1. Sociology Mock Feedback

2. How do you think the mock went?
Have a discussion with your partner/group
How much work did you put it?
Could you have tried harder/spent longer revising?
Why didn’t you?

3. January assessment feedback
Knowledge was good
Application to demands of the question was poor
PEEEL skills in 20 marker needs improvement/work.
Functions of education question – not great!

4. In Sociology, you are assessed on three skills:
AO1
Knowledge and Understanding:
What is the explanation / key term / concept / theory etc. ??
AO2
Application
How far does your sociological knowledge explain / answer the question?
AO3
Evaluation:
How far can you evaluate this by referring to its strengths and weaknesses

5. Part 1: Education

6. Q1. 2 marks
For example:
A self fulfilling prophecy is when a pupil lives up to a label or prediction that have been given. For example, if a teacher labels a pupil as a troublemaker, they may fulfil this and cause trouble for themselves.
AO1 – Define the term

7. Q2. 2 marks
For example:
One example of cultural deprivation is language codes.
Working class pupils have a ………………………………….. language code, which uses……………………………. and this may affect their achievement because…….
AO1 – What example of cultural deprivation do you have?
AO2 – How does this example affect educational achievement?

8. Q3. 6 marks
For example:
One way in which the organisation of schooling is ethnocentric is the uniform worn in schools.
This is because it consists of a very Western uniform e.g. trousers, shirt, skirt etc. This does not take into account any uniform or clothing worn by ethnic minority groups e.g. hijab
AO1 – What factor have you identified?
AO2 – How does this explain why the organisation of schooling is ethnocentric?

9. 10 mark questions…..

10. Present new information:
10 mark ‘outline and explain’ / or ‘analyse’ question:
Outline and explain two ways in which the functions of the education system may affect pupils’ educational achievement (10 marks)
Key skills:
These questions require you to outline and explain / analyse two factors, reasons etc.
You may have an Item to use – or you may be required to use your knowledge of sociological explanations.
Develop and explain each two factors/reasons/explanations you are expected to refer to in the question.
Offer analysis skills – fully explain (with evidence) how this factor/reason relates to the question
Offer an evaluation points for each factor – this will help to critically analyse the worth of this reason/factor etc.

11. What does the mark scheme say….
AO1 – What is the function?
AO2 – How does this affect pupils’ achievement?
AO3 – How can we evaluate this function?

12. Model answer:
Outline and explain two ways in which the functions of the education system may affect pupils’ educational achievement (10 marks)
AO1
One function of education is meritocracy.
There is evidence from Parsons which states that in education children are judged on meritocratic principles which ensures all pupils have equal opportunities, so each individual’s achievement reflects their ability and effort. How well a child will do at school will reflect how much effort and hard work a child puts into their school work.
AO2
This affects pupils’ achievement and it ensures all pupils, regardless of gender, class or ethnicity are allocated to a suitable work role which helps the economy. Each child is judged on universalistic standards (all sit the same exam) rather than particularistic standards (fixed role from birth e.g. class). All pupils therefore have the potential to achieve and do well at school.
AO3
“However, this function can be questioned because there is doubt over whether the educational system is meritocratic and grades people in terms of ability. It’s argued that intelligence has little effort on educational attainment and its more to do with gender, class and ethnicity which is fixed and this will determine your success based upon these fixed, particularistic standards.

13. Secure it Write another reason:
Outline and explain two ways in which the functions of the education system may affect pupils’ educational achievement (10 marks)
AO1
“Another function of education is…..”
“There is evidence from which states ”
AO2
“Therefore this may affect pupils’ educational achievement because…..”
AO3
“However, this explanation can be questioned because ………..”

14. 20 mark questions…..

15. Present new information:
In pairs – pick out key info from the Item and decode what the question is asking:

16. Present new information:
AO1
AO3
Cultural Deprivation (language codes / attitudes and values / working class subcultures)
Material Deprivation (housing / money / diet)
Cultural Capital
Labelling
SFP
Pupil subcultures
Pupil identities
AO1 – What external factor?
AO2 – How does this affect pupils’ achievement?
AO3 – How can we evaluate this explanation?

