Key sociological research for Cambridge OCR A Level Sociology

Looking for a clearer way to revise social class inequality?
This student guide pulls together some of the most useful sociological research on social class inequalities for Cambridge OCR A Level Sociology. These studies help explain how class continues to shape people’s wealth, jobs, life chances, health and opportunities. If you want stronger evidence in essays and better examples in shorter answers, these are the names worth knowing.

There is also a free download at the end of this post with some of the key contemporary studies gathered together in one place for revision.

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Social class inequality is about more than income

When students first begin revising social class, it is easy to think the topic is mainly about rich and poor people or differences in earnings. Sociology pushes this further. Social class inequality is also about wealth, inheritance, housing, employment security, social mobility, health and access to resources.

That means two people might earn similar wages, but still have very different life chances. One may have family wealth, a house deposit, social connections and a safety net. The other may have none of those things. This is why sociologists argue that class inequality is often structural. It is built into how society is organised rather than simply being the result of individual effort.

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Rowlingson and Mullineux (2013): wealth is deeply unequal

Karen Rowlingson and Andrew Mullineux are especially useful because they shift attention from income to wealth. Their Birmingham report shows that wealth in Britain is distributed far more unevenly than income. A relatively small group holds a very large share of the country’s wealth, while many others have little savings or property and may even be in debt.

This is important for sociology because wealth creates long-term security. It gives people more protection from hardship and more opportunities to pass advantages on to their children. This study is a strong one to use when explaining why class inequality continues across generations.

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Atkinson (2013): inheritance helps reproduce class advantage

A.B. Atkinson’s work on inherited wealth is one of the clearest studies to use when explaining how inequality is passed on. His research shows that inheritance has remained a significant force in shaping inequality and, in recent decades, has become increasingly important again.

This matters because it challenges the idea that society is fully meritocratic. If some people begin life with inherited advantages such as money, property or family financial support, then opportunities are not equally distributed from the start. Atkinson is a very useful study for showing how class inequality is reproduced through family wealth rather than just individual achievement.

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Roberts (2001): social mobility is not equally open to all

Ken Roberts is helpful when thinking about social mobility and transitions from education into work. His work suggests that although movement between classes can happen, these opportunities are not shared equally. Middle-class young people are more likely to move into stable and secure employment, while working-class young people are more likely to experience more uncertainty and fewer opportunities.

This study is particularly useful in OCR sociology because it helps students challenge the idea that everyone has the same chance to succeed. Mobility may exist, but it is shaped by class background.

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Gallie (2000): economic change hits the working class hardest

David Gallie is useful for explaining how wider economic change affects different social classes in different ways. His work suggests that working-class and manual occupations were disproportionately affected by economic restructuring, including deskilling and insecurity.

This is important because it links class inequality to structural change in the economy. When industries decline or work becomes more insecure, the effects are often concentrated among those already in weaker positions. Gallie is therefore a strong study to use when writing about work, insecurity and the unequal effects of economic change.

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Wakeman (2015): poverty affects everyday life

Wakeman is a memorable example because it focuses on the everyday experience of poverty. This study is linked to food banks and nutritional deficiencies, showing how long-term reliance on food support can make it harder for people to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

For students, this is a very useful study because it brings class inequality down to the level of daily life. Poverty is not only about low income in a statistical sense. It can affect food quality, health and well-being. Wakeman is a strong study to use when showing the real-life consequences of deprivation.

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Savage et al. (2013): class is about more than occupation

Mike Savage and colleagues provide one of the most contemporary approaches to class. Their Great British Class Survey argued that class is not simply based on occupation. Instead, they suggested that class should be understood through economic capital, social capital and cultural capital.

This is particularly useful because it gives students a more modern way of thinking about class. A person’s position in society is shaped not just by what job they do, but also by their networks, tastes, cultural knowledge and access to opportunities. Savage et al. helps show that class in contemporary Britain is more complex than traditional models suggest.

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Friedman and Laurison (2019): the class ceiling

Sam Friedman and Daniel Laurison offer a brilliant study for students because it gives you a phrase that is easy to remember: the class ceiling. Their research shows that even when people from working-class backgrounds enter elite professions, they often still earn less and progress less easily than colleagues from more privileged backgrounds.

This is a really valuable study because it shows that inequality does not disappear once someone reaches a high-status career. Class background can still shape confidence, networks, workplace culture and promotion. It is a strong piece of evidence against the claim that Britain is a simple meritocracy.

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What do these studies show overall?

Taken together, these studies show that social class inequality is reproduced through:

• wealth
• inheritance
• insecure work
• limited mobility
• poor living conditions
• unequal access to resources and opportunities

The overall message is clear. Social class still matters. It affects where people start in life, the opportunities they have, and the outcomes they are likely to experience.

That is why this topic is such an important part of Cambridge OCR A Level Sociology. It encourages students to think sociologically about inequality, rather than seeing success and failure purely as matters of personal choice.

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How to revise this topic

A useful way to organise your revision is to group studies into themes:

Wealth and inheritance
Rowlingson and Mullineux
Atkinson

Work and mobility
Roberts
Gallie
Friedman and Laurison

Poverty and everyday life
Wakeman

Contemporary class theory
Savage et al.

This makes it much easier to remember which study to use in different types of exam question.

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Download here

To make revision easier, I’ve put together a free download of some of the key contemporary studies on social class inequality. It is designed as a quick revision resource so you can keep the main arguments, examples and key names in one place.

It is ideal for building stronger essay evidence, refreshing your memory before assessments, or simply keeping the most useful studies together in a format that is easier to revise from.

One of the biggest lessons from sociology is that inequality is rarely accidental. The research on social class keeps pointing us in the same direction: where you begin in life still has a major impact on where you are likely to end up.

And that is exactly why social class remains such an important topic in sociology.

• Essential Studies on Social Class Inequality for A Level Sociology
• Cambridge OCR A Level Sociology: Research Methods and Researching Social Inequalities
• Secondary Sort
• Participant Observation Fishbowl
• Reliability Test: Using Video to Teach Reliability in Non-Participant Observation