Outline and asses sociological explanations for workplace inequalities between men and women

Outline and asses sociological explanations for workplace inequalities between men and women Oakley notes that after the industrial revolution in Britain acts were passed to limit women working; in 1851 one in four married women worked whereas in 1911 one in ten worked. During the Victorian era the ideology that a woman's place was in the home became truly established and industrialisation led to the separation of men from the daily routine of domestic life. Now it is claimed that women suffer from four main inequalities in the workplace. Firstly, there is the much debated pay gap in which, even though legislation to stop unequal pay was introduced in the 1970's, the although narrowing pay gap is still visible between men and women. Secondly half of all females in employment are in part time employment; this form of employment is often less secure with fewer benefits. Thirdly, women suffer from vertical segregation; this is sometimes referred to as "the glass ceiling effect". Women are seemingly unable to achieve the higher ranking positions and are stopped from achieving managerial positions by an invisible barrier. Lastly, women are said to suffer from horizontal segregation which is the idea of gendered jobs. Women are more likely to have certain occupations which often reflect the "expressive" role outlined by Parsons in which women are claimed to be more caring,

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Evaluate Sociological Explanations of the Relationship between Religion & Social Change

Evaluate Sociological Explanations of the Relationship between Religion & Social Change The relationship between religion and social change has forever wielded many sociological explanations attempting to comment on this ambiguous issue. While some favour the view religion does indeed promote social change (Weber), others argue religion inhibits social change (Durkheim). Firstly it's important to understand what is meant by the concept social change. From a sociologists view point, social change in terms of religion can be used to change the politics, economics, or values of a society. This can be illustrated from a contemporary standpoint by reflecting on the Buddhist monks in Burma. These monks are using their religious and spiritual beliefs to change the society they live in. Speaking from a more historical context however, we can see that the religions of Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa, have been used and some may argue exploited; to change wider society. However some sociologists disagree that religion can change society. Functionalists such as Durkheim argue religion is a conservative force which promotes the 'collective conscience'; the morals and values a society abides by. Functionalists see religion as the 'social cement' which is needed for society to stay healthy and bind the masses together. There are examples to support this view. Firstly, the

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Examine the weakness of different types of documents used in a sociological research. Examine why positivist prefer quantitative data whilst interpretivists prefer qualitative data.

a. Examine the weakness of different types of documents used in a sociological research. (20 marks) Documents are secondary data developed by individuals, groups, and organisations, in which sociologist may find particularly advantageous in their research. Taking that into account, there are two types of documents both personal and public. Public documents are items such as letters, diaries, autobiographies, notes and photo collections. Personal documents may be noted as unrepresentative, because some groups are unlikely to produce personal documents such as diaries and letters, because they have got limited leisure. Therefore, their views may not be represented, whilst those with the time and literacy skills may be overrepresented. When it comes to examining the personal documents, it somehow lacks the authenticity. There may be possibly missing pages, or someone must have reproduced another copy, making it seem fake. For example, there was claim that Hitler diaries were fakes. Personal documents may also potentially lack the credibility. Documents may be difficult to believe, when considering the author's sincerity. For example, politicians may write diaries that inflate the own importance. The availability of personal documents may be difficult for researchers to gain access to. For example, private documents such as diaries are becoming less available sociologist.

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Produce an essay identifying the different sociological approaches to secularisation with reference to Marxism, Webber and Durkheim.

Sociology Secularisation Produce an essay identifying the different sociological approaches to secularisation with reference to Marxism, Webber and Durkheim. In my assignment I will be looking at secularisation and the different sociological explanations and theories, from sociologist such as Marx, Webber, Durkheim and Wilson. I will then look at how these different views compare and differ with one another. It can be seen that an on-going debate by sociologists is the disagreement whether religion encourages or inhibits social change. Most sociologists agree that as society changes and evolves so will changes to religion. However, many have claimed that this change will lead to the disappearance of religion altogether. It has been thought since the early 19th century that industrialization and the growth of scientific knowledge, would lead to the decline of religion, known as secularisation. Emile Durkheim a functionalist did not see religion as hopeless. He looked more at its function within society. He saw religion as maintaining social cohesion, a main part of society where religion brought people together. However, he anticipated that religion was on the decline of social significance. This is because in an industrial society where there was a highly specialised division of labour, religion would lose a part of its power for integrating society (Holborn, 2009). This

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secondary sources of data

'With the exception of official statistics, most forms of secondary data are too subjective to be useful in sociological research.' Explain and assess this view. [25] Secondary data refers to preexisting data that has been produced by someone other than the sociologist involved in the research. Official statistics include data produced by the government or other agencies e.g. trade unions. Other forms of secondary data include life documents or historical documents such as diaries, letters, and suicide notes etc. They are certain cases when there are no alternatives to secondary data - in the case of 'before' and 'after' studies or studies conducted to analyze trends over a long period of time one cannot go back in time and therefore needs to rely on existing data. Official statistics refers to data collected by the government e.g. statistics relating to unemployment. The fact that statistics are already available to the sociologists means that the sociologist does not have to spend time or money collecting his/her own data. The data allows comparisons to be made, which the researcher would find difficult to collect personally such as in the case of cross cultural studies e.g. comparative study of crime rates in different countries. Positivists favor the use of official statistics, as they are useful for identifying correlations. In Durkheim's study of suicide (1897) he was

