Migration and globalisation | AQA A-Level Sociology
Updated: 12 hours ago
For Specification 7192
AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time:Â 60 minutes
This Migration and globalisation A-Level Sociology revision page completes AQA's demographic content for Families and Households. The specification requires students to study UK demographic trends since 1900, including birth rates, death rates, family size, life expectancy, the ageing population, and migration and globalisation.  Building on population change [Birth rates, death rates and family size] and changes in population age structure [Life expectancy and the ageing population], this lesson examines migration as a demographic process and places UK families and households within their wider global context.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Explain migration as a demographic process.
Explain how migration may alter population patterns.
Examine relationships between migration, families and households.
Explain why family and household responses to migration may vary.
Examine how globalisation provides a wider context for demographic change.
Apply social structure, social action and social differentiation to migration and family life.
Evaluate sociological explanations and evidence concerning migration and globalisation.
Revision Notes đź“š
Migration and globalisation A-Level Sociology revision overview
AQA requires students studying Families and Households to understand demographic trends in the United Kingdom since 1900 concerning:
birth rates
death rates
family size
life expectancy
the ageing population
migration and globalisation.
AQA also requires sociological theories, perspectives and methods to be integrated throughout topic study. Students should examine both the evidence and the sociological explanations for substantive content. The course-wide themes of socialisation, culture and identity, and social differentiation, power and stratification should also be applied.
The revision plan turns this requirement into three objectives: explaining migration as a demographic process, examining its relationship with families and households, and examining the significance of globalisation for demographic change.
What is migration?
The AQA specification identifies migration as a required demographic topic but does not provide a formal definition.
A minimal working definition for this page is:
Migration is the movement of people from one place to another in a way that may affect the size or composition of populations.
This definition is an explanatory gloss rather than wording supplied by the specification.
The important sociological point is that migration is not simply about individual movement. When considered across a population, migration becomes a demographic process.
Migration as an individual event and a demographic process
A person moving is an individual event.
When movement occurs across a population, sociologists and demographers can examine its wider effects.
This creates two levels of analysis:
Individual level | Population level |
A person or family moves | Patterns of migration affect a population |
Personal circumstances and meanings may matter | Population composition may change |
Social action may help explain decisions | Structural analysis may help explain wider patterns |
One case cannot establish a national trend | Large-scale evidence can reveal demographic patterns |
This distinction is similar to the difference between individual childbearing and a population-level birth rate.
Migration is one part of demographic change
AQA places migration alongside births, deaths, life expectancy and population ageing.
This means migration should be understood as part of a wider demographic picture.
A useful conceptual framework is:
births + deaths + migration → changes in population patterns
This is a revision framework rather than an AQA formula.
It reminds students that population change cannot necessarily be explained only through births and deaths.
Migration and population size
At the most basic demographic level, movement of people can affect the number of people living within a population.
However, the supplied specification does not provide:
UK migration figures
dates showing changes in migration
numerical trends since 1900
statistics on particular migration flows.
Migration and population composition
Migration may also be relevant to the composition of a population.
Population composition concerns the characteristics of the population rather than simply its total size.
This matters because AQA also requires students to examine demographic trends such as:
age structure
family size
population ageing.
However, the specification does not provide evidence showing exactly how migration has affected these measures.
Therefore, students should not assume one fixed effect of migration without evidence.
Migration and an ageing population
The previous lesson examined Life expectancy and the ageing population.
Migration may form part of explanations of changing population age structure because movement can alter who is included within a population.
However, the precise effect depends on the demographic pattern being studied.
The key exam principle is that an ageing population should not automatically be explained through life expectancy alone. Migration is one of several demographic processes AQA expects students to recognise.
Migration and birth rates
Migration and birth rates appear within the same demographic specification statement.
This means sociologists may investigate whether changes in population movement are related to patterns of births.
However:
migration occurring alongside a changing birth rate does not prove that migration caused the change.
A valid explanation would need to establish:
what migration pattern occurred
how that changed the relevant population
how this could affect the birth-rate evidence
whether alternative explanations exist.
This follows the same correlation and causation principles used throughout Birth rates, death rates and family size.
Migration and death rates
The same caution applies to death rates.
Migration changes who is included within a population, so it may be relevant when analysing demographic evidence.
However, the supplied specification provides no detailed evidence allowing a specific conclusion about how migration has affected UK death rates.
Students should therefore explain relationships only where the evidence supports them.
Migration and family size
AQA also requires students to understand family size as a demographic trend.
Migration may be associated with changes in family and household arrangements, but the relationship should not be assumed.
A sociologist would need to establish:
which families or households are being studied
what aspect of family size changed
whether migration actually contributed to that change
what other social factors might be relevant.
Migration and families
Migration is particularly relevant to Families and Households because people do not exist outside social relationships.
