The media, globalisation and popular culture P2

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

These require answers that are essays and are best written in paragraphs. A brief introduction can help set out the argument of the essay. It will not attract marks if it only repeats the question or parts of the item. The purpose of the items for these questions is to suggest a few starting points for students, including ways into evaluation. Students are expected to also bring in further ideas (“and your knowledge” in the instruction) rather than relying only on the item. A wide range of material can be relevant to these questions, so students need to be selective. It is more effective to cover a limited number of views/theories in depth rather than to try to include everything. Students should keep to the question. When a question is about a particular view, other views can be used for evaluation but without writing all that the student knows about them. There was a tendency for answers to progressively lose sight of the question and to become a list of different views. Students who made brief essay plans appeared to benefit by having more structured and coherent responses. Although this question was focused on one perspective, answers tended to try to cover several perspectives with only a short section on postmodernism itself. The best approach to a question like this is to use other perspectives only to evaluate (for example, by explaining points of agreement and difference). Some answers were limited by taking postmodernism as a synonym for pluralism. There were also some very good answers, showing knowledge of a range of studies and concepts.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• keep postmodernism central and use other perspectives (pluralism, Marxism, feminisms) only to evaluate it
• many gave several perspectives with little on postmodernism, and some treated postmodernism as pluralism

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

The nature of these questions means that students cannot rely on reciting knowledge. Questions will ask them to bring together aspects of their sociological knowledge in ways they are unlikely to have done before. It is therefore important for students to allow time to think about how to answer the question. Students should be made aware that there are two types of 10 mark questions. These have different requirements and different mark schemes. There are different marks available for the assessment objectives. The items for 10 mark “analyse” questions are written to give prompts or “hooks” for student answers. These have to be used to access application marks. Answers can indicate use of hooks by quoting, by a reference in parentheses or by wording (eg “As the item says…”). Items end with a sentence restating the question; the hooks are in the preceding part of the item. Introductions and conclusions are not required for 10 mark questions and take up valuable time. It is helpful if answers are set out to clearly indicate the two separate points, with wording such as “One way/reason is…” or by starting a new paragraph for the second point. Answers that give more than two points are unlikely to develop two of them sufficiently. Question 20: Most answers were able to develop from the item two ways that globalisation affects the content of the news. Popular answers included citizen journalism and the immediacy of reporting leading to less checking of facts and more misleading information.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• hooks: speed of communication and smartphone uploads
• e.g. demand for breaking news and live images, citizen journalism, less fact-checking
• drift into other media content = 1–3
• popular answers: citizen journalism and immediacy causing misinformation

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• no marks for evaluation in this question type
• two ways each developed, e.g. participatory culture blurring producer and consumer, globalised popular culture, influencers, speed of memes
• analysis of how popular culture differs from high or mass culture
• drift into media in general = 1–3
• no examiners' report comment for this part

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• must develop hooks from Item M (global corporations, greater consumer choice)
• the last line restates the question and is not a hook
• credited: global corporations controlling content, audience choice forcing producers to meet demand, choice limiting media influence
• drift into media effects = 1–3
• no examiners' report comment for this part

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• apply Item M (corporations shaping lifestyle images, reach weakening local cultures)
• e.g. Western consumerist ideology, global brands
• evaluation e.g. local cultures absorbing and transforming external influences
• drift into media effects = tangent

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

A number of students wrote introductory paragraphs and/or conclusions. These are not necessary, and are unlikely to gain additional marks. A number of students made only one point in their answer, or three or more, rather than the two asked for. In these cases, the two best answers were rewarded and will be in future series. It is helpful for students to clearly indicate their two answers, with wording such as “One way is…” or by starting a new paragraph for their second point. Schools and colleges should note that there is no reference in the mark scheme for 10 mark ‘outline and explain’ questions to evaluation, and that evaluation is not a requirement for answers to these questions. The assessment objective allocations are different in the two types of 10 mark questions, and students should be made aware of this. There was a wide range of responses to these questions. A minority of students wrote very brief answers. For these 10 mark items, a simple statement of two ways, reasons or factors, without development, is not sufficient to access more than the lower marks in the mark range. The best answers were focused, clearly stating a point and then developing it, with use of sociological concepts, evidence and theory where appropriate, in ways that demonstrated the skills expected from the targeted assessment objectives. There was a tendency, however, for many answers to focus on the first aspect of the question at the expense of the second. Students need guidance on how to approach these questions and how to best demonstrate their sociological understanding. The nature of these questions means that students cannot rely on reciting knowledge. They require students to bring together two aspects of their sociological knowledge in a way that they are unlikely to have done before. Answers will sometimes require claims that students may be unsure of because they do not know of specific evidence (for example, in question 5, whether migrants from Eastern Europe who are single workers tend to live alone or in shared households). However, answers that are sociologically plausible will be accepted. There were some very good answers to this question. Some students struggled with the ‘new’ media aspect and wrote about the media in general. Good points were made about, for example, global branding and advertising, the availability of social media and the dominance of American or Western cultural forms.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• must be the new media specifically (social media, TNCs, global advertising, cultural homogenisation)
• a list of popular-culture factors = 1–3
• some wrote about the media in general