Cambridge A-Level Sociology: Globalisation, Media and Religion — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, in the style and at the standard of the examination. They are not reproduced past-paper questions — Cambridge International holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or Cambridge directly.

Related: Globalisation, Media and Religion revision notes

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Section A

1. State how many of Paper 4’s three sections candidates must answer questions on. [1]

2. Identify the two contrasting views of media influence that a strong answer should weigh against each other. [2]

3. State one reason secularisation should be treated as a debated question rather than an assumed fact. [2]

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Section B

4. A student writes: “Social media has a huge influence on how teenagers see themselves.”

(a) Identify one weakness of this statement as it stands. [2] (b) Rewrite the point to include a named sociological perspective and a specific mechanism of influence. [3]

5. A student argues that globalisation is “mainly about economics — trade, companies and money moving between countries.”

(a) Identify the specific weakness in this framing, given what Paper 4’s globalisation section actually examines. [2] (b) Suggest one cultural or identity-related consequence of globalisation the student’s answer is missing. [2]

6. Explain why a strong Paper 4 answer on any of the three sections should include a reference to research methods, even though methods are examined in Paper 1. [4]

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Section C

7. Evaluate the claim that religion primarily functions to maintain social cohesion in contemporary society. Refer to at least one alternative view in your answer. [8]

8. A candidate has revised all three sections of Paper 4 to a working level but plans to revise only two in depth before the exam. Evaluate this strategy, and explain one risk it carries alongside its benefit. [6]

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Worked answers

1. 2 of the 3. [1]

2. Media as directly shaping audience attitudes and behaviour, versus audiences actively selecting and interpreting media content. [2]

3. There is genuine evidence and counter-evidence on both sides of whether religion’s social influence has declined, rather than settled consensus — treating it as an assumed fact misrepresents the actual state of the sociological debate. [2]

4. (a) The statement asserts an influence without naming a specific sociological perspective or explaining the mechanism by which social media might actually shape identity, making it a general observation rather than a sociologically engaged claim. [2] (b) For example: curated self-presentation on social media platforms may reshape ideas of a stable, singular identity by encouraging young people to actively construct and manage multiple presented selves — a mechanism that connects to perspectives emphasising the media audience’s active role in shaping meaning, rather than being simply and passively influenced by content. [3]

5. (a) This framing treats globalisation as a purely economic phenomenon, but Paper 4’s globalisation section specifically examines its consequences for societies, culture and identity, which the student’s answer omits entirely. [2] (b) Any valid example, e.g. tension between global cultural influences and the persistence or revival of local and national identities, as communities respond to increased exposure to globally shared culture. [2]

6. Paper 4 is designed to bring together the substantive content of globalisation, media and religion with the theoretical concepts and research methods introduced in Paper 1, so questions frequently reward candidates who can suggest how a sociologist might actually research a claim being discussed, and evaluate the strengths and limitations of that method for the specific topic. This demonstrates joined-up sociological thinking across the qualification rather than treating Paper 4’s content as disconnected from the methods knowledge examined elsewhere, which the specification explicitly expects candidates to draw on throughout the course. [4]

7. A strong answer states the social-cohesion view directly — that religion can bind a community together through shared beliefs, rituals and values, reinforcing collective identity and social solidarity — before weighing at least one alternative view. An alternative view holds that religion can also be a source of social change and conflict, for example where religious belief motivates challenges to existing social or political arrangements, or where competing religious groups become a source of social division rather than cohesion. A balanced evaluation should note that whether religion functions primarily as cohesive or as a source of change/conflict may depend on the specific society, historical period, or religious movement being discussed, rather than one function being universally true of religion as such, and should avoid presenting either view as simply correct without engaging with the other. [8] (Marks for stating the cohesion view with genuine explanation, presenting a specific and correctly framed alternative, and a reasoned rather than one-sided evaluation.)

8. This is a reasonable strategy, since Paper 4 only requires answers on 2 of the 3 sections, so concentrating deep revision on two sections closer to the exam allows more thorough preparation of the content most likely to be needed, rather than spreading equal depth across all three. The risk is that if a candidate’s chosen two sections both turn out to have an unexpectedly difficult or unfamiliar question on the day, having revised the third section only to a working level leaves less depth to fall back on than if all three had been revised more evenly; the benefit (greater depth on two sections) is therefore traded against reduced flexibility if the exam’s specific questions do not suit the two chosen sections as well as anticipated. [6] (Marks for correctly identifying the strategy’s benefit, and a genuine, specific risk rather than a vague restatement.)

Official syllabus

Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology (9699) syllabus for 2024, 2025 and 2026 — the same specification cited by the Globalisation, Media and Religion study guide and its revision notes.