 2010Explain the difference between the ‘birth rate’ and the ‘fertility rate’ (Item 2A). (4 marks)

Suggest two reasons why women might delay having children (Item 2A). (4 marks)

Suggest two ways in which the position of children could be said to have improved over the last one hundred years. (4 marks)

Examine the ways in which government policies and laws may affect the nature and extent of family diversity. (24 marks)

Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the Marxist view that the main role of the family is to serve the interests of capitalism. (24 marks)

June 2009Explain the difference between a family and a household (Item 2A). (4 marks)

Suggest two reasons why lone-parent families are more likely to be headed by a female. (4 marks)

Suggest two reasons why there has been an increase in one-person households (Item 2A, line 3). (4 marks)

Examine the reasons for changes in birth rates and family size since 1900. (24 marks)

Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that gender roles and relationships have become more equal in modern family life. (24 marks)

Jan 2009

Explain what is meant by the ‘expressive role’ (Item 2A, line 5). (2 marks)

Suggest two ways in which ‘family life may have a harmful effect on women’ (Item 2A, lines 6 – 7). (4 marks)

Suggest three reasons for the decrease in the death rate since 1900. (6 marks)

Examine the ways in which childhood can be said to be socially constructed. (24 marks)

Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that the nuclear family is no longer the norm. (24 marks)

Before 2009• Assess sociological contributions to an understanding of the changing relations between

parents and children

• Suggest two other forms of household which exist in modern Britain, apart from those identified in Item A.

• To what extent do sociologists agree that the nuclear family is ‘the basic family unit’ in modern Britain?

• In what ways have sociologists suggested that the changes described in Item C have affected the position of women within the family?

• Evaluate the suggestion that industrialisation led to the Birth of the modern nuclear family.

• How have government policies concerning the family responded to the changes identified in the passages?

• To what extent do changes in the family mean that the family is a dying institution?

• Assess the argument that ‘despite all the so-called advances in recent years..women take the major burden of housework whether they are employed or not’.

• Assess the argument that power relationships in the family have fundamentally changed.

• Explain what is meant by patriarchal ideology.

• Assess the contribution of feminist perspectives to an understanding of the family.

• How far do you agree with the idea that the ‘traditional family’ model remains central to all family ideology?

• To what extent does sociological evidence support the idea that there is a ‘contemporary diversity’ in the structure of the family?

• Assess the contribution of feminist perspectives to an understanding of contemporary family life.

• Evaluate the contribution of Functionalists to our understanding of the family.

• Assess the contribution made by Marxists and Marxist-Feminists to our understanding of the family.

• Evaluate the claim that there is a ‘fit’ between the isolated nuclear family and modern industrial society.

• Is the family dying out?