Cambridge International AS & A Level

SOCIOLOGY 9699/42
Paper 4 Globalisation, Media, Religion February/March 2022
MARK SCHEME
Maximum Mark: 70

Published

This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the
examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the
details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have
considered the acceptability of alternative answers.

Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for
Teachers.

Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes.

Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the February/March 2022 series for most
Cambridge IGCSE™, Cambridge International A and AS Level components and some Cambridge O Level
components.

This document consists of 18 printed pages.

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Generic Marking Principles

These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers.
They should be applied alongside the specific content of the mark scheme or generic level descriptors
for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these marking principles.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1:

Marks must be awarded in line with:

• the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question
• the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question
• the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2:

Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3:

Marks must be awarded positively:

• marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit
is given for valid answers which go beyond the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme,
referring to your Team Leader as appropriate
• marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do
• marks are not deducted for errors
• marks are not deducted for omissions
• answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these
features are specifically assessed by the question as indicated by the mark scheme. The
meaning, however, should be unambiguous.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4:

Rules must be applied consistently, e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed
instructions or in the application of generic level descriptors.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5:

Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question
(however; the use of the full mark range may be limited according to the quality of the candidate
responses seen).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6:

Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should
not be awarded with grade thresholds or grade descriptors in mind.

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Social Science-Specific Marking Principles

(for point-based marking)

1 Components using point-based marking:

• Point marking is often used to reward knowledge, understanding and application of skills.
We give credit where the candidate’s answer shows relevant knowledge, understanding
and application of skills in answering the question. We do not give credit where the answer
shows confusion.

From this it follows that we:

a DO credit answers which are worded differently from the mark scheme if they clearly
convey the same meaning (unless the mark scheme requires a specific term)
b DO credit alternative answers/examples which are not written in the mark scheme if they
are correct
c DO credit answers where candidates give more than one correct answer in one
prompt/numbered/scaffolded space where extended writing is required rather than list-type
answers. For example, questions that require n reasons (e.g. State two reasons …).
d DO NOT credit answers simply for using a ‘key term’ unless that is all that is required.
(Check for evidence it is understood and not used wrongly.)
e DO NOT credit answers which are obviously self-contradicting or trying to cover all
possibilities
f DO NOT give further credit for what is effectively repetition of a correct point already
credited unless the language itself is being tested. This applies equally to ‘mirror
statements’ (i.e. polluted/not polluted).
g DO NOT require spellings to be correct, unless this is part of the test. However spellings of
syllabus terms must allow for clear and unambiguous separation from other syllabus terms
with which they may be confused (e.g. Corrasion/Corrosion)

2 Presentation of mark scheme:

• Slashes (/) or the word ‘or’ separate alternative ways of making the same point.
• Semi colons (;) bullet points (•) or figures in brackets (1) separate different points.
• Content in the answer column in brackets is for examiner information/context to clarify the
marking but is not required to earn the mark (except Accounting syllabuses where they
indicate negative numbers).

3 Calculation questions:
• The mark scheme will show the steps in the most likely correct method(s), the mark for
each step, the correct answer(s) and the mark for each answer
• If working/explanation is considered essential for full credit, this will be indicated in the
question paper and in the mark scheme. In all other instances, the correct answer to a
calculation should be given full credit, even if no supporting working is shown.
• Where the candidate uses a valid method which is not covered by the mark scheme,
award equivalent marks for reaching equivalent stages.
• Where an answer makes use of a candidate’s own incorrect figure from previous working,
the ‘own figure rule’ applies: full marks will be given if a correct and complete method is
used. Further guidance will be included in the mark scheme where necessary and any
exceptions to this general principle will be noted.

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4 Annotation:
• For point marking, ticks can be used to indicate correct answers and crosses can be used
to indicate wrong answers. There is no direct relationship between ticks and marks. Ticks
have no defined meaning for levels of response marking.
• For levels of response marking, the level awarded should be annotated on the script.
• Other annotations will be used by examiners as agreed during standardisation, and the
meaning will be understood by all examiners who marked that paper.

