Marriage and cohabitation | AQA A-Level Sociology
Updated: 2 days ago
For Specification 7192
AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time:Â 50 minutes
This Marriage and cohabitation A-Level Sociology revision page examines changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation and how sociologists can explain and evaluate changes in intimate relationships. AQA places these patterns within a wider requirement to study social change, the life course, the sociology of personal life and contemporary family and household diversity.  The topic builds directly on wider influences on family change [Families, social change and the economy] and leads into changing patterns of relationship breakdown [Separation and divorce].
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Define marriage and cohabitation as different relationship arrangements.
Describe changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation using appropriate sociological evidence.
Explain how wider social change may be related to changing relationship patterns.
Apply structural and social action approaches to changes in intimate relationships.
Explain how marriage and cohabitation contribute to contemporary family and household diversity.
Evaluate evidence and sociological explanations concerning changing relationship patterns.
Revision Notes đź“š
Marriage and cohabitation A-Level Sociology revision overview
AQA requires students studying Families and Households to be familiar with sociological explanations of:
changing patterns of marriage
changing patterns of cohabitation
separation and divorce
childbearing
the life course
the sociology of personal life
diversity in contemporary family and household structures.
These patterns should not be studied in isolation. AQA also requires students to connect topic content with socialisation, culture and identity, social differentiation, power and stratification, and the wider debates about social structure and social action.
What is marriage?
Marriage is a socially recognised relationship between partners that has a formal status.
For Sociology, marriage is important not simply as an individual relationship but because patterns of marriage can be examined socially.
Sociologists are interested in questions such as:
How common is marriage at different points in time?
Has the timing of marriage changed?
How does marriage relate to other forms of family and household life?
What wider social changes may help explain changing patterns?
Do all social groups experience the same patterns?
The specification requires these questions to be considered sociologically rather than treating marriage entirely as a private personal choice.
What is cohabitation?
Cohabitation refers to partners living together in an intimate relationship without being married to one another.
Marriage and cohabitation therefore need to be distinguished clearly.
Marriage | Cohabitation |
A formally recognised marital relationship | Partners live together without being married |
One type of intimate relationship | Another type of intimate relationship |
Forms part of changing family patterns | Forms part of changing family patterns |
Can be studied in relation to social change | Can also be studied in relation to social change |
⚠️ Do not use marriage and cohabitation as interchangeable terms in an examination. AQA specifically identifies them as distinct changing patterns.
What are the changing patterns?
AQA explicitly requires students to know the changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation and the sociological explanations for them. However, the supplied specification identifies the area of required knowledge rather than providing the empirical trend data itself.
For revision purposes, when appropriate evidence is supplied by a teacher, textbook or examination Item, you should be able to identify:
Direction of change, whether a pattern has risen, fallen or remained relatively stable.
Scale of change, how large the difference is.
Time period, when the change occurred.
Relationship between patterns, for example whether changes in marriage occur alongside changes in other relationship forms.
Variation, whether the pattern is the same across all groups.
Patterns are not explanations
It is crucial to distinguish between describing a pattern and explaining it.
Suppose evidence showed that a relationship pattern changed over time.
A descriptive answer would say:
The frequency of this relationship pattern changed between the two dates.
An explanatory answer asks:
Why might this pattern have changed?
The second requires sociological reasoning.
đź“Ś Exam tip:Â Statistical evidence can establish that something has changed, but the trend itself does not explain why it changed.
Marriage and cohabitation as examples of social change
Marriage and cohabitation belong within AQA's wider requirement to study the family in relation to social change.
Changing relationship patterns therefore provide examples of how family life may change over time.
A sociological approach considers:
changes in wider society
changing family and household structures
changes in people's relationships
individual choices and meanings
possible differences between social groups.
This builds directly on relationships between wider change and family life [Families, social change and the economy].
Structural explanations of changing relationship patterns
A structural approach emphasises the importance of wider social structures.
Applied to marriage and cohabitation, the approach suggests that changes in relationship patterns should not be explained entirely through isolated individual decisions.
Instead, sociologists can examine how choices about relationships take place within wider:
social conditions
economic circumstances
cultural contexts
government arrangements
patterns of inequality.
The specification supports this connection by requiring students to study the family's relationship with social structure, social change, the economy and state policies.
How structural explanations work
A structural explanation may follow this general pattern:
A wider aspect of society changes.
This changes the opportunities or constraints surrounding family life.
Individuals make relationship decisions within these circumstances.
Changes across many people's lives may contribute to broader patterns of marriage or cohabitation.
