GCSE Sociology, year 10 assessment, Autumn 2011

Peerassessment - instructions

Read your class mate’s answers, slowly and carefully. Compare their answer to the example answer on these sheets. Mark their answer. Use the example answers as a guide.

Give feedback for each answer, identify ‘what went well’ and ‘even better if’

1. From Item A, what % of adults used the internet monthly or less in 2009? (1 mark)

9%

2. From Item A, in which year did the greatest number of adults access the internet every day? (1 mark)

2010

3. Describe how the sociological idea of gender differs from the biological idea of sex. (4 marks)

Gender is your culture, but sex is your biology.

1 mark – this barely answers the question, and re-uses language from the question, and doesn’t explain how these ideas differ.

Gender is whether you are masculine or feminine, this is different from sex, which is if you have male reproductive organs, or female reproductive organs.

2 marks – this answer starts to address how the two ideas differ, and gives a better example for each category.

Gender is taught whereas sex is what we’re born with, they are different because of this. Sex is your biology, for example girls can get pregnant and have babies, whereas men produce sperm to fertilise eggs. Gender is what being male or female means, for example, men are masculine and women are feminine, being masculine means being tough, being feminine means being delicate.

3 marks – This answer describes the terms, provides appropriate examples and explains how they differ.

Sex refers to how men and women are biologically different, for example, males can produce sperm and have the XY chromosome, whereas females have a womb and have the XX chromosome. We are born with our sex, but this is different from gender, which we are socialised into, gender refers to the social and cultural meanings of being male or female, for example being male, masculine, or female feminine. Gender refers to behaviour, for example being a breadwinner is a stereotypical masculine trait.

4 marks – this is a perfect answer, it fully describes the terms, and explains how they differ. It is also very well written.

4. Explain what Sociologists mean by social control. (4 marks)

Social control is how people like police and teachers stop us from doing bad things.

1 mark – this barely answers the question, it includes an example of agencies of social control, but does not identify them as such and does not go into enough detail, it doesn’t use any examples, or any other key terms.

Social control is the way that social order is maintained in society. People like teachers and police are the ones who make social control happen.

2 marks – this answer defines what social control is, and gives examples of agencies of social control, but it doesn’t define them as such, nor does it include other relevant terms, such as sanctions or formal and informal agencies of social control.

Social control is the way social order is maintained in society. Agencies of social control are the people who make social control happen. There are formal and informal agencies of social control, they use positive sanction, like rewards, and negative sanctions, like punishments, to keep social order.

3 marks – this answer includes all the key terms and defines them, but it doesn’t use any examples, it doesn’t say who formal and informal agencies of social control are, it doesn’t give examples of sanctions, and it doesn’t talk about formal or informal sanctions, either, (though it would be possible to omit this last detail and still get 4 marks).

Social control is the way social order is maintained in society. Agencies of social control are the people who make social control happen. There are formal and informal agencies of social control, formal agencies of social control are officials backed up by law and order like the police, informal agencies of social control are not backed up by the law, like parents. Agencies of social control use positive sanctions and negative to keep social order. Positive sanctions are rewards, they can be formal, like a pay rise, or informal, like a pat on the back. Negative sanctions are punishments, they can also be formal, like being sent to prison, or informal, being told to shut up.

4 marks – This answer explains everything about social control, it uses all the relevant key terms and provides examples for them all.

4. Explain what Sociologists mean by a multicultural, multiethnic society. (4 marks)

This means a society where lots of different people of different races all live.

1 mark – This barely answers the question, it doesn’t define any of the terms, e.g. society, ethnicity, multiethnic.

A multicultural, multiethnic society means a society where people of different cultures and ethnicities live and work. There is diversity in these societies.

2 marks – this answer includes the important point about diversity, but it is still not defining any of the terms.

Society refers to community, how people organise their lives and create institutions, like schools. Ethnicity is your shared cultural background, it is similar to race but not the same, it is about culture not biology. A multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society means one where there are communities with diverse ranges of people, with different ethnicities, religions and cultures.

3 marks – This answer defines the terms ethnicity, society and multiethnic. It doesn’t define culture, but really multicultural and multiethnic are considered as the same in this question. It doesn’t include any examples.

Society refers to community, how people organise their lives and create institutions, like schools. Ethnicity is your shared cultural background, it is similar to race but not the same, it is about culture not biology. A multiethnic, multicultural society means one where there are communities with diverse ranges of people, with different ethnicities, religions and cultures. London is a multicultural, multiethnic society, lots of people from all over the world, with very different cultures and beliefs live in London.

4 marks – This answer defines all the terms, and provides a relevant example.

5. Discuss how far sociologists would agree that it is realistic to talk of a typical British family today’. (12 marks)

A typical family is where the parents and children live together. It is realistic because most people live in a family.

2marks – This answer is very basic and talks about the family, but without using any key terms or examples.

The typical British family is the nuclear family, with two parents and their children living together. Most people live in a nuclear family, so it is typical. This is the type of family that is usually seen on television or in adverts, sometimes called the cereal packet family. In this family they have different roles with the mother usually looking after the children and doing the housework, whilst the father goes to work and provides the money for the family. The children go to school.

5 marks– This answer is better, as it describes the typical family and uses key terms like ‘nuclear’, ‘cereal packet’ and ‘roles’. It also gives a couple of examples. However, it doesn’t address ‘how far’ this is typical.

The typical British family is the nuclear family, with two parents and their children living together. Most people live in a nuclear family, so it could be typical. This is the type of family that is usually seen on television or in adverts, sometimes called the cereal packet family. In this family they have different roles with the mother usually looking after the children and doing the housework, whilst the father goes to work and provides the money for the family. Today there are lots of other types of family as well though. Some people live in single parent families, or in reconstituted families where the parents have divorced and remarried. In some cultures, lots of people live in extended families, where grandparents live in the same house. This means the nuclear family may not be typical any more.

7 marks–This answer also considers other types of family and begins to address ‘how far’. However, it doesn’t develop the knowledge much further, considering how typical roles might have changed, or that reconstituted families may also be nuclear in structure.

The typical British family is often seen as the nuclear family, with two parents and their children living together. Most people live in a nuclear family, so it could be typical. This is the norm for the family that is usually seen on television or in adverts, sometimes called the cereal packet family, and seen as the ideal type. In this family they have different roles with the mother usually looking after the children and doing the housework, whilst the father goes to work and provides the money for the family. These roles have changed though and the ‘typical’ nuclear family may now have both parents working, or the dad staying at home to look after the children. There are lots of other types of family today as well. Some people live in single parent families, or in reconstituted families where the parents have divorced and remarried. In some cultures, lots of people live in extended families, where grandparents live in the same house. There are even same-parent families, showing how much society has changed and that lots of different types of family are possible and even common. In conclusion, although there are lots of other types of families, the nuclear family is still the most common. The ‘typical’ image presented is exaggerated by the media, but it is still realistic to talk about the nuclear family as ‘typical’.

12 marks – this is an excellent answer, using key terms throughout and trying to answer the question of ‘how far’ directly. It gives some examples of different types of family and considers changes in society that challenge the traditional view.