AQA GCSE Sociology (8192): The sociological approach – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover section 3.1, The sociological approach, of the AQA GCSE Sociology (8192) specification, Version 1.2 (June 2026), for GCSE exams 2019 onwards. The section is not tied to one paper: both Paper 1 (The sociology of families and education) and Paper 2 (The sociology of crime and deviance and social stratification) assess “relevant areas of social theory and methodology”. The specification says each paper’s sections open with two multiple choice questions followed by short and extended responses; the questions here practise the skills, not that exact layout.

Revise first with the study guide and the revision notes. Track the whole course on the AQA GCSE Sociology hub and the 8192 checklist. All places, people and data below are fictional.

Questions

1. Explain the difference between norms and values. Use one example of each in your answer. [4]

2. Identify two agencies of secondary socialisation. [2]

3. Explain the difference between prejudice and discrimination. [3]

4. Read the three situations from the fictional town of Kestrelford.

(i) Villagers on the edge of town accept the decisions of the local landowner because his family has held the estate and its title for generations. (ii) A youth worker, Dee, is so inspiring that hundreds of teenagers volunteer for her weekend litter campaign. (iii) Drivers pay parking fines issued by council officers under the town’s published by-laws.

Using Weber’s types of authority, identify the type shown in each situation. [3]

5. A fictional survey asked 160 Year 11 students at one school in Kestrelford which one agency had most influenced their views about right and wrong.

Agency named	Number of students
Family	72
Peer group	40
Media (including social media)	28
School	14
Religious group	6
Total	160

(a) Identify the agency named most often. [1] (b) Calculate the percentage of students who named either the family or the peer group. Show your working. [2] (c) Explain one reason why these findings may not apply to all young people in the UK. [2]

6. Kestrelford Academy introduces a strict new uniform rule, with detentions for anyone who breaks it. Explain how a functionalist and a Marxist might each interpret this rule. [4]

7. Read the item.

Jay, aged 14, was caught once spraying graffiti on a bus shelter. Since then, staff have moved him to the back of every class and neighbours call him “the vandal”. A year later Jay says, “Everyone thinks I’m trouble anyway, so why bother?” He has since been caught twice more.

Using the item and interactionist ideas, explain how labelling may have affected Jay’s behaviour. [4]

8. Describe one way in which Durkheim’s work reflected the time and place in which he lived. [3]

9. Explain two differences between Marx’s and Weber’s views of social class. [4]

10. Discuss how far the family and the education system work together to socialise young people. Refer to at least two sociological perspectives. [8]

11. Discuss how useful Marx’s ideas are for understanding society in the UK today. [12]

12. To what extent is human behaviour shaped by social structures rather than by individual choice? [12]

Answers

1. Values are widely shared beliefs about what is important or desirable [1], for example respect for other people [1]. Norms are the unwritten rules of expected behaviour in particular situations [1]; for example, holding a door open for someone behind you puts the value of respect into practice [1]. [4] Examiner insight: The examples earn marks only when they fit the term; “honesty” offered as a norm, not a value, would not score.

2. Any two: school [1]; peer group [1]. Also accept the mass media, religion or the workplace. [2] Examiner insight: The family is the agency of primary socialisation, so naming it here scores nothing.

3. Prejudice is a negative attitude or pre-judgement about a group, often based on stereotypes [1]. Discrimination is an action that treats a person or group less favourably because of a characteristic such as ethnicity, gender or age [1]. The key difference is that prejudice is a belief while discrimination is behaviour, so a person can hold prejudice without acting on it [1]. [3] Examiner insight: The third mark is for stating the difference directly; two separate definitions alone stop at two marks.

4. (i) Traditional authority, based on custom and inherited status [1]. (ii) Charismatic authority, based on devotion to a person with exceptional qualities [1]. (iii) Rational-legal authority, based on acceptance of shared impersonal rules [1]. [3] Examiner insight: Use Weber’s exact labels; “legal” or “personal” authority is too vague to credit with confidence.

5. (a) The family [1]. [1] (b) 72 + 40 = 112 students; 112 ÷ 160 × 100 [1] = 70% [1]. [2] (c) The sample came from one school in one town [1], so it may not represent young people in other areas, regions or types of school, where family, religion or local culture may play a different part [1]. [2] Examiner insight: For part (c), tie the reason to the survey’s actual details (one school, one year group), not a general point about surveys.

6. A functionalist would see the rule as teaching shared norms and values, such as following rules and respecting the school community [1], which builds social cohesion and prepares pupils for life in wider society, as Durkheim argued [1]. A Marxist would see it as teaching obedience to authority [1], which corresponds to the workplace, where workers must follow rules they did not choose, as Bowles and Gintis argue [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Each perspective needs an interpretation and a link to the scenario; naming “consensus” and “conflict” with no explanation scores little.

7. After one act, Jay was publicly labelled a “vandal” by staff and neighbours [1]. This label became a master status, so others now see him mainly in terms of the label, shown by being moved to the back of every class [1]. Jay has begun to see himself in terms of the label (“everyone thinks I’m trouble”) [1], producing a self-fulfilling prophecy as he is caught twice more, in line with Becker’s idea that labelling can begin a deviant career [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Application marks need Jay’s details from the item; a textbook account of Becker with no reference to Jay stays low.

