9th June 2012.  Sociology A2  - see 2012 research on ethnic differences in health, plus other post-2000 research under 'LRA SY4 Ethnicity and Health’. Use this as evidence for SY4, the Understanding Social Inequality question. The Karlsen and Nazroo (2011) study provides evidence of health differences between different religious groups to show the interplay between factors such as religion, ethnicity, gender, age, location and socioeconomic status. In other words, the latest research is telling us that health outcomes vary according to religion within ethnic groups. It is a more complicated picture than some research has allowed for, supporting Karslen and Nazroo’s argument (2011) that “..the amalgamation of groups under broad headings disguises important heterogeneity within them.”    

       Use the outbreak of Legionnaires Disease in Scotland (number of cases now 74) as a example of the very direct way in which location and socioeconomics can affect health. Link it with your Marxist explanation of inequality in part B. Remember that in A you are providing evidence for inequality and that in B you must provide sociological explanations for inequalities in society. So, for example, you could use (along with a range of evidence), the Maynard et.al. (2012) study on suicide rates amongst migrants to England and Wales in A, then present the explanations for their findings (and those of other researchers in B). Do not neglect ‘How Fair is Britain? 2010. Further warning - do not get bogged down describing any single study (a line or so will do); you are using the studies to provide evidence that the inequality exists, prior to considering the various explanations as to why it exists.