Past Questions Up To 2023 - Education And Research Methods, With Answers (roulette)

Question 1

outline two ways in which schools may promote competition between pupils

Answer 1

• through entrance exams: creates competition amongst pupils for places at competitive schools such as grammar schools
• through streaming: divides pupils by their ability and promotes competition to get into the higher streams

Question 2

outline three ways in which the education system may be patriarchal

Answer 2

• double standards: teachers may spend more time with the boys
• male gaze: girls may be seen as sexual objects
• the curriculum: may be more examples of boys in certain subjects that deter girls from choosing them

Question 3

outline two ways in which globalization may have had on influence on educational policies in the
UK

Answer 3

• international league tables e.g
  PISA may influence UK to improve educational standards
• STEM/Ebacc subjects having a more important role in the curriculum to provide students with the skills needed for global skill-based economy

Question 4

outline three reasons why some working class boys join anti-school subcultures

Answer 4

• status frustration: working class boys may feel like they can’t achieve in school so they turn to anti-school subcultures to gain validation from peers instead
• feel that there are fewer jobs available for them so they turn to anti-school subcultures to express hegemonic masculinity
• feel that they are less likely to be seen as an ‘ideal pupil’ so they turn to anti-school subcultures as an expression of resistance to negative teacher labelling

Question 5

outline two factors external to schools that may affect social class differences in educational achievement

Answer 5

• poor housing: working class pupils may not have a quiet space at home to do homework or revise due to overcrowding
• financial/ economic capital: middle class parents have more of this which means that they are more likely to be able to provide their children with extra equipment or tuition

Question 6

outline three functions that the education system performs for society

Answer 6

• secondary socialisation: schools are focal socialisation agents which help to teach students universalistic principles of behaviour
• social solidarity: through the teaching of history and culture school helps to produce a shared sense of identity
• teaching specialist skills: teaches students the skills needed for different divisions of labour, e.g to become a doctor to meet the demands of the economy

Question 7

outline two criticisms of schools selecting pupils by ability.

Answer 7

• can cause low self esteem:
  testing can stigmatize children and the school they attend
• some students are late developers: selecting by ability at age 11 for grammar schools can put some children at a disadvantage because they may develop more academically at a later age

Question 8

outline three ways in which the characteristics of schools may be similar to the characteristics of the workplace

Answer 8

• both are based on alienation (lack of control): students have little control over what they study at school, workers have little control over the production process
• both are based around competition: students at school compete for the best grades, workers compete for higher
  wages
• both have a hierarchy of authority: hierarchies of authority in school between teachers and pupils, hierarchies of authority in the workplace between workers and bosses

Question 9

outline two reasons why marketisation policies may produce inequality of educational achievement between social classes.

Answer 9

• parental choice: middle class parents may have more cultural capital/knowledge surrounding the education system and know how to make more informed decisions on where to send their
  children
• catchment areas: schools can set up their own catchment areas which dictate who can/can’t attend. middle class families are much more likely to be able to more houses in order to meet catchment area of the more successful schools

Question 10

outline three reasons for gender differences in educational achievement

Answer 10

• reduction of coursework: reduces the advantage that girls had over boys for being more organised and taking better care of their work
• feminisation of education: more female teachers as role models may give girls more of an advantage
• laddish subcultures: boys are more likely to join anti-school subcultures that may prevent them from achieving in education

Question 11

outline two cultural factors that may affect ethnic differences in educational achievement

Answer 11

• parental attitudes: indian and chinese parents are more likely to be pro-school and encourage their children to do well in school
• ethnocentric curriculum: favours white british students and undermines ethnic backgrounds, promoting the idea of little englandism

Question 12

outline three ways in which factors within schools may shape gender differences in subject choice

Answer 12

• gender of teachers: science teachers are more likely to be male which may encourage more boys to choose science
• subject counselling: teachers may channel students into different subject choices based on their preconceived gender stereotypes
• peer pressure: girls and boys may face pressure from their friends to choose subjects the same as them and may be ridiculed for choosing otherwise

Question 13

outline and explain two practical disadvantages of using documents (10)

Answer 13

• Documents may not be genuine, especially if they are personal, historical documents.
• Their meaning might have changed over time.
• They may not be representative, so findings cannot be generalised.
• Using private documents without permission can cause ethical problems related to consent.

