b) ii) One piece of sociological research is the General Household survey. The General Household Survey is a continuous survey carried out by the Social Survey Division of the Office for National Statistics which collects information on people living in private households in Great Britain. The survey started in 1971 and has been carried out continuously since then.
The main aim of the survey is to collect data on a range of topics, comprising of: household and family information; housing tenure and household accommodation; consumer durables including vehicle ownership; employment; education; health and use of health services; smoking and drinking; family information including marriage, cohabitation and fertility; income and demographic information about household members including migration.
The information is used by government departments and other organisations for planning, policy and monitoring purposes, and to present a picture of households, families and people in Great Britain. Details of results and trends are available online for public viewing.
The survey takes the form of an interview. A sample of approximately 13,000 addresses is selected each year from the Postcode Address File. There is a 72% response rate. All adults aged 16 and over are interviewed in each responding household. Demographic and health information is also collected about children in the household. ()
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The sociological imagination is an idea supported by German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) and a term more recently expressed by the sociologist in . It suggests that people look at their own private troubles as and, in general, try to connect their own individual experiences with the workings of society. Mills believed the sociological imagination was important to anyone who wanted to understand, change and improve their lives.The sociological imagination allows people to distinguish between personal troubles and public issues. , , and are examples where tension between private trouble and public issues becomes apparent.
For example, very specific circumstances might lead to one person becoming unemployed, but when unemployment rates in society as a whole rise, it becomes a public issue that needs to be explained. The sociologist has to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals. (Haralambos and Holborn 2004 P.xxv)
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i) Marxism is a sociological perspective that takes its name from its founder Karl Marx (1818-83). Marx believed society was based around conflict. He saw society as being split into two parts: the infrastructure, or economic base, upon which everything else in society is built; and the superstructure, which is all the other parts of society such as political, cultural, legal and educational systems. From a Marxist perspective, society is split into two classes: the bourgeoisie, who are the owners of the land and factories, the means of production; and the proletariat, the working classes, who are all the people who do not own the means of production and must sell their labour to the bourgeoisie in return for wages. Conflicts between these two classes arise because of their different goals – the proletariat want to get the best payment for the least work and the bourgeoisie want to maximize their profits. One group gains at the expense of the other, with conflicts being expressed in many ways such as high crime rates.
Criticisms of Marxism is that it portrays humans as puppets to the social system and largely unable to direct their own actions. It has also been accused of being too deterministic – making the assumption that the needs of the economy are responsible for shaping every other aspect of society. (Paul Taylor et al. 2005 P.16)
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ii) Functionalism is a sociological perspective born mostly out of the work of Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), which sees society as being based on consensus, made possible by shared norms and values. Society is seen as a set of parts that work together to form a whole, much like the human body. Functionalists examine a part of society in terms of its contribution to the social system. Social order is one of the main concerns of functionalist theory. Functionalists believe that a certain degree of social order, or social unity is essential to the smooth running of society. Shared norms and values provide general guidelines for behaviour and each area of society plays its part, or function, in teaching and reinforcing these norms and values. For example the family socialises new members of society and begins to teach the shared norms and values, which is then reinforced by the education system and maintained by the legal system. Functionalists recognize the existence of conflict and social disorder, but see them as a temporary disturbance to the social system. With differences in interest between social groups being minor in comparison to their common values.
Functionalism, like Marxism, is criticised for picturing human beings as a product of the social system, lacking in free-will, initiative and creativity. Functionalist theories are also accused of being teleological, in that they explain a phenomenon’s causes in terms of its effects – which logically seems to be the wrong way round. It also appears to presume the degree of value consensus in a society, and ignores the fact that a high degree of value consensus will not necessarily promote social solidarity. (Paul Taylor et al. 2005 P.15/671) (Haralambos and Holborn 2004 P.xvii)
Bibliography
Taylor, T., Ricchardson, J., Yeo, A., Marsh, I., Trobe, K. and Pilkington, A., 2005. Sociology in Focus. 3rd ed. Lancs: Causeway Press
Moore, S., Aiken, D., and Chapman, S., 2001. Sociology for AS Level. London: Collins Educational
General Household Survey Newport: Social Survey Division of the Office for National Statistics Available from: (Accessed 10 December 2007)
Haralambos, M., Holborn, M. and Heald, R., 2004. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 6th ed. London: HarperCollins