Migration may occur within the context of:
family relationships
household arrangements
changing life courses
personal relationships.
Migration and family relationships
A sociological approach can ask how movement might interact with family relationships.
Questions include:
Do family members move together or experience movement differently?
How may a move affect existing relationships?
How may family relationships influence decisions about movement?
Could migration contribute to changing household arrangements?
How do individuals interpret migration within their personal lives?
These are sociological research questions, not claims about the actual effects of migration.
Migration and households
AQA specifically requires students to understand both families and households.
Migration may therefore be examined in relation to household arrangements as well as family relationships.
A sociologist might investigate whether population movement is associated with:
changes in who lives together
changes in household structures
changing relationships across the life course.
Again, the specification does not provide empirical findings establishing a particular pattern.
Family and household should not be treated as identical
The earlier lesson on Family and household diversity established an important distinction.
A family relationship is not automatically identical to a household arrangement.
Therefore, when examining migration, students should ask whether the evidence concerns:
family relationships
household membership
population movement
demographic structure.
A strong answer uses the concept named in the question.
Migration and family diversity
Migration can be placed within AQA's wider requirement to understand the diversity of contemporary family and household structures.
The important analytical point is not that migration automatically produces one particular family structure.
Instead:
Migration may form part of the wider demographic and social context in which diverse family and household arrangements exist.
This is a more defensible claim.
Do not assume migration automatically increases family diversity
The existence of migration does not by itself establish that family diversity has increased.
To support that conclusion, evidence would need to demonstrate:
a migration pattern
a change in family or household structures
a connection between the two
the extent of the change.
This distinction prevents a common leap from correlation to causation.
Migration and the life course
Migration may also be considered through the life course.
The life-course perspective examines how people's relationships and circumstances develop across their lives.
Movement may potentially form part of those changing circumstances.
This makes Childbearing and the life course relevant prior learning.
However, one person's experience of migration does not establish a population-level demographic trend.
Migration and personal life
The sociology of personal life draws attention to significant relationships and connections rather than relying only on fixed family categories.
This may be useful when researching migration because movement and household structure do not necessarily reveal the complete meaning of people's personal relationships.
A demographic statistic can show movement.
A personal-life approach can investigate how that movement is experienced and interpreted.
These are different forms of sociological evidence.
Structural explanations of migration
A structural approach examines wider social circumstances rather than explaining migration entirely through isolated individual decisions.
At a general level, the reasoning is:
Individuals live within wider social structures.
Those structures create opportunities and constraints.
Wider social circumstances can change.
Patterns of population movement may develop within those circumstances.
Large numbers of individual movements can produce demographic trends.
Why structural explanations are useful
Migration is a population-level pattern.
Structural approaches may therefore help sociologists explain why large numbers of people experience or respond to similar wider circumstances.
They can connect migration to:
social change
economic circumstances
state policies
wider global processes.
AQA explicitly requires students to examine family relationships with social structure, social change, the economy and state policies.
Limitation of structural explanations
A structural explanation can become too deterministic if it implies that people simply move whenever particular social conditions exist.
Individuals may:
interpret circumstances differently
have different family relationships
make different decisions
respond differently to similar opportunities or constraints.
This creates a role for social action.
Social action and migration
A social action approach emphasises:
meanings
interpretation
interaction
individual action.
Applied to migration, it encourages sociologists to consider how individuals understand their own circumstances and relationships.
People facing similar wider social conditions may make different decisions.
This reminds us that demographic patterns are made up of individual lives rather than being forces that exist separately from people.
Structure and action compared
Structural approach | Social action approach |
Helps explain large-scale migration patterns | Helps explain individual meanings and decisions |
Emphasises wider social circumstances | Emphasises interpretation and action |
Focuses on opportunities and constraints | Focuses on different responses |
Useful for demographic explanation | Useful for understanding personal experience |
Can become deterministic | Can underestimate wider structural influences |
A developed sociological explanation can connect the two.
Individual movement and population patterns
This structure-action relationship is especially important in demography.
At the individual level:
people act and make decisions
At the population level:
many individual outcomes may form demographic patterns
Sociology therefore connects micro-level experiences with macro-level social change.
Migration and social change
AQA requires students to understand the relationship between families and social change.
Migration is itself part of the demographic change section, so it can be connected directly to wider social transformation.
A sociologist can ask:
Has the pattern of migration changed?
How has this affected population composition?
How is migration connected with wider changes in families and households?
How should these changes be explained?
Specific answers require evidence not contained in the supplied specification.
Migration and the economy
AQA identifies the economy as particularly important when studying the relationship between families and social structure.
Economic circumstances might therefore form part of an explanation of migration where evidence demonstrates the link.
Students should not simply state:
"People migrate because of the economy."
A sociological explanation requires a specific mechanism and evidence.
Migration and state policies
State policies may also form part of the wider context in which demographic change occurs.