Question 14

Outline and explain two problems of using the functionalist perspective to study today’s society (10)

Answer 14

One problem of using the functionalist perspective to study today’s society is that it ignores oppression that is faced by some social groups. Functionalists focus on society’s shared norms and values and how it affects them. However, feminists would argue that functionalism is unrealistic with their arguments and ignoring the oppression women are facing in today’s society. For example, the nuclear family oppresses women as they are expected to fulfil a housewife role which makes women dependent on men for income which benefits men from domestic labour. Furthermore, Marxists argue that we can’t use the functionalist perspective to study today’s society because they ignore the conflict of power between the ruling class and the working class in which they legitimise class inequalities. Therefore, the problem of using the functionalist perspective to study today’s society is that they ignore wider differences within society between social groups such as class and gender.
Another problem of using the functionalist perspective to study today’s society is that it is outdated. Postmodernists argue that we are now more in a modern time in which society has become more fragmented and diverse. For example for functionalism nuclear family is the norm but this is not the case now, evidence shows the nuclear family structure has increasingly declined over the tew years, for example because of the high rates of divorce, cohabitation families and the introduction to LGBTQ+ families it has led to the changes of family structure. Due to the increase of fragmentation, it is harder to maintain social solidarity because of the diversity in relationships and society. Therefore, the problem of using the functionalist perspective to study today’s society is that it’s outdated and not relevant to today’s society and their portrayal of society is now inaccurate.

Question 15

Outline and explain two disadvantages of using personal documents in sociological research (10)

Answer 15

Documents may not be genuine, especially if they are personal, historical documents. Their meaning might have changed over time. They may not be representative, so findings cannot be generalised. Using private documents without permission can cause ethical problems related to consent.

Question 16

Outline and explain two arguments against the positivist view that sociology can be scientific (10)

Answer 16

One of the primary arguments against the positivist view of sociology stue robbe of valem price its eatin, snar tue that
sociologists should be neutral and objective in their approach to data collection and analysis. However, many sociologists argue that value neutrality is impossible, a sociologist inevitably bring their own beliefs, biases, and values to their research. For example, a sociologist studying poverty may have their own opinions about why poverty exists and what should be done to address it for stop these beliefs may influence the way they design their study, collect their data, and analyse their findings. As such, it’s argued that the positive view of sociology as objective, neutral and scientific is an impossible ideal.
Another argument against the positivist view of sociology is that it reduces complex social phenomena to simple, quantifiable variables.
Positives argue that sociology can be scientific while identifying and measuring social facts such as crime rates, income levels, and educational attainment. However, sociologist who are critical of this approach argue that it ignores the complex social systems and structures that produce these social facts. For example, introduction is the approach to understanding educational attainment would focus solely on factors such as family income and parental educational levels, ignoring broader societal factors such as racism, sexism and the distribution of resources. As such, it’s argued that the positivist view of sociology as reducing complex social phenomena to simple variables is too simplistic and ignores the wider social context.

Question 17

Outline and explain two reasons why official statistics should not be seen as social facts (10)

Answer 17

As it is secondary data, researchers cannot control how the original data was collected. Official statistics are unlikely to be completely free of political, economic, or social considerations; data can be manipulated to fit certain agendas. Official statistics can obscure the reality of various social phenomena

Question 18

Outline and explain two reasons why sociologists may choose to use research that produce quantitative data (10)

Answer 18

A sociologist might opt for methods which generate quantitative research if they want to examine social patterns or if they’d like to study the nature and/or strength of a relationship between two or more factors