Cambridge A-Level Sociology: Globalisation, Media and Religion (9699)

This guide covers Paper 4 Globalisation, Media and Religion, an A Level-only paper in Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology (9699). AS Level candidates study Paper 1 and Paper 2; the full A Level adds Paper 3 and Paper 4. Paper 4 has three named sections, and candidates answer questions on 2 of the 3.

Where this fits in 9699

Paper 4 is the final paper of the full A Level and brings together three substantive areas — globalisation, media, and religion — that each apply the theoretical concepts and research methods introduced in Paper 1 (Socialisation, Identity and Methods of Research) to a specific area of contemporary social life. Because candidates choose 2 of the 3 sections, Paper 4 allows some specialisation within the qualification, though the syllabus still expects candidates to draw on the same underlying sociological concepts and research methods knowledge that runs through the whole course.

Paper 4 is 1 hour 45 minutes, worth 70 marks and 29% of the full A Level. Each of the three sections carries two essay questions; candidates answer two questions in total, each from a different section. Every essay is worth 35 marks and requires an extended response demonstrating AO1, AO2 and AO3, exploring contrasting views or evidence.

Syllabus coverage

CAMBRIDGE A LEVEL SOCIOLOGY (9699) — PAPER 4: GLOBALISATION, MEDIA AND RELIGION

This syllabus numbers its subject content with twelve headings running straight through the whole qualification, each divided into decimal sub-topics (for example 7.1 Perspectives on globalisation). Paper 4 draws on headings 7 to 12, two per named section:

• Section A: Globalisation — 7 Key debates, concepts and perspectives (perspectives on globalisation; globalisation and identity; globalisation, power and politics) and 8 Contemporary issues (globalisation, poverty and inequalities; globalisation and migration; globalisation and crime)
• Section B: Media — 9 Ownership and control of media (traditional media and the new media; theories of the media and influences on media content; the impact of the new media) and 10 Media representation and effects (media representations of class, gender, ethnicity and age groups; different models of media effects; the impact of the media on behaviour)
• Section C: Religion — 11 Religion and social order (religion and society; religion and social order; religion as a source of social change) and 12 The influence of religion (the secularisation debate; gender, feminism and religion; religion and post-modernity)

The lettered sections (A/B/C) are how the paper itself is structured; the heading numbers (7-12) are how the syllabus numbers its content — the two are separate systems and should not be conflated.

How to approach it

Because candidates answer on only 2 of these 3 sections, a sensible strategy is to study all three to a working level early in the course, then narrow to genuinely deep revision on two sections closer to the exam, keeping in mind that unexpectedly difficult questions on a “safe” section can make a well-prepared third section valuable as a fallback. For Globalisation (Section A), strong answers move beyond treating globalisation as simply “the world becoming more connected” and can discuss specific consequences for identity and culture — for instance, tension between global cultural influences and the persistence or revival of local and national identities — supported by named sociological perspectives on globalisation rather than general observation alone.

Media (Section B) rewards being able to discuss more than one theoretical explanation of media influence — for example, contrasting views that see media as shaping audience attitudes and behaviour directly against views that see audiences as more actively selecting and interpreting media content — and applying whichever perspective a question foregrounds to a specific, named example rather than discussing media influence only in the abstract. A frequent weakness is asserting that media “affects behaviour” without engaging with the actual debate among competing explanations the syllabus expects candidates to know.

Religion (Section C) similarly rewards weighing competing sociological explanations against each other — for instance, whether religion primarily functions to maintain social cohesion, or whether it can also be a source of social change and conflict — rather than describing a single view as though it were uncontested. Candidates should also be ready to discuss secularisation (the extent to which religion’s social influence has declined) as a genuinely debated question, with evidence and counter-evidence, rather than an assumed fact.

Across all three sections, Paper 4 is best revised by consistently linking back to research methods: for any claim about globalisation, media or religion, being able to suggest how a sociologist might actually research that claim, and to evaluate the strengths and limitations of that method, connects this paper back to the methods content examined in Paper 1 and demonstrates the kind of joined-up sociological thinking this qualification rewards at its highest level.

Worked example: applying methods to a media question

A typical Paper 4 question might ask candidates to discuss the influence of social media on how young people form their identities. A weak answer describes social media’s features and asserts that it “has a big influence.” A stronger answer selects a specific sociological perspective on media influence, applies it directly to identity formation among young people (for instance, discussing how curated self-presentation online might reshape ideas of a stable, singular identity), and then briefly considers how a sociologist could investigate this claim — noting a suitable method and one limitation of it for researching something as private and platform-dependent as social media use. Linking a theoretical claim to a research method in this way, even briefly, signals the joined-up understanding this paper rewards, rather than treating Paper 4’s content as disconnected from Paper 1’s methods.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Discussing globalisation as a purely economic phenomenon without engaging with its cultural and identity-related consequences, which this paper specifically examines.
• Presenting one theory of media influence as simply true, rather than as one of several competing sociological explanations to be weighed.
• Treating secularisation as a settled fact rather than a genuinely debated question with evidence on more than one side.
• Answering with no reference at all to research methods, when Paper 4 questions frequently reward candidates who connect a substantive claim to how it could actually be studied.

A final point worth building into revision is currency: all three sections deal with rapidly changing areas of social life, so supporting an answer with a specific, plausible contemporary example (rather than only textbook cases from decades past) tends to make an argument feel more genuinely engaged with the sociological debate being assessed.

Official syllabus

Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology 9699 syllabus for 2024, 2025 and 2026 — cambridgeinternational.org.

Related resources

• Paper 1: Socialisation, Identity and Methods of Research — the first AS Level paper of 9699, a prerequisite for this paper