OxfordAQA International A-level Sociology (9690): Unit 5 – People and technology – 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 3.2.3, People and technology (3.2.3.1 to 3.2.3.5), of the OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Sociology (9690) specification, Version 1.1 (first teaching September 2026; first A-level exams May/June 2028). The section is examined in Unit 5: People and technology, a 1 hour 30 minute exam with 50 marks and short and extended response questions, worth 20% of the International A-level. All towns, countries, companies and data below are fictional.

Revise first with the People and technology study guide and the revision notes for this unit. The Sociology hub and the syllabus checklist show the rest of the course.

Questions

1. Explain what is meant by conspicuous consumption. [2]

2. Distinguish between misinformation and disinformation, giving an example of each. [4]

3. Outline two differences between narrow artificial intelligence and artificial general intelligence. [4]

4. Study the data below.

Main source of news, fictional city of Tarrowby (survey of 1,000 adults)

Age group	Respondents	Social media	Television	Newspapers (print or online)	Radio
18-34	400	240 (60%)	80 (20%)	40 (10%)	40 (10%)
35-54	350	105 (30%)	140 (40%)	70 (20%)	35 (10%)
55 and over	250	25 (10%)	125 (50%)	75 (30%)	25 (10%)

(a) Calculate the percentage of all 1,000 respondents whose main source of news is social media. Show your working. [2] (b) Identify two patterns shown in the data. [2] (c) Using the data and the uses and gratifications model, explain why different age groups may choose different news sources. [6]

5. Read the scenario.

Velmara Logistics, a fictional delivery company, gives every warehouse worker a wristband. It counts steps, measures how fast parcels are scanned, and places each worker on a live leaderboard shown on screens. Workers in the top ten each week receive a badge and a small bonus. Managers can see each worker’s data at any time.

Using the scenario, explain two ways digital technologies can be used for surveillance and the gamification of social life. [6]

6. Outline three ways in which ‘traditional’ media organisations have adapted to the digital age. [6]

7. Study the data below.

Households with home internet access, fictional country of Lessaria

Group	Households with access
Urban	84%
Rural	46%
Highest income fifth	95%
Lowest income fifth	41%

(a) Calculate the percentage-point gap between the highest and lowest income fifths, and between urban and rural households. [2] (b) Using the data, explain two reasons for digital divides within countries. [6]

8. Using Stanley Cohen’s ideas, explain how a moral panic might develop about digital or online games. [6]

9. Read the scenario.

The fictional city council of Brennholt introduces an algorithm that scores applications for housing support. It was trained on ten years of past decisions. Applicants with low scores are refused without a human review.

Analyse two ways in which the use of algorithms such as this raises issues of power and inequality. [8]

10. Evaluate Marxist and pluralist views of the ownership and control of ‘traditional’ media. [16]

11. “Social media have given audiences more power than the people who own and control the media.” To what extent do you agree? Use examples from your own society or a society you know about. [16]

12. Evaluate the view that technology shapes society more than society shapes technology. [12]

Answers

1. Buying goods or services in a way that others can see [1] in order to display wealth or social status, an idea from Veblen [1]. [2] Examiner insight: A definition that only says “buying a lot” misses the second mark; the display of status is the key idea.

2. Misinformation is false or misleading information shared without intent to deceive [1], e.g. a person forwards a fake health tip believing it is true [1]. Disinformation is false information created or spread deliberately to mislead [1], e.g. a state-backed group posts invented stories to influence an election [1]. [4] Examiner insight: The distinction must rest on intent; examples that do not show the intent clearly lose the example marks.

3. Narrow AI is built to do one specific task, such as translating text or recognising faces [1], whereas artificial general intelligence would perform across a wide range of tasks at human level [1]. Narrow AI already exists and is widely used [1], whereas general AI is still hypothetical and does not yet exist [1]. [4] Examiner insight: “Outline two differences” needs both sides of each difference stated; describing only narrow AI earns half marks at most.

4. (a) Social media users: 240 + 105 + 25 = 370 [1]; 370 / 1,000 x 100 = 37% [1]. (b) Use of social media as the main source falls with age, from 60% of 18-34s to 10% of those 55 and over [1]. Television rises with age and is the main source for 50% of those 55 and over [1]. (c) The uses and gratifications model sees audiences as active, choosing media to meet needs [1]. Younger people may use social media for personal relationships and identity, sharing and commenting on news with peers [1], which fits the 60% figure for 18-34s [1]. Older people may seek surveillance, meaning reliable information about the world, and trust established broadcasters [1], which fits 50% of over-55s using television [1]. Analysis: needs are shaped by habits formed when each generation grew up, so the model may underplay how access and familiarity limit choice [1]. [10] Examiner insight: Application marks in part (c) need the data quoted; a general account of the model with no figures stays in the knowledge band.

5. Surveillance: managers can monitor each worker’s data at any time [1], which links to Foucault’s panopticon because workers may discipline themselves knowing they could be watched [1]; this gives managers more control over the pace of work [1]. Gamification: the leaderboard, badges and bonus turn work into a competition [1], which can motivate some workers but put pressure on those lower down [1]; this is part of the quantification of social life, where performance is measured as data [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Each explanation needs a detail from the scenario, a sociological concept and an effect; missing any one usually costs a mark.