This connects with Families and state policies.
However, the specification does not identify:
particular migration policies
specific laws
historical policy changes
evidence concerning their effects.
Policy and migration should not be treated as a simple one-way relationship
Where appropriate evidence exists, sociologists can examine how:
policies may influence the circumstances surrounding migration
demographic changes may become relevant to government policy.
This creates a possible two-way relationship between demography and state intervention.
However, neither direction should be assumed without evidence.
Social differentiation and migration
One of AQA's core themes is social differentiation, power and stratification.
This means migrants should not automatically be treated as one homogeneous social group.
A sociological analysis asks:
Does the pattern apply to everyone who moves?
Do experiences differ?
Does one aggregate category conceal important variation?
How might wider social positions influence experiences?
This is a general evaluative principle rather than a claim about specific groups.
Avoid treating migrants as one category
A national migration statistic may combine a wide range of individual experiences.
Therefore:
migration category ≠identical social experience
The same methodological principle applied earlier to age categories also applies here.
Population classifications are useful for identifying patterns but can conceal diversity.
Migration and power
AQA's power theme can also be applied to migration.
Sociologists may investigate whether movement takes place under circumstances involving different levels of:
opportunity
constraint
influence
access to resources.
Specific claims therefore require additional evidence.
Migration and identity
AQA's other core theme is socialisation, culture and identity.
Elsewhere in the specification, AQA explicitly requires students studying Culture and Identity to examine:
ethnicity
nationality
globalisation
the relationship of identity to production and consumption.
This provides a useful synoptic link.
Migration is studied here as a demographic process, while identity topics investigate meanings and identities.
Do not confuse these levels of analysis.
Demography and identity answer different questions
Demographic approach | Identity approach |
How does population movement change demographic patterns? | How are identities socially produced or experienced? |
Uses population-level evidence | Often examines meanings and social relationships |
Migration is central | Ethnicity, nationality and globalisation may be relevant |
Focuses on population change | Focuses on identity and difference |
Both belong to Sociology, but they are not interchangeable.
What is globalisation?
AQA uses globalisation in several parts of the Sociology specification and specifically requires migration and globalisation within Families and Households.
The specification does not provide a formal definition.
A minimal working definition for this page is:
Globalisation refers to the increasing significance of global connections and processes for social life.
This is an explanatory gloss, not a definition supplied directly by AQA.
AQA's globalised context
AQA explicitly states that the central focus should be UK society today, while comparative dimensions should be considered where relevant, including locating UK society within its globalised context.
This is especially important for migration.
A purely domestic explanation may be incomplete if population movement is connected to circumstances beyond the United Kingdom.
Globalisation and demographic change
The significance of globalisation for demography is that population processes may occur within a wider global context.
Rather than treating the UK population as completely isolated, sociologists can investigate:
links between population movement and wider global processes
how demographic change connects different societies
how UK family and household patterns exist within a globalised context.
Globalisation does not simply mean migration
Migration and globalisation are linked in the AQA demographic requirement, but they should not be treated as synonyms.
Migration is a demographic process involving movement of people.
Globalisation concerns the wider global context and connections within which contemporary societies operate.
Migration may be one way demographic change becomes connected to global processes, but the concepts remain distinct.
Globalisation does not automatically cause all migration
It would be too simplistic to write:
"Globalisation causes migration."
The relationship requires explanation.
A developed answer needs to establish:
what aspect of globalisation is relevant
how it changes circumstances
how those circumstances influence migration
what evidence supports the relationship.
Without these steps, the claim is an assertion.
Migration as a link between national and global demography
Migration makes it especially clear why demographic analysis can extend beyond one national population.
Movement connects:
places
populations
families
households.
AQA's requirement to place contemporary UK society in a globalised context makes this an important sociological perspective.
Globalisation and families
Globalisation may also form part of the wider context in which family life operates.
Earlier lessons established that AQA requires families to be studied in relation to:
social structure
social change
the economy
state policies.
The globalised context adds another dimension to this broader understanding.
However, AQA does not provide a compulsory named theory explaining how globalisation changes family relationships.
Globalisation and household diversity
The existence of global connections does not by itself prove that household diversity increases.
To demonstrate such a claim, sociologists would need evidence linking:
global process → demographic or social change → household consequences
This is another example of why strong Sociology requires causal mechanisms.
Globalisation and personal life
AQA's sociology of personal life encourages attention to significant relationships beyond narrow structural categories.
A demographic analysis might identify where people live.
A personal-life analysis might ask how relationships are experienced across changing circumstances.
This means household location alone may not reveal everything about personal relationships.
The detailed personal-life approach is covered in The sociology of personal life.
Globalisation and social structure
A structural interpretation may see globalisation as part of the wider context shaping social opportunities and constraints.