The important point is not that structures automatically determine relationships.
Instead, they provide the wider circumstances in which relationship decisions occur.
Linking relationship change to the economy
The specification explicitly requires students to examine relationships between families and the economy.
Economic circumstances may therefore be considered as part of a structural explanation where relevant evidence supports the link.
A strong answer should only use an economic explanation when it can explain the mechanism linking economic circumstances to relationship behaviour.
Linking relationship change to state policies
The same principle applies to state policies.
Government intervention forms part of the wider structural context surrounding family life, as explored in government intervention and families [Families and state policies].
However:
policy change occurring alongside relationship change does not automatically prove policy caused the change.
A sociologist would need evidence linking:
policy → changed circumstances → changes in behaviour or relationship patterns
This avoids confusing correlation with causation.
Social action explanations of changing relationships
A social action approach gives greater importance to:
individual meanings
interactions
interpretations
choices.
Applied to marriage and cohabitation, it reminds us that individuals participate actively in constructing their personal relationships.
People do not necessarily respond identically to the same social circumstances.
Two individuals experiencing similar structural conditions might make different decisions about:
whether to form a relationship
how to organise it
whether to marry
whether to cohabit.
Structure and action together
A useful evaluation is that structural and social action explanations may address different parts of the question.
Structural approach | Social action approach |
Helps explain wider patterns | Helps explain individual variation |
Examines social circumstances | Examines meanings and choices |
Focuses on constraints and opportunities | Focuses on people's responses |
Can explain why many people experience similar pressures | Can explain why people facing similar conditions behave differently |
A sophisticated answer does not have to claim that one is entirely correct and the other entirely wrong.
People can exercise social action within structural circumstances.
Marriage, cohabitation and personal life
Changing patterns of intimate relationships link naturally to personal relationships and their sociological significance [The sociology of personal life].
The specification places the sociology of personal life within the same requirement as changing marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce and childbearing.
This encourages students to avoid assuming that family relationships are adequately understood only through one conventional family form.
Instead, Sociology examines the variety of relationships and connections through which people organise their personal lives.
Marriage, cohabitation and family diversity
Changing relationship patterns also connect directly with diversity in contemporary families and households [Family and household diversity].
If people organise intimate relationships in different ways, this can contribute to diversity in:
family relationships
household organisation
people's life courses.
This relationship works both ways conceptually.
Changing patterns of intimate relationships can be viewed as part of family diversity, while recognition of family diversity reminds us not to assume that everyone follows the same relationship pathway.
The life course
AQA explicitly includes the life course in its Families and Households content.
The life course draws attention to the way individuals' relationships and circumstances can change across their lives.
Marriage and cohabitation should therefore not automatically be treated as permanently fixed categories.
A person's relationship circumstances may change over time.
This is developed further in changing family experiences across the life course [Childbearing and the life course].
Avoid assuming one fixed family pathway
A simplistic view might suggest that everyone moves through the same sequence of family relationships.
The specification's emphasis on:
marriage
cohabitation
separation
divorce
the life course
personal life
family diversity
shows why Sociology needs to examine a wider range of relationship patterns.
The next topic, changing patterns of relationship breakdown [Separation and divorce], develops another aspect of this variation.
Socialisation, culture and identity
One of AQA's two course-wide themes is socialisation, culture and identity.
This means changing relationship patterns can be examined alongside wider cultural meanings and identities.
For example, sociological explanations may ask whether changing understandings of relationships are connected to wider changes in culture.
Social differentiation, power and stratification
The second core theme is social differentiation, power and stratification.
This creates an important evaluative question:
Are changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation identical across all parts of society?
When interpreting evidence, avoid assuming that an overall trend necessarily describes:
every social group
every family type
every age group
every individual.
An overall pattern can conceal variation.
Consensus interpretations
AQA requires understanding of consensus theories across the course.
A consensus interpretation would tend to examine family relationships in relation to:
social order
shared expectations
cooperation
relationships between different parts of society.
Applied to changing marriage and cohabitation patterns, a consensus approach could ask how changing forms of intimate relationships relate to the organisation of wider society.
Conflict interpretations
A conflict approach focuses more strongly on:
inequality
power
competing interests
social divisions.
When examining evidence about marriage and cohabitation, this perspective encourages students to ask whether apparently general relationship trends are experienced equally by everyone.
It can also encourage examination of power within family relationships, which is developed in inequality within family relationships [Power relationships within families].
Again, the specification requires conflict theory generally but does not provide a named conflict explanation of the marriage or cohabitation trends.