Social Sciences – Subject Specific Marking Principles

5 Presentation of mark scheme:

• Slashes (/) or the word ‘or’ separate alternative ways of making the same point.
• Semi colons (;) bullet points (•) or figures in brackets (1) separate different points.
• Content in the answer column in brackets is for examiner information/context to clarify the
marking but is not required to earn the mark.

6 Annotation:
• There is no direct relationship between ticks and marks. Ticks have no defined meaning for
levels of response marking.
• For levels of response marking, the level awarded should be annotated on the script.
• Other annotations will be used by examiners as agreed during standardisation, and the
meaning will be understood by all examiners who marked that paper.

Using the mark scheme

The questions are marked using a generic analytic mark scheme, which separates the marks for the
different assessment objectives (AO). The work is marked for each AO using generic levels of
response mark schemes. The marks awarded are usually based on a judgement of the overall quality
of the response for that AO, rather than on awarding marks for specific points and accumulating a
total mark by adding points.

Indicative content is provided as a guide. Inevitably, the mark scheme cannot cover all responses that
candidates may make for all of the questions. In some cases candidates may make some responses
which the mark scheme has not predicted. These answers should nevertheless be credited according
to their quality.

Using the mark scheme

The questions are marked using a generic analytic mark scheme, which separates the marks for the
different assessment objectives (AO). The work is marked for each AO using generic levels of
response mark schemes. The marks awarded are usually based on a judgement of the overall quality
of the response for that AO, rather than on awarding marks for specific points and accumulating a
total mark by adding points.

Indicative content is provided as a guide. Inevitably, the mark scheme cannot cover all responses that
candidates may make for all of the questions. In some cases candidates may make some responses
which the mark scheme has not predicted. These answers should nevertheless be credited according
to their quality.

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Question Answer Marks

1 ‘Globalisation has led to cultural convergence.’ Evaluate this view. 35

Key focus of the question

The question invites discussion of the view that globalisation has led to
cultural convergence (a single global culture). The cultural convergence
perspective is associated with the idea that globalisation has brought about a
one-way flow of culture from the West to the less economically developed
countries. A process of Westernisation (or Americanisation) has occurred
whereby local cultures become less valued by people in poorer countries who
come to identify increasingly with the same values and lifestyles that are
found in rich capitalist countries such as the US and Western Europe. Good
answers may contrast the cultural convergence viewpoint with
tranformationalist and postmodernist theories of globalisation. The latter
theories argue that the idea of cultural convergence exaggerates the impact of
globalisation and fails to acknowledge how Western culture is enriched by
inputs from other world cultures and religions. In this view, globalisation is
actually producing greater cultural diversity, both by exposing more people to
different cultures and through glocalisation (a process whereby cultural
influences from other countries are modified and adapted to local culture and
needs). Good responses will set out the arguments for suggesting that
globalisation is producing greater cultural convergence and offer an
evaluation that is likely to make contrasts between the cultural convergence
and the cultural divergence perspectives.

Indicative content

For:
• Martell argues that global processes are sweeping away significant
territorial boundaries and bringing about the global homogenisation of
cultural tastes.
• Global markets and trading networks have spread Western consumer
culture to most parts of the world and an interest in products, brands, and
materialistic lifestyles is undermining the appeal of local cultures to young
people in particular.
• Leisure habits in many parts of the world are increasingly shaped by a
global popular culture disseminated by global media that specialises in
distributing the same music, television, film, computer games, and video
to a global audience.
• Globalisation has contributed to the dominance of English as the
universal language of international trade and global culture. It is predicted
that at least 50% of languages spoken in the world in 2018 will have
disappeared by the end of the 21st century.
• Cultural globalisation of food and diet has been particularly promoted by
American fast-food transnationals such as McDonald’s, Burger King and
KFC.
• Cultural icons are increasingly global celebrities, including pop stars,
sports stars, and film stars.