8. Durkheim lived in France during a period of industrialisation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries [1], when older ties of religion and community could no longer be taken for granted [1]. His work therefore focused on what holds modern society together, such as shared norms and values passed on through education, and on anomie when rules break down [1]. [3] Examiner insight: “Time and place” means a specific setting linked to his ideas; a list of his concepts with no context gains one mark at most.

9. Marx defined class by ownership or non-ownership of the means of production [1], whereas Weber defined class by market situation, which shapes life chances [1]. Marx predicted the classes would polarise into bourgeoisie and proletariat [1], while Weber argued the middle class would expand as capitalism developed [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Each difference needs both sides; describing Marx fully and Weber not at all limits you to half marks.

10. This answer is marked by levels of response in the real exam, not point by point. Indicative creditworthy content, one mark per point:

• The family carries out primary socialisation, teaching basic norms and values [1].
• Functionalists see school as a bridge between family and wider society, as Parsons argued [1].
• In the family, children are judged by particularistic standards; in school, by universalistic standards, so the two agencies teach different but connected lessons [1].
• Durkheim saw school as transmitting society’s shared norms and values, extending what the family began [1].
• Marxists argue both work together for capitalism: the family reproduces future workers (Zaretsky) and school produces an obedient workforce (Bowles and Gintis) [1].
• Feminists argue both can reinforce gender roles, so their cooperation reproduces patriarchy rather than serving everyone [1].
• Evaluation: the two can conflict; Willis shows peer-group counter-cultures resisting school values [1].
• Judgement: they broadly work together, but whether this benefits society as a whole or powerful groups depends on the perspective [1]. [8] Examiner insight: “Discuss” rewards contrasting perspectives with a final view; a description of family and school functions with no debate stays in the lower levels.

11. This answer is marked by levels of response in the real exam. Indicative creditworthy content, one mark per point:

• Marx saw society as divided between the bourgeoisie, who own the means of production, and the proletariat [1].
• He wrote in 19th-century Britain, the first industrial capitalist society, which shaped his focus on class [1].
• Ruling class ideology makes capitalism seem natural; workers who accept it have false class consciousness [1].
• Supporting evidence: class inequalities in education persist, as Halsey’s study of class differences in staying on at school shows [1].
• Bowles and Gintis apply Marx’s ideas to show schools preparing a workforce for capitalism [1].
• Zaretsky applies them to the family as a prop to the capitalist economy [1].
• Limitation: the revolution Marx expected did not happen in Britain [1].
• Limitation: Weber argued the middle class expands rather than polarising, which fits the growth of professional jobs [1].
• Limitation: feminists argue Marx neglects gender; Delphy and Leonard see men, not capitalists as such, as the main beneficiaries of women’s work [1].
• New Right writers stress the benefits of capitalism and chances for social mobility [1].
• Interactionists argue Marx underplays individual agency and the meanings people give to class [1].
• Judgement: Marx remains useful for explaining economic inequality, but less so for gender, ethnicity and a growing middle class [1]. [12] Examiner insight: Strong answers judge usefulness “today”, so link at least one point to present-day UK society, not only to Marx’s own time.

12. This answer is marked by levels of response in the real exam. Indicative creditworthy content, one mark per point:

• Define the debate: structure means institutions and wider social forces; agency means individuals’ ability to interpret and choose [1].
• Functionalists argue socialisation into a value consensus shapes behaviour, as Durkheim argued through education [1].
• Durkheim showed that even suicide rates vary with social integration, suggesting society shapes personal acts [1].
• Marxists argue class position shapes life chances and outlook through ruling class ideology [1].
• Feminists argue patriarchal structures, such as Walby’s six structures, limit women’s choices [1].
• Evidence for structure: class gaps in educational achievement, as Halsey found [1].
• Interactionists argue people actively interpret situations; labels are negotiated, as Becker shows [1].
• Willis found pupils who chose to resist school values, showing agency within structure [1].
• Weber stressed understanding the meanings behind social action, combining structure and agency [1].
• Limitation of structural views: they can be deterministic and do not explain why people in the same position act differently [1].
• Limitation of agency views: they say little about where labels come from or why some groups hold more power [1].
• Judgement: behaviour is shaped largely by structures, but individuals still interpret and respond to them, so both matter [1]. [12] Examiner insight: “To what extent” needs a weighed judgement at the end that follows from your evidence, not a balanced summary with no decision.

Where marks are usually lost

• Giving a definition with no example, or an example that does not match the term.
• Naming the family as an agency of secondary socialisation.
• Writing about Weber’s authority types with invented labels instead of traditional, charismatic and rational-legal.
• Ignoring the scenario or item in application questions and writing a general textbook answer.
• Missing the working in a calculation, so a wrong final figure scores nothing.
• Describing Durkheim, Marx or Weber without a sense of time and place.
• Presenting only one perspective in “discuss” or “evaluate” answers.
• Ending an extended answer without a clear, justified judgement.

Next steps

Re-read any weak area in the study guide, then practise applying the perspectives in the families and education practice set and the crime and stratification practice set. Try our diagnostics to find your weakest topics, or Book a free trial class with a sociology tutor.

Official syllabus

AQA GCSE Sociology (8192) specification, Version 1.2 (June 2026), for GCSE exams 2019 onwards: section 3.1 The sociological approach, with Appendix A (key terms and concepts) and Appendix B (texts and summaries).