Modernity and post-modernity
AQA includes modernity and post-modernity in relation to sociological theory within Theory and Methods.
These ideas may therefore be relevant to broader sociological discussion of contemporary social change.
How sociologists can investigate changing patterns
AQA requires sociological theories, perspectives and methods to be integral to each topic area. It also expects students to consider the design of research and its strengths and limitations.
Evidence about changing relationship patterns may be quantitative or qualitative.
Quantitative evidence
Quantitative data are numerical.
They can be useful for:
identifying patterns
measuring change
comparing different periods
identifying differences between groups.
AQA includes official statistics as a source of sociological data.
These may be particularly useful when examining large-scale relationship patterns.
Qualitative evidence
Qualitative data provide non-numerical information about meanings and experiences.
These can help sociologists investigate questions that statistics alone may not answer, such as how individuals understand their relationships.
This produces an important distinction:
Quantitative evidence may show what pattern exists, while qualitative evidence may help investigate how people understand or experience it.
Evaluating quantitative evidence
When given numerical evidence about marriage or cohabitation, ask:
What exactly is being measured?
Do not assume two figures measure the same thing simply because both concern relationships.
What time period is covered?
A short-term fluctuation should not automatically be described as a long-term transformation.
Are absolute numbers or rates being compared?
The meaning of a figure depends on what has actually been calculated.
Does an overall figure conceal differences?
A national pattern may hide variation between social groups.
Does the evidence establish causation?
No. A trend can identify change without proving why that change occurred.
Evaluating qualitative evidence
Qualitative evidence can provide depth and meaning.
It may help explain:
why individuals make particular relationship choices
how they interpret marriage or cohabitation
how they experience changing family arrangements.
However, methods should be evaluated in relation to their research design, including their strengths and limitations, as required throughout the specification.
Do not simply assume qualitative evidence is automatically "better" because it provides detail.
Comparing evidence across time
When describing a trend, use precise language.
Useful expressions include:
increased
decreased
remained stable
changed gradually
changed rapidly
fluctuated
was higher or lower at one point than another.
Avoid vague descriptions such as:
"changed loads"
"became more normal"
"everyone started doing it".
A-Level Sociology requires precise interpretation.
Difference between numbers and proportions
If data are supplied, distinguish carefully between:
a number, how many cases there are
a proportion, the share of a total.
An increase in a number does not necessarily mean an identical increase in the proportion of the population concerned.
Always read headings, labels and units before interpreting relationship data.
Evidence and explanation
A useful examination distinction is:
Evidence | Explanation |
Shows patterns in marriage or cohabitation | Accounts for why those patterns may exist |
May identify change over time | Links change to sociological processes |
Can support or challenge an explanation | Must make sense of the evidence |
Does not automatically establish causation | Should explain the mechanism producing a pattern |
Strong Sociology combines both.
Correlation and causation
Suppose evidence shows:
one social condition changed
the pattern of cohabitation also changed.
This is a relationship between trends, but it does not automatically demonstrate that one caused the other.
A sociological explanation needs to identify a plausible mechanism linking them.
đź“Ś Exam tip:Â Avoid the phrase "this proves that..." unless the evidence genuinely establishes the conclusion. "This may support the view that..." is often sociologically more appropriate.
Evaluating sociological explanations
When evaluating any explanation of changing marriage or cohabitation patterns, use the following questions.
Does it fit the evidence?
An explanation should be consistent with the pattern it is intended to explain.
Does it explain the change?
It should explain why the pattern changed, not simply restate that a change occurred.
Does it account for diversity?
A theory based on one universal relationship pathway may struggle to account for diverse family and household arrangements.
Does it recognise both structure and action?
An explanation based entirely on individual choice may underestimate structural influences, while a strongly structural explanation may underestimate people's ability to respond differently.
Does it account for different groups?
Overall trends may hide important social differentiation.
Is the evidence sufficient to establish causation?
A relationship between two trends does not necessarily show cause and effect.
Changing patterns and contemporary family diversity
Marriage and cohabitation are not isolated topics. They form part of the wider story of changing family and household arrangements.
AQA places changing relationship patterns alongside:
the life course
the sociology of personal life
contemporary family diversity.
These connections are important in longer answers because they allow you to analyse what changing relationship patterns mean for the wider organisation of family life.
Avoid treating change as complete replacement
When analysing evidence, do not assume that an increase in one relationship form necessarily means another has disappeared.
Different relationship arrangements may exist alongside one another.
Therefore, distinguish:
change in the balance between patterns
from
complete replacement of one pattern by another.
