AQA Qualifications A-LEVEL SOCIOLOGY

AQA Qualifications A-LEVEL SOCIOLOGY SCLY4/Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods; Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods Report on the Examination 2190 June 2013 Version: 1.0

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SCLY4 Report on the Examination General The majority of students were able to answer all the questions in their chosen section. Few students missed out whole questions but, when they did, there were obvious consequences for the overall mark. There has been an improvement overall in responses to the Methods in Context questions. Students were more able to demonstrate the skill of application and tended to use the Item more effectively in their responses. Section A Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods The great majority of students chose this Section. Crime and Deviance Question 01 In general, this question was not well answered. The best responses were able to provide an excellent analysis of the stages of a moral panic, drawing on Cohen and Hall. These responses gave detailed explanations of the deviance amplification spiral. Some added other examples of moral panics, particularly hoodies, paedophiles and the 2011 riots, in the latter case sometimes including a discussion of the use of social networking. Some students referred to Young s study to explain the impact of the moral panic on the deviants. More analytical answers explained the impact on the public, the agencies of social control and on legislation as well as on the deviants. Students also made reference to the role of moral entrepreneurs. However, evaluation was limited even in the best responses. Those that did evaluate discussed the datedness of the concept and/or the diversity of the media and audience today. A few students did assess whether moral panics were a genuine response to a real problem, or the result of media excesses on quiet news days; others made reference to the need for media organisations to make a profit. However, many students showed a very weak grasp of what a moral panic actually involved. Often, the description of the process started well enough with labelling, but failed to include reference to the moral entrepreneurs and the call for changes in policy or law. Other students knew a lot about media influence theory, though very little about moral panics, but nonetheless attempted some sort of assessment of the fear produced by the media. In many cases, knowledge was reasonable, but what students struggled with was the AO2 skill of evaluation; this kept their marks lower in the middle band or just into higher in this band. Many answers included some theoretical explanation of moral panics, often Marxist and functionalist, although these were not always well applied, and were often simply juxtaposed rather than used evaluatively. Weak answers tended to drift into material on news values and fear of crime without introducing any knowledge of moral panics beyond the Item. Answers often strayed into discussions of media effects and/or representations of different groups. Many students showed a very limited understanding of what a moral panic involved. Large numbers only mentioned exaggeration by the media and fear on the part of the public. Answers were then filled in with material about news values, media effects, and fear of crime and representations of groups. Many, therefore, touched on some relevant points but were lacking detail, precision and focus. 3of 8

Question 02 Answers to this question were quite variable in quality. There was some sound and often quite extensive knowledge. More focused answers were able to build on the Item to develop the functionalist view of punishment, drawing on Durkheim, and referencing social solidarity and shared norms and values. These students normally then contrasted this with a Marxist view of the role of punishment in maintaining social order, usually with reference to repressive state apparatuses. With regard to forms of punishment, more sophisticated answers discussed the links between forms of punishment, aims of punishment and changes in attitudes and approaches over time, including discussion of Foucault. A wide range of forms of punishment were discussed in better answers, including prison, community service, the death penalty and cutting off hands. In the best answers these forms were linked to functions of punishment for both the offender and for society. Some students also discussed forms of punishment from a Marxist perspective, linking prison to factories and the idea of doing time. Many students managed to identify at least two functions and several forms of punishment, although many of these were the most severe forms, particularly historical, cross-cultural and/or gruesome ones. However, a surprising number mentioned only prison. The most frequently cited functions were retribution and rehabilitation. Some students were able to discuss both functionalist and Marxist functions of punishment, but without linking the two evaluatively or making any comparison between the two. This lack of evaluation limited the marks available. Some students failed to deal with both aspects of the question and weaker answers focused mainly on forms. Some answers drifted into discussion about crime and crime prevention. This was particularly true of those answers that used a right realist versus left realist framework. With regard to forms of punishment, weaker responses adopted a list-like approach. Many students wrote about sociological explanations of crime rather than of punishment. It was noticeable that a higher proportion of students than usual wrote whole sections based on personal opinion, rather than sociological theory and evidence. In particular, many weak answers claimed that prisons were too luxurious, arguing that the death penalty needed reinstating, on the fallacious grounds that in the USA it kept the murder rate down. Methods in Context Question 03 It was clear that many schools and colleges are now preparing students well for this question. By using the prompts that were in the Item, good answers identified a range of strengths and limitations of group interviews, and linked these clearly to the specific problems posed by the fact that the group under investigation were young offenders. A good proportion made the link between difficulties of communication between the interviewer and the group, the importance of the internal dynamics of such a group, and/or the effects of hostility to authority. Many students, although not always able to make a full connection between the method and the issue, were nevertheless able to identify some specific research characteristics of young offenders. Many of these were developed from the Item, such as discussing issues of access and setting up an interview within a prison. However, these answers often failed to make the full connection to the method because they sometimes discussed interviews in general rather than specifically group interviews. 4of 8