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Question Answer Marks

1 Against:
• It can be argued that the social interaction of people from very different
cultures has produced glocalised and hybrid responses to globalisation,
which in turn has led to an increase in cultural diversity in most parts of
the world.
• Global tourism, travel, migration and trade have all contributed to a
situation where people are exposed to a wider variety of cultural
influences today. Elements of different cultures are increasingly combined
together (what Steger refers to as ‘cultural hybridity’).
• Global corporations have seized the opportunity to strengthen the appeal
of their products and services by incorporating attractive elements from
different cultures around the world (aspects of Bollywood incorporated in
Hollywood films, for example).
• The spread of global media is helping to diffuse different cultural styles
around the world and creating new global hybrid styles in fashion, food,
music, and lifestyle.
• Local people modify and adapt elements of global culture to strengthen
and enhance local cultures.
• Globalisation may also have led to a revival or reinvigoration of some
cultural forms. For example, traditional social values have been
reasserted by fundamentalist movements opposed to the influence of
globalisation. A resurgence of nationalism and interest in national cultures
is another response by those who feel threatened by the globalising
forces.
• The extent to which the world is characterised by cultural homogeneity
today can be questioned; there are still considerable differences between
cultures and countries, and the extent to which different parts of the world
are affected by the processes of globalisation varies (some people and
countries are more connected to global networks than others).

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Question Answer Marks

2 ‘Modernisation theory provides the best explanation of global 35

inequality.’ Evaluate this view.

Key focus of the question

The question invites candidates to consider the reasons for the disparity
between in income and wealth between rich countries and poorer countries
today, otherwise known as global inequality. There are a number of theories
that seek to explain global inequality, one of which is modernisation theory.
Modernisation theory identifies cultural factors as the main reason why some
countries remain poor. The solution to global inequality, in this view, requires
poor countries to adopt the institutional arrangements and values associated
with capitalist, liberal democratic societies in the West. In addition to
demonstrating knowledge of modernisation theory, good answers will also
evaluate that theory by considering, for example, alternative explanations for
global inequality. Contrasts are likely to be drawn between modernisation
theory and dependency theory/world systems theory. Examples of
development in particular societies might be used to help illustrate key
strengths and limitations of modernisation theory.

Indicative content

For:
• Modernisation theorists argue that certain cultural values are essential for
successful economic development in poorer countries, including the
values of democracy, entrepreneurship, individual freedom, and
meritocracy. Countries that adopt these values and follow the model of
development that proved successful in Western societies can escape
poverty through their own efforts.
• Modernisation theorists argue that Marxist theories of development
(Dependency Theory and Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory) are guilty
of economic reductionism in arguing that poorer countries are trapped in
a position of exploitation and inequality by the logic of capitalism. Cultural,
factors are attributed little value in explaining the causes of global
inequality in these Marxist theories and modernisation theorists see this
as an oversight.
• Cultural explanations of global inequality provide a framework for
understanding why some developing countries have achieved higher
levels of economic growth than others. Marxist theories, by contrast,
struggle to explain these differences.
• Historical studies suggest that cultural factors played an important part in
the process through which Western societies became wealthy at the time
of the industrial revolution. It seems likely therefore that cultural factors
could also contribute to economic growth in developing countries today.
• There is some evidence that the most successful countries economically
in the developing world have made a concerted effort to adopt some or all
of the cultural changes advocated by modernisation theorists. Examples
include Singapore, South Korea, and the UAE.

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Question Answer Marks

2 • Exposure to western cultural values and interventions has brought many

benefits to developing countries. For example, TNCs, western aid
projects, and support from capitalist-leaning transnational organisations,
such as the IMF and World Bank, has helped improve infrastructure and
combat poverty in many less developed countries.
• Modernisation theorists may have exaggerated the importance of
Western neoliberal values for economic growth in the developing world,
but a combination of Western ideas with some traditional values and
religious influences has proved a potent mix in helping some poorer
countries to advance, China being a particular example.