This can help explain why population change should not always be studied purely through individual preferences.
However, it should not be assumed that global processes determine everyone's behaviour identically.
Social action remains relevant.
Globalisation and social action
Individuals interpret global and local circumstances differently.
Therefore, even where global processes change opportunities or constraints, people's responses may vary.
A sophisticated answer can therefore argue:
Globalisation may alter the structural context of demographic behaviour, while social action helps explain variation in individual responses.
Globalisation and social differentiation
Globalisation should also be examined through AQA's theme of social differentiation.
Global processes may not have identical consequences for:
all individuals
all families
all households
all social groups.
The specification does not tell students what those differences are within this topic, so empirical conclusions require valid evidence.
Globalisation as a cross-specification concept
Globalisation appears beyond Families and Households in the AQA specification.
For example, the Culture and Identity content requires students to consider the relationship of identity to production, consumption and globalisation.
The revision plan therefore contains Production, consumption, globalisation and identity as a separate lesson.
This provides a useful synoptic distinction:
in Families and Households, globalisation is linked to demographic change
in Culture and Identity, globalisation is linked to identity.
Students should adapt the concept to the question being asked.
Globalisation should not become an all-purpose explanation
Because globalisation is broad, it can become vague very quickly.
Weak:
"This happened because of globalisation."
Stronger:
"The explanation needs to identify the particular global process involved, show how it affects demographic circumstances, and establish why this produces the pattern described."
This is a useful rule for any AQA question involving globalisation.
Migration and contemporary UK society
AQA's central focus is contemporary UK society, with comparative and global dimensions where relevant.
When discussing migration, students should therefore keep the UK demographic context central.
However, because migration crosses places and populations, its wider global context may also be important.
This creates a balance between:
UK demographic focus
and
global sociological context.
What evidence is needed for migration trends?
To describe migration as a demographic trend accurately, students need evidence showing:
what is being measured
the population involved
the period covered
the direction of change
the scale of change
whether the pattern fluctuates
differences between groups where data allow.
Quantitative evidence
Quantitative data are especially important for identifying migration as a demographic trend.
Numerical evidence may allow sociologists to:
compare time periods
identify population movement
examine demographic change
assess the scale of a pattern.
AQA requires students to understand quantitative methods and sources including official statistics.
Official statistics and migration
Official statistics may provide evidence about large-scale demographic patterns.
Their potential usefulness includes:
population coverage
numerical comparison
examination of changes across time.
However, AQA also requires students to examine the design of research and the strengths and limitations of the data used.
Official data should therefore be evaluated rather than automatically accepted as a complete account.
What exactly is being counted?
This is a particularly important question when analysing migration data.
Before interpreting a figure, ask:
Who is included?
What movement counts?
What time period is used?
Are the same definitions used across different years?
Is the figure a number, rate or proportion?
Without knowing the measure, students risk misinterpreting the trend.
Definitions may affect long-term comparisons
AQA requires demographic trends since 1900.
Long-term comparisons may be difficult if categories or data collection change.
When evaluating evidence, students should therefore consider whether:
definitions remain comparable
the population measured remains comparable
data are collected in similar ways.
This is a methodological rather than a substantive claim about any particular dataset.
Quantitative evidence may hide individual meanings
Numerical migration data can reveal large-scale movement.
They may reveal much less about:
why people moved
how movement was experienced
the meaning of family relationships
how household changes were negotiated.
Qualitative evidence may be useful for investigating these questions.
Qualitative evidence
Qualitative data provide detailed non-numerical evidence about meanings and experiences.
They may help sociologists investigate:
experiences of migration
family relationships
changes in personal life
how people interpret movement and belonging.
These are possible research areas rather than source-derived empirical findings.
Quantitative and qualitative evidence compared
Quantitative evidence | Qualitative evidence |
Identifies population movement | Explores meanings and experiences |
Useful for measuring demographic trends | Useful for understanding individual and family experiences |
Can compare periods | Can provide depth |
Useful for population-level analysis | Useful for social action analysis |
May conceal personal meanings | May be harder to generalise to the whole population |
The strongest method depends on the research question.
Migration and research design
AQA requires consideration of research design throughout substantive topics.
When studying migration, researchers may need to decide:
which population to study
how migration will be defined
which period to examine
whether quantitative or qualitative evidence is needed
whether family members should be studied together or separately.
These choices shape the conclusions that can be drawn.
Aggregate evidence and individual experiences
A recurring sociological distinction is between aggregate data and individual experience.
A migration statistic may identify a population pattern.
It does not tell us that:
everyone moved for the same reason
every family experienced movement identically
every household changed in the same way.
This provides another useful structure-action evaluation.
National patterns can conceal social differentiation
A UK-wide figure may conceal important variation.
AQA's core theme of social differentiation means students should avoid universal statements unless the evidence genuinely supports them.