Some students continue to be unclear about the demands of Methods in Context questions. Some weaker answers took points from the Item about research characteristics of young offenders such as difficulties of access, linguistic and cognitive difficulties and resentment against authority, but without developing these or making any attempt to link them to the method. Others just wrote a list of strengths and limitations of the method, but without any mention of the context or the group being researched. A small minority of students digressed into discussing why alternative methods might or might not be appropriate rather than maintaining their focus on the method in the question. Some students gave responses that discussed reasons for the criminal behaviour of young offenders, thus showing a poor understanding of the fact that this is a question in which the key skill that they need to demonstrate is application of a particular method to a research focus. Theory and Methods Question 04 Many students demonstrated a good understanding of Marxist theorists and presented accounts of the work of Marx, Althusser, Gramsci and, less frequently, Engels and Harvey. Better answers used this material to explore how Marxism has helped us to understand today s society, for example, by discussing the impact of globalisation. Although some answers addressed contemporary issues in society, and how Marxism may or may not be useful in explaining these, other answers remained somewhat timeless. Better responses were able to discuss Marxist views on society with reference to concepts such as alienation, exploitation, conflict, false class consciousness, class conflict, and repressive and ideological state apparatuses. Such answers exhibited a coherent and analytical approach. These ideas were then reinforced and illustrated by reference to substantive topics such as families and households, religion and crime, including reference to specific studies or authors. Good answers used such material to illustrate Marxist ideas, rather than simply discussing Marxist views on a particular topic such as religion. The best answers were analytical and detailed accounts, and often included neo-marxist and Marxist feminist ideas, as well as examining structural and humanist Marxism. Evaluation was woven throughout the answer by the use of alternative sociological perspectives to counter those drawn from Marxism. Weaker answers sometimes referred only to Marxists in general throughout, and either gave a very weak descriptive account of the importance of class divisions, or a paragraph on what Marxists say about each of the substantive topics covered: for example, that "religion is the opiate of the masses". Some answers were very descriptive and lacked any overview of the nature of Marxist views of society; rather, they merely recounted Marxist views on aspects of substantive topics. Some students wasted a lot of time and effort simply juxtaposing other theories. It is not enough for students simply to state all they know about these other theories; they need to use them analytically and evaluatively, for example, by examining similarities and differences, strengths and limitations thereof. Students often presented one or two specific points of criticism, though in many cases these were restricted to the argument that communism did not work and/or still produced criminals and so Marxism was wrong. 5of 8