Against:
• Dependency theory rejects the emphasis on cultural factors in the
explanation of global inequality advanced in modernisation theory.
Dependency theorists argue that inequalities in the structural relationship
between rich countries and poorer countries explains why many poorer
countries have found it so difficult to develop their economies
successfully.
• Modernisation theory overlooks the damage caused to the economies of
developing societies by Western nation-states seeking to control those
countries through policies associated with colonialism and neo-
colonialism.
• The interest that richer countries have in keeping poorer countries less
developed provides a context for understanding why efforts by Western
powers to help poorer countries escape poverty have seemed to limited
and ineffective.
• Modernisation theory has too benign a view of the role of TNCs in
developing countries. Critics argue that the advantages that TNCs gain
from access to the markets, resources, and labour supply of poorer
countries are clear to see and revolve around the ability to make profits
relatively easily through the relative ease with which these markets and
workers can be exploited.
• Immanuel Wallerstein in his world systems theory argues that the
capitalist economic system is becoming increasingly global in its search
for profit. In turn, this is leading to rich countries increasingly focusing on
higher skill, capital intensive production, and the rest of the world focusing
on low-skill, labour-intensive production and extraction of raw materials.
This constantly reinforces the dominance of the rich countries and
condemns workers in poorer countries to a life of exploitative, insecure
low wage employment.

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Question Answer Marks

3 ‘Governments have no control over the media.’ Evaluate this view. 35

Key focus of the question

The focus of the question is who controls the media and, specifically, how
much influence do governments (nationally and/or through supra-national
organisations) have on media organisations. Candidates may distinguish
between different types of political regime: authoritarian versus democratic,
for example. Authoritarian regimes usually exercise greater direct control over
the media than is the case in democratic countries. Different means through
which governments can seek to control the media may be discussed
(censorship, funding, publishing and broadcasting laws, regulation,
parliamentary scrutiny of media activities). Evaluating how effective these
means are in helping governments control the media would form part of a
good analytical response to the question. Evaluation could also be provided
by considering other social actors and agencies who might play a role in
controlling the media, such as media owners, editors and journalists,
audiences, and non-governmental regulatory bodies. Good answers will draw
conclusions about how far governments can control the media and what, if
any, are the limits to government power in this regard.

Indicative content

For:
• Media conglomerates tend to operate on a global scale today and that
makes it easier for them to avoid detailed control by particular nation-
states, if they so wish.
• Democratic governments are not involved in the day-to-day running of
media organisations and so have little influence over decisions taken by
editors and journalists at that level. Overall, it would be unrealistic for
democratic governments to seek to control the detailed production of
media content.
• Democratic governments are accountable to the electorate and measures
such as censorship have not always proven popular with the wider
population in countries where there is a high degree of support for media
freedom.
• Regulating the new media has so far proved challenging for national
governments, partly because global networks (such as the internet) take
control of the new media beyond national frontiers. To-date, it looks like
democratic government have less control over the new media than they
do over the traditional media. This may be changing as governments
come under pressure to ensure tighter regulation of social networking
sites to prevent unwelcome content from, for example, terrorist groups
and political extremists.
• The speed at which new media technology evolves makes it hard for
governments to keep pace with developments. Some technologies are
being used by individuals and groups who specifically want to avoid
restrictions imposed on media use by national governments; these
technologies include virtual private networks (VPNs), blockchain,
cryptocurrency, and the dark web.

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Question Answer Marks

3 • Governments (or some politicians) realise that it might not be in their best
interest to try to control the media directly; rather it is better to allow some
media freedom in return for being able to influence the content of the
media selectively when the government has most to gain.