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'Assess sociological explanations of changes to the class structure

'Assess sociological explanations of changes to the class structure.' Social classes are groups of people who share a similar economic position; which is based on a person's occupation, income and ownership of wealth. People in the same social class can be identified by having similar levels of education, status (prestige), lifestyle (for example living standard or consumer goods e.g. plasma TV 52' inch) and power. Traditionally the UK's class structure is associated with three-levels: the upper class, the middle class and the working class. However sociologists have noticed a change in this type of class structure and have suggested that the UK is moving away from this class formation. In this essay I am going to outline the traditional class structure (briefly) and talk about the various changes that have occurred to each social class; then I will seek to critically examine a number of sociological explanations for the changes to the class structure. The tri-level traditional class structure is comprised of: the upper class, which is the smallest of the social classes and consists of the crème de la crème of society e.g. Aristocracy or also named the "blue bloods". These members are usually the wealthiest in the UK; who have inherited their money and position. According to Scott (1991) the upper class maintains their "ruling" position through part taking in the Old Boy

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Assess the usefulness of feminist contributions to our understanding of society today

Assess the usefulness of feminist contributions to our understanding of society today (33 marks) Feminism is a conflict theory that sees religion as an instrument of patriarchy - a set of beliefs and practices responsible for women's subordination. There are different types of feminism and the types I will be evaluating in this essay are Liberal, Radical, Marxist and Difference/poststructuralist feminist. Feminists criticise mainstream sociology for being 'malestream'. By contrast, feminists examine society from the viewpoint of women, they see their work as part of the struggle against women's subordination. However, although all feminists oppose women's subordination, there are disagreements among feminist's theories about its causes and how to overcome them. Liberal feminist are concerned with the human and civil rights and freedoms of the individual, they believe that all human beings should have equal rights. In liberal feminism, the concept of society changing itself to adapt to women does not occur. Liberal feminists insist that all that is needed to change the status of women is to change existing laws that are unfavourable for women and that will open up more opportunities for women to prove themselves as equal to the opposite sex. Oakley (1972) distinguishes between sex and gender. She claims sex differences are seen as fixed and gender differences vary between

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Outline and assess Functionalist explanations of the role of the education system.

Outline and assess Functionalist explanations of the role of the education system. (50) ________________ As a theory which places heavy emphasis on the analysis of institutions and their relationship with society, especially with regards to the functions of institutions, Functionalists place a significant amount of focus on the education system. However, this perspective is not always accepted, it’s macro theory approach is often seen as too wide bearing to be applied to the study of the education system as well as critics which dispute the functions of the education system as portrayed by functionalists. Nevertheless, its macro theory approach puts the education system in context and is therefore a theory which is notable when discussing the role of the education system. Firstly, it cannot be ignored that one of the main principles of the theory is that society is based upon consensus, - agreement between norms and values. As an institution of secondary socialisation, Functionalist theorists see the education system as one of the main institutions which help to achieve value consensus within society, allowing society to operate in a smooth manner. Durkheim suggested that the education system is an institution which helps to create a “collective consciousness”, uniting society into one body, with the system creating “social beings”. As put forward by Durkheim,

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Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of society

Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of society Charlotte McCaffrey Functionalism is a consensus theory. It sees society as based on agreement among people about values, goals and rules in society. The job of the family is primary socialization. The family introduces norms and values to children, who carry these on to later years, where they are reinforced by religion and education. These norms and values allow people to move up the social hierarchy. For example, children are taught to conform by the family and education, which allows them to conform to the rules of wider society and become aware of what, is socially acceptable. Education also trains by teaching the skills needed for later life, for example punctuality, and interview skills. Unlike conflict structuralism, functionalists believe that society is based on merit, and those who work the hardest will be the ones to make it to the top, ensuring jobs are filled by those most capable, with the required skills. Those who don't work, will stay at the bottom of the hierarchy, and carry out the more menial, but equally essential jobs. Many of the key ideas of functionalism can be traced back to Emile Durkheim, However it was American sociologist Talcott Parsons, who developed functionalism as a systematic theory of society in the middle of the 20th Century. Functionalism is a macro

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Evaluate the Contribution Marxists Have made in Understanding the Role religion plays in Society

Evaluate the Contribution Marxists Have made in Understanding the Role religion plays in Society Marxists claim that religions play a conservative role in society, meaning it promotes a ruling class ideology to keep the working classes in check and maintain the status quo. They see religion as a human made concept, arguing it acts as an 'opiate for the masses' blinding them to the true nature of a capitalist society, 'it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven' - a common nineteenth century notion justifying social inequality by saying existing hierarchy is 'god given' Marx sees religion as a tool for social control, keeping the working classes at bay and working solely in the interest of the ruling classes. These is much evidence to support this, Halevy 1972 commented on how the Methodist religion played an integral role of preventing a working class revolution in the 19 century, encouraging people to seek enlightenment spiritually rather than revolt against the capitalist who were oppressing them, like most other European countries did at some point in history. Marx comments on religion disguising the true nature of exploitation, they see religion as a means to justify economic and social inequality in supernatural terms. Marxist theory on religion, like all sociological theories, can be highly criticized.

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