OCR A LEVEL SOCIOLOGY: Family and relationships essays (PAPER 1)

The following file contains over 20 answers to questions that may come up in the family and relationships topic, which is an optional module in OCR’s first paper for sociology (new spec). When I sat this exam in June 2018, I achieved 79/90 (88%) in the first paper.

1. Outline two reasons for the decline in nuclear families and illustrate your answer with examples (12)
2. Outline two reasons for the decline in extended families and illustrate your answer with examples (12)
3. Outline two reasons for the increase in lone parent families and illustrate your answer with examples (12)
4. Outline two reasons for the increase in reconstituted families and illustrate your answer with examples (12)
5. Outline two reasons for the increase in non-family households and illustrate your answer with examples (12)
6. Outline two reasons for the increase in same-sex families and illustrate your answer with examples (12)
7. Explain reasons for changing patterns in marriages in the UK (12)
8. Explain reasons for changing patterns in divorce rates in the UK (12)
9. Explain reasons for changing patterns in cohabitation in the UK (12)
10. Explain reasons for the changes in the size of UK families (12)
11. Explain reasons for the changes in the age of UK marriages (12)
12. Explain reasons for the changes in the age of child-bearing in the UK (12)
13. Explain reasons for the changes in birth rates in the UK (12)
14. Explain reasons for the ageing population in the UK (12)
15. Evaluate the view that an ageing population has a negative effect on society (24)
16. Evaluate the view that demographic changes have altered family life in the contemporary UK (24)
17. Assess the functionalist view on the role of the family (24)
18. Assess the New Right view on the role of the family (24)
19. Assess the Marxist theory of the family (24)
20. Assess Feminist views on the role of the family (24)
21. Assess Postmodernist views on the role of the family (24)
22. Examine the influence social class has on family life in the UK (12)
23. Examine the influence ethnicity has on family life in the UK (12)
24. Examine the influence sexuality has on family life in the UK (12)
25. Assess the view that family is characterised by diversity in the contemporary UK (24)
26. Explain and briefly evaluate the view that the modern family is dysfunctional (16)
27. Assess the view that relationships between parents and children have changed (24)
28. Assess the view that gender roles and relationships have become more equal in modern family life (24)