Useful language includes:
"the overall population trend"
"the national pattern"
"the evidence may conceal differences between groups".
Correlation and causation
Suppose evidence shows that:
migration changes
family diversity also changes.
It would be tempting to conclude migration caused increased family diversity.
That conclusion is not automatically justified.
A strong explanation requires:
evidence that both changed
a mechanism linking them
evidence that the mechanism operated
consideration of alternative explanations.
Globalisation and causation
The same principle applies to globalisation.
Globalisation is a broad social process.
To use it as an explanation, students need to specify how the global context produces the demographic outcome being discussed.
Otherwise, "globalisation" becomes a label rather than an explanation.
Migration may be both cause and consequence within social change
At a broad analytical level, migration can be studied as part of a network of social changes.
Population movement may alter social circumstances, while wider social changes may also create circumstances associated with migration.
This is best understood as a sociological possibility requiring evidence, not as a guaranteed causal cycle.
Demographic change and family change
Migration therefore demonstrates why demographic change and family change can be linked without being identical.
Demographic change concerns population patterns.
Family change concerns relationships and structures.
A good sociological answer explains the connection between the two instead of treating one as a substitute for the other.
Migration and family diversity: evaluation
When evaluating claims about migration and family diversity, ask:
Does the evidence show actual family change?
Movement alone does not prove family structures changed.
Is the effect widespread?
One case does not establish a national pattern.
Are meanings included?
Household statistics may reveal less about significant personal relationships.
Does the explanation recognise social structure?
Migration occurs within wider social circumstances.
Does it recognise social action?
Individuals may respond differently.
Migration and household change: evaluation
Similarly, ask:
Is household structure actually measured?
Is the change temporary or long-term?
Are all members of the household represented?
Is migration genuinely the cause?
Are wider demographic or social processes involved?
This helps avoid simplistic explanations.
Globalisation and demographic change: evaluation
A strong evaluation of globalisation asks:
What does globalisation mean in this argument?
Which global connection is relevant?
How does it influence demographic behaviour?
What evidence supports the relationship?
Does the effect apply equally across society?
Are there alternative domestic explanations?
Is migration being confused with globalisation itself?
Globalisation and change versus continuity
Evidence of globalisation does not automatically mean national social structures have disappeared.
The UK remains the central focus of AQA Sociology while being situated within a globalised context.
A balanced sociological account can therefore recognise:
global connections
continuing national institutions
local family relationships.
Globalisation and national social organisation can coexist.
Consensus interpretations
AQA requires students to understand consensus theories across the course.
A consensus approach broadly emphasises:
social order
shared interests
cooperation
relationships between parts of society.
Applied to migration and demographic change, it could encourage examination of how population changes relate to the wider organisation of society.
Conflict interpretations
A conflict approach emphasises:
inequality
differences in interests
power
social divisions.
Applied to migration, it may encourage sociologists to ask whether:
demographic changes affect groups equally
opportunities and constraints are equally distributed
population statistics conceal wider inequalities.
Again, the specification provides the general theoretical framework but does not identify a named conflict theory of migration within Families and Households.
Consensus and conflict compared
Consensus interpretation | Conflict interpretation |
Emphasises social organisation | Emphasises inequality |
May focus on connections between population processes and wider society | May focus on differences in opportunities and power |
Gives attention to shared social relationships | Questions whether all groups experience change equally |
May understate inequalities | May understate cooperation or shared interests |
Evidence should determine which interpretation is most useful in a particular question.
Avoid treating migration as automatically positive or negative
Migration is first a demographic process.
Calling it:
beneficial
harmful
a problem
a solution
requires a separate argument and evidence.
A strong sociological answer asks:
Beneficial or harmful for whom, in what respect, and according to what evidence?
This avoids value-laden assumptions.
Avoid assuming migration explains every demographic trend
AQA also requires:
birth rates
death rates
family size
life expectancy
population ageing.
Migration should therefore be considered as one demographic process among several.
The importance of each depends on the particular question and evidence.
Avoid assuming globalisation means countries no longer matter
AQA itself keeps contemporary UK society at the centre of the specification while asking students to situate it within a globalised context.
Therefore, the sociological approach is not:
"Globalisation has made national society irrelevant."
Instead:
"UK social processes may need to be understood in relation to wider global connections."
Avoid stereotypes about migrant families
Demographic labels describe population categories.
They should not be used to infer automatically:
particular values
particular family structures
particular behaviours
particular identities.
These claims require specific sociological evidence.
AQA's core themes of culture, identity and social differentiation make this especially important.
Avoid assuming household structure reveals personal life
A household measure tells us about living arrangements.
It may not reveal every significant personal relationship.
This is why The sociology of personal life remains relevant when interpreting migration and household evidence.
Avoid using one family as evidence of a national trend
A personal example can help illustrate a sociological idea.