17. Construct:
TASK - In your group – read through the following AO1 explanations of the home factors in achievement and complete the AO2
AO1
Knowledge and Understanding:
What is the ‘home factor’ explanation??
AO2
Application
How far this knowledge explain why working-class and middle-class achieve differently at school?

18. Example PEEEL paragraph:
Evaluate the view that social class differences in educational achievement are mainly caused by differences in pupils’ home backgrounds (20 marks)
AO1
One explanation why working class achieve less in school is because of material deprivation.
There is evidence from Howard (2001) which states diet and health may affect working-class pupils’ achievement. They found that young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals.
AO2
Therefore this explains why the working class do not achieve good grades because a poor diet can lead to a weakening of the immune system, which will affect their health, and consequently result in them having more time off school due to illness. Therefore they will miss a lot of work and their overall grades could be affected as a result.
AO3
However, this explanation can be criticised because internal factors such as teacher labelling may be more appropriate to explain working class pupils underachieve compared to middle class pupils. Research found that teachers use pupils’ backgrounds to gather an impression of the pupils, with working class more likely to be labelled as ‘scruffy’ ‘naughty’ and ‘weaker’ than middle class pupils, which may result in them being placed in lower streams or sets.
Therefore, this material deprivation may suggest home backgrounds are important to explain class differences in achievement, however it can be criticised whether this is the main cause as school factors also play a role in affecting pupil achievement.

19. Secure it Write a paragraph
Evaluate the view that social class differences in educational achievement are mainly caused by differences in pupils’ home backgrounds (20 marks)
AO1
“One explanation why working class achieve less in school is because of ”
“There is evidence from which states ”
AO2
“Therefore this explains why the working class do not achieve good grades because ”
AO3
“However, this explanation can be supported/criticised because ”
“Therefore, this (explanation) may explain why Working class may underachieve, however this explanation can be questioned because......”

20. Part 2: Research Methods

21. Q1. 4 marks
For example:
One ethical issue which may influence a sociologists choice of research is deception. This is where participants are deceived as to what the true nature of the study is.
This is likely to make the researchers want to avoid using lab experiments as a choice of method because it is hard to completely remove deception from an experiment. For example, in Milgram’s experiment, participants were deceived as they believed they were administrating electric shocks, when in reality, they were not.
Another ethical issue is informed consent. This is where participants agree to take part in a study (often made to sign their consent to take part).
This may cause a researcher to avoid doing a covert study as participants are unaware that a study is taking place and therefore cannot consent to taking part.
AO1 – What ethical issue?
AO2 – How will this ethical issue influence a sociologist’s choice of research method

22. Q2. 16 marks
TASK –
Decide which points are AO1 and which are AO3 points – write this on your sheet
For each of the following AO1 / AO3 points– develop your AO2 skills by explaining how each +/- this will affect the findings in sociological research
AO1 – What is the advantage
AO2 – How will affect the findings in sociological research
AO3 – Evaluate this method by referring to its disadvantages

23. Q2. 16 marks Introduction Conclusion TASK –
Organise your slips of paper to create an essay for this question
Create an introduction and conclusion
AO1 – What is the advantage
AO2 – How will affect the findings in sociological research
AO3 – Evaluate this method by referring to its disadvantages
Introduction
Conclusion
Define what official statistics are
Who favour this method and why
Are official statistics useful in sociological research? Does this research method only have advantages?
Refer to the triangulation of other research methods to rectify are problems with this method e.g. using unstructured interviews as a way to overcome the issue of validity when just relying on statistics

24. Homework: Make the changes to your test in ANOTHER COLOURED PEN Highlight your essay 3 colours (one for your AO1 points made / AO2 / AO3). Then you can see what you need to develop in your essay.