Section B Stratification and Differentiation with Theory and Methods Very few students opted for this section and the following comments are based on a very limited range of responses. Stratification and Differentiation Question 05 Students struggled a little with this question, partly because the studies many of them cited were outside the timescale of the question. The best answers had knowledge of a number of studies of social mobility (although not all within the timescale), such as the Oxford Mobility Study or Scottish Mobility Study. Some had conceptual knowledge and were able to apply concepts such as inter- and intra-generational mobility, or were able to examine the social mobility of different groups, such as women or ethnic minorities. However, even among these answers, few directly engaged with the notion of change. Many weaker responses gave descriptive accounts of different social classes, relying on simplistic characterisations of social class. In these answers, there was little focus on the notion of social mobility, and more on how social class might be measured or understood. Some students did consider sociological explanations of social mobility but still did not engage with the notion of change. Question 06 Some students found it hard to deal with all the aspects of this question: stereotyping, discrimination and life chances. However, many better answers did define the key terms in the question, which gave their answers a more sociological focus. Good answers were able to develop the points from the Item to discuss how stereotypical views may lead to discrimination and how this may have a negative impact on life chances. Here, examples were typically linked to education and/or employment, and were supported with relevant studies. Some students were also able to evaluate the effectiveness of legislation. Most students were able to give relevant examples of stereotyping and discrimination, often with reference to labelling theory, but not explicitly linked to life chances and often discussed these issues only in relation to ethnicity. Many students simply gave examples of discrimination or stereotyping, with some responses showing very little sociological knowledge. Weaker answers had very limited conceptual knowledge, although labelling theory was sometimes used with success to explain discrimination and stereotyping. A small number of responses gave weak accounts of limited life chances without explaining why either stereotyping or discrimination may have impacted upon these, such as ethnic minorities underachieving or women having lower pay. Methods in Context Question 07 Most students appeared to grasp the nature of Methods in Context questions and, as such, few offered answers that were based solely on either discussion of the research issue, or a methods only account of unstructured interviews. Most students had good knowledge of the method, although at times this was applied in a rather list-like fashion. Better answers showed a greater development of points from the Item, such as how young people with disabilities may be keen to engage with research, as it may give them a feeling of independence from their carers. 6of 8

Others picked up on the fact that there may be problems of access to these young people, depending on the nature of their disability, and that this may mean that a carer is present at the interview; in such cases, this was usually linked to difficulty of gaining rapport. Other points of application considered the communication skills of the interviewee. Many students applied their knowledge and understanding of the method to disability, but not many considered the independence aspect of the question. Most students were able to consider both the method and the issue, although they did not always connect the two. Theory and Methods Question 08 Many students demonstrated a good understanding of Marxist theorists and presented accounts of the work of Marx, Althusser, Gramsci and, less frequently, Engels and Harvey. Better answers used this material to explore how Marxism has helped us to understand today s society, for example, by discussing the impact of globalisation. Although some answers addressed contemporary issues in society, and how Marxism may or may not be useful in explaining these, other answers remained somewhat timeless. Better responses were able to discuss Marxist views on society with reference to concepts such as alienation, exploitation, conflict, false class consciousness, class conflict, and repressive and ideological state apparatuses. Such answers exhibited a coherent and analytical approach. These ideas were then reinforced and illustrated by reference to substantive topics such as families and households, religion and crime, including reference to specific studies or authors. Good answers used such material to illustrate Marxist ideas, rather than simply discussing Marxist views on a particular topic such as religion. The best answers were analytical and detailed accounts, and often included neo-marxist and Marxist-feminist ideas, as well as examining structural and humanist Marxism. Evaluation was woven throughout the answer by the use of alternative sociological perspectives to counter those drawn from Marxism. Weaker answers sometimes referred only to Marxists in general throughout and either gave a very weak descriptive account of the importance of class divisions or one paragraph each on what Marxists say about the substantive topics, for example that "religion is the opiate of the masses". Some answers were very descriptive and lacked any overview of the nature of Marxist views of society; rather, they merely recounted Marxist views on aspects of substantive topics. Some students wasted a lot of time and effort simply juxtaposing other theories. Students need to know that it is not enough simply to state all they know about these other theories; they need to use them analytically and evaluatively, for example by examining similarities and differences, strengths and limitations. Students often presented one or two specific points of criticism, though in many cases these were restricted to the argument that communism did not work and/or still produced criminals and so Marxism was wrong. 7of 8

Mark Ranges and Award of Grades Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results Statistics page of the AQA Website. Converting Marks into UMS marks Convert raw marks into Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) marks by using the link below. UMS conversion calculator www.aqa.org.uk/umsconversion 8of 8