It cannot by itself establish a demographic pattern.
AQA specifically requires examination of evidence, so claims about national trends need appropriate population-level data.
Bringing Lessons 13 to 15 together
The demographic section of the revision plan contains three lessons:
Birth rates, death rates and family size
Life expectancy and the ageing population
Migration and globalisation
Together, they cover the full AQA demographic statement.
The key relationships can be summarised as:
births, deaths and migration
contribute to
population change
which can be examined through measures and patterns such as
family size, life expectancy and population ageing
within
a contemporary UK society situated in a globalised context.
This is a conceptual revision map, not a mathematical formula.
Bringing the whole Families and Households unit together
Migration and globalisation also provide an opportunity to connect the full unit.
AQA has required students to examine:
families and social structure
social change
the economy
state policies
marriage and cohabitation
separation and divorce
childbearing
the life course
personal life
family diversity
gender roles
domestic labour
power
childhood
demographic change.
Migration and globalisation provide a final reminder that none of these aspects of family life exists completely separately from wider society.
A synoptic family analysis
Imagine an Item describing changing UK population movement alongside changes in household arrangements.
A developed answer might consider:
migration as a demographic process
family diversity if household structures vary
social structure as a wider influence
social action to explain different individual responses
state policies if government intervention is mentioned
the economy if economic circumstances are part of the Item
globalisation if the change is connected to wider global processes.
This kind of linking is explicitly encouraged by AQA.
How to apply an Item about migration
Suppose an Item states:
Population movement has altered the demographic composition of an area. Some households have also changed their arrangements following movement, although families experiencing similar circumstances do not always respond in the same way.
A strong response could apply:
Demography
The change in population composition shows why migration is a demographic process.
Families and households
The Item explicitly connects movement with changing household arrangements.
Social structure
Wider circumstances may help explain patterns affecting many households.
Social action
Different responses show that structural circumstances do not determine family behaviour completely.
Family diversity
Different household outcomes may contribute to variation in arrangements.
Applying an Item about globalisation
Suppose an Item states:
Changes in the UK population are increasingly connected with events and relationships beyond the UK. However, national policies and local family circumstances continue to shape people's experiences.
A strong response could analyse:
globalisation, because the Item places UK demographic change in a wider global context
state policies, because national intervention remains relevant
social structure, because local circumstances shape opportunities
social action, because individuals may respond differently
change and continuity, because globalisation has not removed national or family contexts.
Evaluating migration evidence
When evaluating evidence, ask:
What counts as migration?
Definitions matter.
Who is included?
Population categories may exclude some experiences.
Is the evidence numerical?
This may establish scale but reveal less about meaning.
Is it comparable over time?
This is vital when discussing demographic trends since 1900.
Does it establish causation?
A migration trend occurring alongside family change does not prove one caused the other.
Does it conceal variation?
National figures may hide social differentiation.
Evaluating globalisation explanations
When a theory uses globalisation, ask:
Is globalisation clearly defined?
A vague reference to "the world becoming global" is not enough.
What process is proposed?
Explain how global connections influence demographic change.
Does it fit the evidence?
The explanation must account for the actual pattern.
Does it exaggerate global influence?
National institutions, policies and local circumstances may remain important.
Does it account for individual responses?
Global structural processes do not determine everyone identically.
Sociological significance of migration
Migration is sociologically significant because it connects several levels of social analysis:
individual action
family relationships
household structures
population patterns
wider social structures
global processes.
Its significance is therefore not limited to whether the population grows or falls.
It can form part of sociological explanations of how contemporary social life changes.
Specific empirical consequences, however, need supporting evidence.
Sociological significance of globalisation
Globalisation is significant because AQA expects contemporary UK society to be understood within a wider globalised context.
For demographic Sociology, this means students should avoid assuming that population change can always be explained entirely by processes contained within one country.
However, globalisation should also not replace detailed explanation.
The key question remains:
Which global process affects which demographic pattern, through what mechanism, and according to what evidence?
Overall evaluation
A strong conclusion should avoid two extremes.
Extreme 1: demographic determinism
Migration automatically transforms family life.
This ignores family diversity, social action and the need for causal evidence.
Extreme 2: complete individualism
Migration is purely a private personal choice.
This ignores wider social structures, policies, economic circumstances and global processes.
A more balanced sociological approach recognises that individual and family actions occur within wider structural and global contexts.
Building an examination argument đź§
For an extended response on migration and globalisation, a strong argument could:
Define migration as a demographic process.
Use valid evidence to establish the relevant migration pattern.
Explain how population movement may alter demographic composition.
Examine links with family or household arrangements.
Avoid assuming migration automatically causes family diversity.
Develop a structural explanation of migration.
Evaluate structural explanations using social action.
Consider the economy and state policies where relevant.