Against:
• Examples suggest that authoritarian regimes are often very successful in
controlling the media.
• Democratic regimes usually show greater respect for media rights and
freedoms and, up to a point, are happy to accept a free market in media
content. Nevertheless, many direct and indirect means are available to
democratic governments to control the media, including censorship,
allocation of state funding, regulatory supervision, and fines for media
organisations that fail to conform to government regulations.
• Even democratic governments have intervened to shut down media
outlets considered undesirable. Ultimately, considerable power is
available to national governments to set the limits within which media
organisations operate; the threat of government censure or closure alone
may be sufficient to ensure that media organisations take care to avoid
displeasing the authorities.
• Governments are an important source of information for the media and
that is another consideration encouraging media organisations to align
themselves with government ideas about how the media should operate.
• The threat of government censure or attempts at punitive action may be
sufficient to ensure that media organisations take care to avoid
displeasing the authorities. For example, government criticism of various
aspects of social media has resulted in increased efforts at self-regulation
by owners of social media platforms.
• Organisations that own the traditional media also control large parts of
the new media. National governments may be able to use their powers
over the traditional media where they want to restrict or limit the powers
of the new media.

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Question Answer Marks

4 ‘The two-step flow model accurately describes how people are 35

influenced by the media.’ Evaluate this view.

Key focus of the question

Sociological attempts to explain media effects provide the underpinnings for

this question. The two-step flow model was developed by Katz and Lazarsfeld
to explain how personal relationships and conversations with significant
others, such as family and friends, result in people modifying or rejecting
media messages. Opinion leaders are exposed to different types of media
and form an interpretation of that content. They then influence others in a
social network. Good answers are likely to evaluate the two-step flow model
by drawing contrasts with other models of media effects such as uses and
gratifications, reception analysis, and cultural effects. Evidence from studies
may also be used to support arguments for and against the two-step flow
model.

Indicative content

For:
• The general idea that audiences are not passive and that effects are
dependent on audiences’ relations with others is now widely accepted.
• The two-step flow model highlighted the limitations in the hypodermic-
syringe model, which had wrongly assumed that audiences are passive
and are all affected in the same way.
• The hypodermic-syringe model also assumes the audience is an
‘atomised mass’ whose response to media messages is unaffected by
their social relations with others.
• The two-step flow model was the first to emphasise that media
consumption is often a group experience and that relations between
members in the group should be studied in order to understand how
media messages are interpreted.
• The model also introduced the idea that opinion leaders may be more
significant than the media in influencing how media messages are
received. This led to a questioning of ideas about mass society and the
notion that the media had become an all-powerful force controlling the
way people think and behave.
• The two-step flow model laid the foundations for more sophisticated
research and theorising about how audiences relate to and use the
media, including the uses and gratifications model and the reception
analysis model.

Against:
• The two-step flow model is rather simplistic because audience members
may or may not discuss what they see, read or hear with others and,
even if they do discuss some messages, many messages will go
undiscussed.
• By focusing on the key role of opinion leaders, the model underestimates
the power of the media to directly or indirectly influence audiences.

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Question Answer Marks

4 • Belief that the media can have a powerful and relatively immediate effect
in influencing audiences has encouraged companies to spend huge sums
on advertising. Likewise, government regulations to restrict access to
certain media content, particularly in the case of children, also implies a
belief that the media can be an invasive influence.
• The reception analysis model suggests that all individuals interpret what
they see, hear or read in the media according to their pre-existing views,
attitudes and opinions. Opinion leaders have little impact on this process.
• The cultural effects model claims that the media can have significant
effects on attitudes and behaviour. These effects come about indirectly
and through long-term exposure to media content; the short-term impact
of consuming media content is very limited.
• It is not easy to prove or disprove whether opinion leaders play a key role
in the way media messages are interpreted because of the difficulty of
separating relevant variables and measuring the precise effects of media
exposure.
• The two-step flow model lacks an analysis of why people would be
influenced by opinion leaders and how far this resulted in people
interpreting media messages in ways that differed significantly from the
intentions of those who produced the media content.

