Religion and social groups: gender, ethnicity, age and class P2

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 have not done before. It is therefore important for students to allow time to think about how to answer the question. Students should be aware that there are two types of ten-mark questions. These have different requirements and different mark schemes. There are different marks available for the assessment objectives. 10 mark “outline and explain” questions have more marks available for knowledge and understanding, and none for evaluation. Introductions and conclusions are not required for 10-mark questions, are unlikely to help students and take up time. It is helpful if answers are set out to clearly indicate the two answers, with wording such as “One way/reason is…” or by starting a new paragraph for the second point. Answers that give more than two answers are unlikely to develop two of them sufficiently. The most successful answers to 10-mark questions were focused, clearly stating a point that addressed the question and then developing it, using sociological concepts, evidence such as an example and, where appropriate, theory. Some students found it difficult to interpret “social groups”, although this term is in the specification, and gave two reasons for secularisation rather than addressing the question. There were some unorthodox social groups, but credit as given where these were reasonable and plausible. Many better answers focused on age and ethnicity; for example, ethnic minorities and cultural defence slowing secularisation down and young people no longer feeling religious speeding it up.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• must be how social groups (age, class, ethnicity, gender, urban populations) influence secularisation, not general reasons for secularisation (= 1–3)
• plausible unorthodox groups credited
• good answers: ethnic minorities' cultural defence slowing it, young people speeding it

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

Most students answered their chosen questions in the order in which they appeared on the question paper. They therefore answered the section B 20 mark question last. For some this was a relatively brief and often apparently unfinished answer. This suggests that students need to track carefully time spent on each question. 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). 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 include every possible theory. Students who made essay plans appeared to benefit by having more structured and coherent responses. Question 15: The best answers here were very good, applying a range of ideas from across the topic to ethnicity. Some answers were brief, perhaps because this question was being answered last. Others drifted from the question to, for example, a general discussion of secularisation.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• top band debates religiosity across ethnic groups and the impact of secularisation
• criticism of cultural defence/transition is credited evaluation
• some drifted into general secularisation
• some answers brief, perhaps done last

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. The questions will ask them to bring together aspects of their sociological knowledge in a way that they are unlikely to have done before. There was a tendency, however, to attempt to answer the question by giving knowledge based on words or phrases in the question, rather than meeting the demands of the question. Students are advised to spend time reading the question, and, where there is one the item, to ensure that they are answering the question. Some students seemed unaware of the different demands of the two types of questions. The marks awarded for the assessment objectives are different in the two types of ten mark questions, and students should be aware of this. In particular, it should be noted that there are no marks available for evaluation in “outline and explain” (no item) questions. There is no need for an introduction or conclusion for 10 mark questions. It is helpful if answers are set out to clearly indicate the two answers, with wording such as “One way is…” or by starting a new paragraph for the second point. The best answers to 10 mark questions were focused, clearly stating a point that addressed the question and then developing it, using sociological concepts, evidence and, where appropriate, theory. Answers need to address all aspects of the question. Q13 A number of answers to this question wrote in general terms about effects of globalisation on religious beliefs and practices rather than focusing on minority ethnic groups in the UK. Answers which leant themselves to a focus on minority ethnic groups included cultural defence and cultural transition. Among more general answers were those that looked at the growth of private worship and online religion.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• must focus on minority ethnic groups in the UK
• many wrote generally about globalisation and religion (online religion, private worship) and drifted
• cultural defence and cultural transition were the most fitting answers

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

There was a tendency for answers to focus on general points about gender and religion (such as women being excluded from the priesthood) without explaining why these might or might not apply in the case of New Age movements. Some answers confused New Age movements with sects and cults or with New Religious movements. The 10-mark “outline and explain” questions produced variable answers. A common fault was to focus on one element of the question only, rather than recognising that the question required connections to be made between different elements. Students need guidance from their teachers to appreciate that these questions may require them to bring together learning from different sections of the specification within the topic. Students also need to be aware that there are no marks available for evaluation on this question.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• reasons specific to New Age movements: expressive role, escape from patriarchal traditional religion, emphasis on personal experience, nature and healing
• general gender-and-religion points (e.g. exclusion from priesthood) not tied to New Age gain little
• confusing New Age with sects, cults or NRMs is common
• no marks for evaluation in this question type (examiners' report general remark)

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

They therefore answered the section B 20 mark essay question last, and for many this was, as last year, a relatively brief and often apparently unfinished answer. This suggests that time management continues to be a problem for many students on this paper. As last year, many scripts had one substantial answer to the Section A 20-mark question and one significantly briefer one for Section B, suggesting problems with timing. There was often little evidence of planning. A wide range of material can be relevant to these questions, and students are not expected to include everything. They need to carefully choose the content and to plan their answers. The best answers will be both empirical and theoretical, for example showing knowledge of research findings and examples, and knowledge of theoretical perspectives. Some answers amounted to lists of theoretical perspectives, with learned points of criticism, and lost focus on the question itself. While the items are intended as a helpful starting point for answers, they should not be taken by students as a full list of what is relevant; better answers will draw in other relevant knowledge and ideas. The main problem here for many was a lack of time, with some answers showing some good knowledge and understanding but being too brief and under developed to acquire many marks. Many answers were strong on examples of religious beliefs and practices related to gender, focusing on women; others outlined feminist views and compared these with those from other perspectives. The best responses however combined these two approaches and also discussed the relationship between men and religion, considering for example why men participate in religion less than women.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• best answers combined examples of gendered religious practice with theory, and explained men's lower participation as well as women's
• many answers short and underdeveloped through lack of time
• AO split from AQA's standard grid for this paper (this year's mark scheme does not print it).

Mark scheme, including the levels grid and indicative content

Examiner's comment

Some students wrote introductory paragraphs and/or conclusions. These are not necessary, and are unlikely to gain additional marks, and they also take up time. Some students made only one point in their answers, or three or more, rather than the two asked for in the question. Sometimes it was unclear how many points were being made. 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. Evaluation is not a requirement for answers to 10 mark “outline and explain” questions. The marks awarded for the assessment objectives being targeted are different in the two types of ten mark questions, and students should be made aware of this. The best answers to 10 mark questions were focused, clearly stating a point and then developing it, using sociological concepts, evidence and theory where appropriate. In some questions students tended 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. These questions will ask them to bring together aspects of their sociological knowledge in a way that they are unlikely to have done before. This question was generally answered well. Popular answers included cultural defence and cultural transition (although the difference between these two concepts was not always clear), and the idea that migrants are simply more likely to be religious when placed in a secular society. Like question 10, this question referred specifically to the United Kingdom and so answers about other countries could not be credited.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• two developed reasons from Item I (different culture, racism), e.g. cultural transition, cultural defence, coping with discrimination
• answers about other countries not credited (question is about the UK)
• cultural defence and cultural transition often blurred
• AO split from AQA's standard grid for this paper (this year's mark scheme does not print it).

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. Better answers identified particular social groups and were able to use specific examples. Some found it difficult to explain why sects would recruit them specifically. A few conflated sects and other organisations, such as NAMs.

Notes from the mark scheme and report

• two reasons (marginality and theodicy of disprivilege, relative deprivation, status frustration, anomie)
• drift into religious organisations in general = 1–3
• better answers named specific groups with examples
• some could not explain why sects specifically recruit them, or confused sects with NAMs