Explain globalisation as the wider global context of contemporary demographic change.
Show a specific mechanism connecting global processes to the pattern.
Apply social differentiation and avoid treating migrants as one homogeneous group.
Evaluate the quality and comparability of demographic evidence.
Distinguish correlation from causation.
Reach a reasoned judgement about the significance of migration and globalisation.
đź“Ś Exam tip:Â Avoid writing that migration or globalisation "changes families" without explaining the steps in the argument. Strong Sociology shows what changed, how the process works, which evidence supports it and whether alternative explanations remain.
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Migration | The movement of people between places in a way that may affect population patterns. | Explain migration as part of demographic change. |
Globalisation | The increasing significance of global connections and processes for social life. | Place UK demographic change within a wider global context. |
Demographic process | A process contributing to change within a population. | Explain how migration relates to births, deaths and population structure. |
Population composition | The characteristics and structure of the population being studied. | Explain why migration may change more than total population size. |
Family diversity | Variation in contemporary family relationships and structures. | Examine whether migration is related to changing family arrangements. |
Social structure | The wider organised patterns and relationships within society. | Explain wider influences on migration and demographic change. |
Social action | An approach emphasising people's meanings, interpretations and actions. | Examine different individual responses to wider migration circumstances. |
Social differentiation | Differences between individuals and social groups. | Challenge claims that all people involved in migration have identical experiences. |
Quantitative data | Numerical evidence used to identify and compare social patterns. | Measure demographic migration trends. |
Official statistics | Data produced by official organisations. | Examine large-scale population trends where relevant. |
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Treating migration only as an individual event
Why this is incorrect: AQA includes migration within its demographic trends, so students need to understand its population-level significance.
How to improve: Connect individual movement to wider population patterns.
Mistake: Inventing UK migration statistics
Why this is incorrect: The supplied specification identifies migration as required content but does not provide numerical historical evidence.
How to improve: Use statistics only from a validated course source or the examination Item.
Mistake: Treating migration and globalisation as the same concept
Why this is incorrect: Migration concerns population movement, while globalisation describes the wider global context and connections affecting contemporary society.
How to improve: Define each separately and then explain their relationship.
Mistake: Assuming migration automatically increases family diversity
Why this is incorrect: A migration pattern does not itself establish a causal change in family structure.
How to improve: Identify evidence of family change and explain the mechanism connecting the two.
Mistake: Treating migrants as one homogeneous group
Why this is incorrect: AQA requires students to apply social differentiation throughout substantive topics.
How to improve: Recognise that aggregate demographic categories can conceal different circumstances and experiences.
Mistake: Explaining migration entirely through personal choice
Why this is incorrect: This ignores wider social structures and circumstances.
How to improve: Use social action alongside structural explanations rather than as a replacement for them.
Mistake: Treating globalisation as an explanation by itself
Why this is incorrect: Writing "because of globalisation" does not explain the process causing the demographic change.
How to improve: Identify the particular global connection, explain the mechanism and support it with evidence.
Mistake: Assuming correlation proves causation
Why this is incorrect: Migration and another family or demographic trend changing together does not prove that one caused the other.
How to improve: Explain the causal process and consider competing explanations.
Mistake: Assuming globalisation makes UK society irrelevant
Why this is incorrect: AQA explicitly keeps contemporary UK society at the centre of the course while locating it within a globalised context.
How to improve: Analyse the interaction between global, national and family contexts.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Questions
1. Which one of the following is explicitly included by AQA as part of demographic trends in Families and Households?
A. Migration
B. Labelling
C. Marketisation
D. Secularisation
[1 mark]
2. Define the term migration as a demographic process.
[2 marks]
3. Explain one reason why migration should not be treated only as an individual event.
[4 marks]
4. Explain two ways in which migration may be relevant to the study of families and households.
[6 marks]
5. Read Item A and answer the question that follows.
Item A
Migration forms part of wider demographic change. Population movement occurs within wider social circumstances, but people experiencing similar circumstances do not necessarily make the same decisions. Changes in migration may also be associated with changing household arrangements.
Using material from Item A, analyse two differences between structural and social action approaches to migration.
[10 marks]
6. Read Item B and answer the question that follows.
Item B
A researcher argues that globalisation has caused changes in UK family and household structures. The research shows that migration and family diversity have both changed over the same period, but it provides little information about the mechanisms connecting the two trends.
Using material from Item B and your knowledge, analyse two reasons why the researcher's conclusion should be treated cautiously.
[10 marks]
7. Explain two ways in which globalisation may be sociologically significant when studying demographic change.
[6 marks]
8. Evaluate the significance of migration and globalisation for contemporary families and households.
[20 marks]
Answers and indicative mark scheme
Question 1
Answer: A. Migration
Award 1 mark for the correct response.
Question 2
Award up to 2 marks for an answer recognising migration as:
movement of people between places
that forms part of wider population or demographic change.