Only make the stronger claim if the evidence actually supports it.
Avoid assuming everyone follows the overall trend
Suppose statistics identify an overall change.
This tells you something about the population as a whole, but not necessarily about every person within it.
A strong evaluation can therefore recognise a distinction between:
aggregate patterns, overall population trends
individual experiences, the relationships and choices of particular people.
This links evidence evaluation directly to the structure and action debate.
What evidence would a strong answer need?
For each pattern, students should know:
What has changed.
The direction of change.
The period over which the change occurred.
Evidence supporting the trend.
Whether there are important differences between groups.
Sociological explanations for the change.
Strengths and limitations of those explanations.
Building an examination argument đź§
AQA requires students to examine both evidence and sociological explanations for the substantive topics they study.
For an extended response on marriage and cohabitation, a strong structure could be:
Identify the relevant changing pattern accurately.
Support the description with appropriate evidence supplied or learned from an approved course source.
Explain one sociological reason for the change.
Show the mechanism linking the explanation to the pattern.
Consider a different explanation.
Evaluate the evidence supporting each interpretation.
Consider structure and social action.
Consider family diversity and differences between social groups.
Reach a reasoned conclusion about which explanations are best supported.
đź“Ś Exam tip:Â Never substitute statistics for explanation. Evidence can show that a pattern changed, but sociological reasoning is needed to explain why.
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Marriage | A formally recognised relationship between partners. | Identify and analyse changes in patterns of intimate relationships. |
Cohabitation | Partners living together in an intimate relationship without being married. | Compare changing relationship arrangements. |
Social change | Changes in social patterns, organisation or relationships over time. | Place changing marriage and cohabitation within wider family change. |
Social structure | The organised patterns and relationships making up wider society. | Explain structural influences on relationship behaviour. |
Social action | An approach emphasising people's actions and the meanings they give to situations. | Evaluate explanations that make relationship behaviour appear structurally determined. |
Life course | The changing experiences and relationships occurring across people's lives. | Explain why relationship arrangements may change over time. |
Family diversity | Variation in contemporary family and household structures. | Analyse the significance of different relationship forms. |
Quantitative data | Numerical information used to identify and compare social patterns. | Describe trends in marriage or cohabitation accurately. |
Qualitative data | Non-numerical information about experiences and meanings. | Examine how people interpret intimate relationships. |
Official statistics | Data collected and published by official organisations. | Provide evidence about large-scale social patterns where appropriate. |
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Treating marriage and cohabitation as the same thing
Why this is incorrect: AQA identifies them separately as changing relationship patterns.
How to improve: Define each clearly before comparing their patterns or explanations.
Mistake: Inventing statistics to demonstrate a trend
Why this is incorrect: Accurate sociological evidence matters. A statistic that cannot be supported should not be presented as fact.
How to improve: Learn the exact evidence provided by an approved course source and reproduce it accurately rather than guessing.
Mistake: Describing a pattern without explaining it
Why this is incorrect: AQA requires both evidence and sociological explanations.
How to improve: After identifying a trend, ask:
Why might this change have occurred?
Then develop the sociological mechanism.
Mistake: Assuming correlation proves causation
Why this is incorrect: Two social patterns changing at the same time does not establish that one caused the other.
How to improve: Explain how the proposed cause could actually produce the relationship change.
Mistake: Explaining everything through personal choice
Why this is incorrect: This overlooks the specification's emphasis on social structure and social change.
How to improve: Consider wider social circumstances alongside individual choices.
Mistake: Treating people as completely determined by social structure
Why this is incorrect: AQA also requires understanding of social action.
How to improve: Recognise that people may respond differently to similar structural circumstances.
Mistake: Assuming an overall trend applies equally to everyone
Why this is incorrect: An aggregate pattern may conceal social differentiation and family diversity.
How to improve: Look for differences between groups before making universal claims.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Questions
1. Which one of the following best describes cohabitation?
A. Any people sharing a household
B. Partners living together without being married
C. Two people who are legally married
D. Members of an extended family living apart
[1 mark]
2. Define the term marriage.
[2 marks]
3. Explain one reason why evidence of changing marriage patterns does not by itself explain why marriage patterns have changed.
[4 marks]
4. Explain two ways in which changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation may be connected to wider social change.
[6 marks]
5. Read Item A and answer the question that follows.
Item A
Evidence shows that patterns of intimate relationships can change over time. Some sociologists argue that these changes should be understood in relation to wider social circumstances. Others emphasise that individuals interpret these circumstances and make different choices about their personal relationships.
