HS1001 Person and Society

How would family sociologists explain sibling rivalry? You should apply at least two sociological theories (e.g. functionalist, conflict and/or symbolic interactionist perspectives) to support your arguments. In your discussion, you could: 

1. Analyse the extent to which social structural factors like class, ethnic/cultural background and/or gender of children (siblings) may account for variations in the social phenomenon of sibling rivalry. 

2. Examine how parents’ marital relationships and parenting styles may impact children’s ‘sibling relationships’, particularly the form and extent of sibling rivalry. 

If you are tasked to conduct face-to-face depth interviews with people who have had experienced or who are currently experiencing some form of sibling rivalry or having problems coping with a difficult sibling, propose how you would go about conducting your research, starting from stating your research objective(s), and moving on to describing your sampling design, data collection and analysis methods. 

In proposing your research, you should demonstrate your understanding of family sociology research by reviewing the theoretical assumptions underlying the research approach and data collection method that you have proposed. Also, critically evaluate the pros and cons of using this approach and method for research on sibling rivalry. 

This assignment requires you to provide a sociological analysis of the social phenomenon of sibling rivalry. You should use relevant sociological theories and concepts to beef up your arguments and provide evidence and examples (from your additional research and readings where necessary) to support your ideas. Also, do refrain from applying psychological theories in your discussion. 

On your task to conduct research on sibling rivalry, you should demonstrate your understanding of the macro-level or micro-level approaches used in family sociology research and discuss the methodological considerations by describing briefly your sampling, data collection method and data analysis. [NOTE: You should write about 500 words for this part of your essay, out of the recommended 1,200-word length for this assignment].