Question 3
Award up to 4 marks for a developed explanation.
Indicative content:
An individual move is one personal event.
Migration across many individuals can alter population patterns.
Sociologists can therefore examine migration at both individual and demographic levels.
Population-level evidence is needed to establish a wider migration trend.
Question 4
Award up to 3 marks for each developed way.
Possible answers include:
Migration may be associated with changes in household arrangements.
Migration can form part of people's changing family circumstances across the life course.
Migration may need to be considered alongside family and household diversity.
Family relationships may form part of the context in which movement occurs.
Migration may alter the demographic context in which families and households exist.
Answers should explain the relationship rather than simply state that migration affects families.
Question 5
A strong answer should apply Item A directly.
Structural approach
Item A refers to "wider social circumstances".
Structural explanations focus on opportunities and constraints produced through wider society.
They may explain why migration forms a large-scale demographic pattern rather than merely a collection of unrelated personal decisions.
Social action approach
Item A says people facing similar circumstances do not make identical decisions.
Social action approaches emphasise meanings, interpretations and individual responses.
They therefore help explain variation within wider demographic patterns.
Analysis
Higher-level answers may conclude that structural approaches are useful for explaining common circumstances affecting population movement, while social action approaches explain why those circumstances do not determine every individual's behaviour.
Question 6
Strong responses could develop two of the following.
Correlation does not prove causation
Item B states that migration and family diversity changed during the same period.
This establishes a possible association rather than proving one caused the other.
A causal explanation requires a mechanism and supporting evidence.
Globalisation is too broad unless specified
Saying globalisation caused the change does not identify the particular global process involved.
The researcher needs to explain how the global context produced demographic or family change.
Alternative explanations
Family diversity may also be related to wider social change, individual social action, economic circumstances or state policies.
Migration may therefore be only one part of the explanation.
Lack of evidence about family experience
Demographic statistics may show movement and structural patterns but provide limited information about personal relationships or meanings.
Additional evidence may be needed to establish how households actually changed.
Question 7
Award up to 3 marks for each developed way.
Possible answers include:
Globalisation places UK demographic change within wider global connections rather than treating the UK population as completely isolated.
It may provide a structural context for understanding migration.
It encourages sociologists to examine relationships between global processes and national demographic patterns.
It may help link population change to wider social change.
It provides a global dimension to the analysis of contemporary UK society, which AQA explicitly requires where relevant.
Question 8
A strong extended response should combine knowledge, analysis and evaluation.
Indicative AO1 content
Students may explain:
migration
globalisation
demographic change
population composition
family and household diversity
the life course
social structure
social action
social change
the economy
state policies
social differentiation
quantitative and qualitative evidence.
Indicative analysis and evaluation
Developed responses might argue that:
Migration is significant because it is one of the demographic processes AQA requires students to study in the UK since 1900.
Migration can alter population patterns and therefore needs to be considered alongside births, deaths, life expectancy and population ageing.
Migration may also be relevant to changing family and household arrangements.
However, demographic movement should not automatically be treated as the cause of family diversity.
Evidence needs to establish a mechanism linking migration to family change.
Structural approaches are useful because population movement occurs within wider social circumstances.
The economy and state policies may form part of these structural circumstances where evidence demonstrates a relationship.
However, structural explanations risk determinism.
Social action approaches recognise different individual meanings and responses.
An entirely individualistic explanation may itself be limited because it does not account adequately for large-scale population patterns.
Globalisation is significant because contemporary UK society should be located within its wider globalised context.
However, globalisation is not a complete explanation unless the particular process and causal mechanism are identified.
Globalisation and migration should not be treated as identical concepts.
Family diversity means one consequence of migration should not automatically be generalised to every family or household.
Social differentiation also means migrants should not be treated as a single homogeneous category.
Quantitative evidence may establish the scale and direction of demographic migration patterns.
Qualitative evidence may provide greater insight into family meanings and experiences.
Long-term demographic comparisons require attention to changing definitions and the comparability of evidence.
National migration patterns may conceal significant variation between groups.
Claims that migration or globalisation are automatically positive or negative involve value judgements that require supporting evidence.
Migration should be treated as one demographic process among several rather than as a complete explanation of population change.
Judgement
A well-supported conclusion could argue that migration is sociologically significant because it connects individual actions, family relationships and large-scale demographic change. Globalisation broadens this analysis by locating UK demographic processes within a wider global context. However, neither migration nor globalisation should be used as an automatic explanation for changing families. Their significance depends on the specific demographic pattern, the mechanisms connecting population movement to family and household change, and the quality of the supporting evidence.
This completes the 4.2.2 Families and Households lesson sequence in the supplied revision plan, covering all five Families and Households content areas identified by AQA and ending with the specification's required study of migration and globalisation.
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