Using material from Item A, analyse two differences between structural and social action explanations of changing marriage and cohabitation patterns.
[10 marks]
6. Read Item B and answer the question that follows.
Item B
A sociologist compares numerical evidence about marriage and cohabitation over several different periods. The evidence identifies an overall change, but it does not show whether all social groups experienced the same pattern or explain why the change occurred.
Using material from Item B, analyse two limitations of using an overall statistical pattern to explain changes in marriage and cohabitation.
[10 marks]
7. Explain two ways in which changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation may contribute to family and household diversity.
[6 marks]
8. Evaluate the view that changes in marriage and cohabitation should mainly be explained by changes in wider social structures.
[20 marks]
Answers and indicative mark scheme
Question 1
Answer: B. Partners living together without being married.
Award 1 mark for the correct answer.
Question 2
Award up to 2 marks for an answer recognising marriage as:
a relationship between partners
with formal social recognition or status.
Question 3
Award up to 4 marks for a developed explanation.
Indicative content:
Statistical evidence can identify a pattern or change over time.
It does not automatically identify the cause of that change.
A sociological explanation must identify processes or circumstances that could produce the pattern.
A relationship between two trends does not itself prove causation.
Question 4
Award up to 3 marks for each developed way.
Indicative content may include:
Marriage and cohabitation are family patterns that may change as wider social circumstances change.
Relationship behaviour takes place within wider structural circumstances.
Changes in relationship patterns may themselves contribute to changes in family and household structures.
Changes may be connected to wider developments in the economy or state intervention where evidence supports that link.
Changing relationship arrangements may contribute to wider family diversity.
Question 5
Strong answers should use Item A explicitly.
Structural approach
Emphasises wider social circumstances.
Sees relationship decisions as occurring within structural opportunities and constraints.
May help explain broader population patterns.
Social action approach
Emphasises individual meanings and interpretations.
Recognises that people experiencing similar circumstances may make different choices.
Helps explain variation between individuals.
Analysis
A stronger response may argue that structural approaches can explain common circumstances surrounding changing patterns, while social action approaches explain why these circumstances do not produce identical behaviour.
Question 6
Strong answers could develop two of the following.
Aggregate patterns may conceal variation
Item B identifies an "overall change".
Different social groups may not follow the same pattern.
This limits universal conclusions.
Statistics do not explain causation
The Item says the evidence does not explain why change occurred.
Numerical trends describe patterns rather than automatically explaining them.
Additional sociological explanations and evidence are required.
Meaning is missing
Numerical evidence may identify behaviour without revealing how individuals understand relationships.
Qualitative evidence could investigate meanings and experiences.
Answers should analyse the limitation rather than simply identify it.
Question 7
Award up to 3 marks for each developed way.
Indicative content:
Different relationship arrangements create variation in the ways personal and family relationships are organised.
If marriage and cohabitation coexist as relationship forms, this contributes to diversity rather than one universal family pathway.
People's relationship circumstances may change across the life course.
Changing intimate relationships may be connected to different household arrangements.
Question 8
A strong extended response should combine knowledge, analysis and evaluation.
Indicative AO1 content
Students may explain:
marriage
cohabitation
changing relationship patterns
social structure
social change
structural explanations
social action
life course
family diversity
quantitative and qualitative evidence.
Indicative analysis and evaluation
Developed answers may argue that:
Structural explanations are useful because relationship decisions take place within wider social circumstances.
They can potentially explain why broad population-level patterns emerge.
Wider economic or policy circumstances may be relevant where supporting evidence establishes the connection.
However, structural explanations may become deterministic if they imply all individuals respond in the same way.
Social action approaches emphasise meanings and different individual responses.
An individualistic explanation may itself be limited if it ignores the wider circumstances shaping available choices.
Changing relationship patterns should be considered alongside family diversity and the life course.
Overall statistical trends may conceal differences between social groups.
Quantitative evidence can demonstrate patterns but does not automatically establish explanations.
Qualitative evidence may provide insight into meanings but needs to be evaluated according to its research design.
Correlation between wider social change and changing relationships does not by itself establish causation.
Judgement
A balanced conclusion could argue that wider social structures are important because relationships are formed within particular social circumstances. However, structural conditions alone are unlikely to explain every individual's relationship behaviour. A fuller sociological explanation therefore needs to consider both social structure and social action, alongside reliable evidence showing the nature and extent of the changing pattern.
The next lesson develops another part of AQA's requirement to study changing relationship patterns through changes in relationship breakdown [Separation and divorce].
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