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Question Answer Marks

5 ‘Religion contributes to gender inequality.’ Evaluate this view. 35

Key focus of the question

The question invites consideration of the relationship between religion and
gender inequality. Feminist theory is likely to be used to advance the view that
religion is a form of patriarchal ideology that contributes to gender inequality.
Different strands of feminist theory may be distinguished and candidates
could use examples of religious beliefs and practices to illustrate the possible
links between religion and gender inequality. There are various ways of
countering the feminist analysis, including reference to the functionalist view
that women perform different but equal roles within many religious
organisations, and the interactionist view that only detailed study of what
women actually think and feel about their experience of religion will shed light
on whether they find religion oppressive. Good answers might consider how
the position of women in religious organisations may be changing and also
how the involvement of women differs between religions (gender inequality
appears to be less pronounced in some religions than others). Evidence cited
in support of the feminist arguments may also be questioned.

Indicative content

For:
• Feminist sociologists claim to have identified close links between religion
and patriarchy, with religious teachings representing females in a
negative way and emphasising their subordination to male figures, such
as fathers and husbands.
• Women are encouraged to follow traditional gender role in society in
many religions.
• There is low involvement of women in positions of authority in most
religious organisations.
• Religion acts as a way of compensating women for their second-class
status (De Beauvoir).
• Some women report that involvement in religion has damaged their self-
esteem and sense of freedom; they feel oppressed by the exercise of
religious authority.
• There are many examples of religious support for opposing causes that
feminists have campaigned for, such as abortion rights, civil marriage,
and freedom from arranged marriages.

Against:
• The importance of goddess religion demonstrates that non-patriarchal
religions are possible.
• Danger of over-generalising as the position of women in religion varies
greatly between different religious organisations. Some religions may
oppose rather than support male domination.
• Some religions are responding positively to calls for women to have
greater opportunity to access positions of authority, including through
ordination.

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Question Answer Marks

5 • Many women with religious affiliations may support some or all of the
religious values that feminists see as patriarchal and oppressive.
• Feminist theorists have often failed to back up their views with detailed
research.
• Women may be able to find space within, or use, apparently patriarchal
religions to further their own interests.
• The secularisation thesis suggests that religion has little social
significance today and so the influence of religion in contributing to
gender inequality and the oppression of women may be very limited for
the majority of the female population.

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Question Answer Marks

6 ‘The extent to which secularisation has occurred has been exaggerated.’ 35

Evaluate this view.

Key focus of the question

Supporters of the secularisation thesis claim that religion has lost its social
significance in modern industrial societies. The question therefore provides an
opportunity to consider the arguments for and against this thesis. Good
answers will examine the evidence for secularisation, perhaps referring to
church attendance records, surveys of religious belief, and statistics relating
to participation in religious ceremonies. The arguments of theorists such as
Wilson, Wallis, and Bruce who have contributed to sociological debates about
secularisation are also likely to feature in well-informed answers. There are
various counter arguments to the secularisation thesis that candidates could
be expected to use in responding to the question. The concept of religious
revival might be used to suggest that many people are returning to religion as
a source of guidance and moral authority today. Postmodernist ideas about
the importance of religion in the search for meaning and identity might also be
considered. The difficulties of measuring religiosity and/or acquiring reliable
evidence about religious participation (today and in the past) are further areas
of discussion that could be explored in a sound analytical response.

Indicative content

For:
• The extent to which secularisation has occurred varies between
countries. Religion has retained much of its social significance in
countries such as Iran and Pakistan. In Western societies, secularisation
has been less far reaching in countries such as Italy and Spain than in
the UK and France.
• Growing support for new religious movements helps challenge claims
associated with the secularisation thesis that membership of religious
organisations is declining and people are becoming less religious.
• Growth in new religious movements can be seen as part of a broader
trend that has seen an increase interest in spirituality (a religious revival)
among people in Western societies in recent years; the growth in new
age movements and privatised worship provide further examples of this
trend.
• Although it is thought that people were more religious in the past, this
may be a myth. For one thing, it is hard to know how much influence
religion had in earlier times. For example, evidence about the
involvement of people in religious practices in the past is limited.
Furthermore, historical records about church attendance, participation in
religious ceremonies, and membership of religions groups tell us little
about the extent to which the people involved were religious. Rather than
being an indicator of religious belief, for instance, social pressure may
have led people to attend religious ceremonies.
• Established religious organisations are still very powerful in many
countries and they retain some roles in public life. For example, religious
lobby groups have a strong influence on US politics, illustrating the
ongoing social significance of religion in Western society.

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Question Answer Marks

6 Against:
• Evidence about falling church attendance figures and participation in
religious ceremonies provides support for the secularisation thesis in
Western societies.
• Organised religions play little role in civic life in Western societies today,
suggesting secularisation has occurred.
• Growth in new religious movements can be seen as evidence that
established religions have lost their social significance. For example,
Wilson sees the decline of established religions, together with
fragmentation in religious belief systems, as defining characteristics of
secularisation. In a secular society, Wilson argues, centralised spiritual
authority is replaced by support for competing religious beliefs (new
religious movements, for example) and other sources of moral guidance.
• Interest in spirituality may have picked up in Western societies in recent
years, but studies suggest it is driven by individualistic concerns with
discovering meaning and personal fulfilment rather than any desire to
return to a form of society based on religious control and traditional
values.
• Even if the growth in support for new religious movements is seen as an
indicator of religious revival, there is still a lot of evidence to support the
secularisation thesis; for example, evidence about the declining role of
religion in public life, increasing number of people who reject marriage or
marry without a religious ceremony, increasing number of people
identifying as atheists, and so on.

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Generic levels of response

Level AO1: Knowledge and Understanding Marks

3 • Good knowledge and understanding of the view on which the question is 7–9
based.
• The response contains a range of detailed points with good use of
concepts and theory/research evidence.

2 • Reasonable knowledge and understanding of the view on which the 4–6

question is based.
• The response contains either a narrow range of detailed points or a wider
range of underdeveloped points, with some use of concepts and
references to theory or research evidence

1 • Basic knowledge and understanding of the view on which the question is 1–3
based.
• The response contains a narrow range of underdeveloped points with
some references to concepts or theory or research evidence.

0 • No knowledge and understanding worthy of credit. 0

Level AO2: Interpretation and Application Marks

4 • Very good interpretation and application of relevant sociological material. 10–11

• The material selected will be accurately interpreted and consistently
applied to the question in a logical and well-informed way.

3 • Good interpretation and application of sociological material. 7–9

• The material selected will be accurate and relevant but not always
consistently applied to the question in a way that is logical and clear

2 • Reasonable interpretation and application of sociological material. 4–6

• The material selected will be mainly accurate but its relevance to the
question may be confused or unclear at times.

1 • Limited interpretation and application of sociological material. 1–3

• The material selected is relevant to the topic but lacks focus on or
relevance to the specific question.

0 • No interpretation and application worthy of credit. 0

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Level AO3: Analysis and Evaluation Marks

4 • Very good analysis and evaluation. 12–15

• Clear and sustained analysis of the view on which the question is based,
with detailed and explicit evaluation.
• There is also likely to be a range of contrasting views and/or evidence
discussed, demonstrating good understanding of the complexity of the
issues raised by the question.

3 • Good analysis and evaluation. 8–11

• The evaluation may be explicit and direct but not sustained, or it will rely
on a good outline of contrasting views and/or evidence, clearly focused
on evaluating the view in the question.
• The response demonstrates some understanding of the complexity of the
issues raised by the question.

2 • Reasonable analysis and evaluation. 4–7

• There is a description of some relevant contrasting views and/or evidence
but these are only implicitly focussed on evaluating the view in the
question.
• The response demonstrates some awareness of the complexity of the
issues raised by the question.

1 • Limited analysis and evaluation. 1–3

• There are a few simple points of implicit or tangential evaluation.
• The response demonstrates little awareness of the complexity of the
issues raised by the question.

0 • No analysis and evaluation worthy of credit. 0

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