6. Newspapers have introduced paywalls and digital subscriptions [1] to replace falling print sales and advertising income [1]. Broadcasters have launched streaming and on-demand services [1] so audiences can watch when they choose rather than at fixed times [1]. Media organisations run social media accounts and live blogs [1] to reach younger audiences who get news through phones [1]. [6] Examiner insight: For “outline” questions, each way needs a brief reason or effect to gain its second mark.

7. (a) Income gap: 95 - 41 = 54 percentage points [1]. Urban-rural gap: 84 - 46 = 38 percentage points [1]. (b) Income: low-income households may not afford devices or monthly data costs [1], which explains why only 41% of the lowest income fifth have access [1]; this reinforces existing inequality because online services and jobs are harder to reach [1]. Location: providers may not build networks in rural areas where fewer customers live [1], which fits the 46% rural figure against 84% urban [1]; rural people may then lose out on online education and government services [1]. [8] Examiner insight: Students often calculate a ratio when the question asks for percentage points; read the command carefully.

8. Cohen’s study of mods and rockers showed that media exaggeration can create a moral panic [1]. A single violent crime by a young person might be linked by newspapers to a popular online game [1]. The media would then present gamers as folk devils, a threat to social values [1]. Moral entrepreneurs, such as politicians or campaign groups, call for bans or age limits [1]. Deviancy amplification may follow, as attention makes the game more appealing and leads to more reports [1]. The panic fades when the media move on, often with little evidence of a link [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Use Cohen’s stages and concepts (folk devils, moral entrepreneurs, amplification) applied to games, not a retelling of the mods and rockers case.

9. First, training on past decisions can reproduce past bias [1]. If earlier staff refused more applications from some ethnic groups or areas, the algorithm learns this pattern [1]. This links to Noble’s argument that algorithms can reproduce stereotypes while appearing neutral [1]. Analysis: because the decision looks technical, it is harder to challenge than a human decision [1]. Second, removing human review shifts power to whoever designs the system [1]. Applicants may not know why they were refused, so they cannot appeal effectively [1]. Eubanks argues that automated systems are tested first on poorer people who have least power to object [1]. Analysis: inequality is therefore not just in outcomes but in who has the power to understand and contest decisions [1]. [8] Examiner insight: “Analyse” needs a chain of reasoning; listing two problems with no explanation of why they matter stays in a low band.

10. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; the points below show indicative creditworthy content.

Marxist view: media ownership is concentrated in a few corporations [1], and owners share ruling-class interests [1]. Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model names filters such as ownership and advertising [1]. Advertisers prefer content that keeps audiences in a buying mood, so critical content is reduced [1]. The Glasgow University Media Group argued TV news framed strikes from management’s viewpoint [1]. Neo-Marxists stress that journalists’ shared middle-class values, not direct orders, produce bias [1].

Pluralist view: there are many competing outlets, so no one group dominates [1]. Content reflects audience demand; if people dislike content, they switch [1]. Journalists’ professional values and state regulation limit owner interference [1]. Public service broadcasters exist to provide balance [1].

Evaluation: pluralists underestimate concentration of ownership, as a few corporations own outlets across print, TV and film [1]. Owners may not control daily content but set editorial direction and appoint editors [1]. Marxists may treat audiences as passive, ignoring uses and gratifications research [1]. Public service media complicate the Marxist case [1]. Example from a society the student knows, such as a business group owning both a TV channel and a newspaper [1]. Judgement: ownership shapes the limits of debate, but within them some variety exists [1]. [16] Examiner insight: Top answers evaluate each view with evidence rather than describing both and adding a one-line conclusion.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; the points below show indicative creditworthy content.

For: social media allow audiences to become content creators [1]. Citizen journalists record events before professional reporters arrive [1]. Jenkins describes a participatory culture [1]. Influencers can build audiences without a media company [1]. Example from own society, such as phone videos of a local protest or flood setting the national news agenda [1]. This supports uses and gratifications over the hypodermic syringe model [1].

Against: a few platform companies own the main social networks [1]. Algorithms decide what is seen, so visibility is controlled [1]. Platforms profit from users’ data and attention [1]. Most users consume rather than create content [1]. Disinformation shows that organised groups can exploit platforms [1]. Digital divides mean those without access or skills gain no voice [1].

Evaluation: Uscinski’s work questions claims that social media have transformed belief, since conspiracy talk did not rise over the long term [1]. Traditional media still adapt and often decide which online stories become major news [1]. Audience power varies by society, for example where governments restrict platforms [1]. Judgement: audiences have more voice, but control of distribution remains concentrated [1]. [16] Examiner insight: The question asks for examples from your own society, so an answer built only on theory misses the application credit that local examples earn.

12. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; the points below show indicative creditworthy content.

For: technological determinism argues technology drives change [1]. McLuhan said the medium itself changes society [1]. Marx linked the steam-mill to industrial capitalism [1]. Urry’s automobility shows how cars lock in patterns of housing and work [1].

Against: Pinch and Bijker showed the safety bicycle succeeded because of social meanings, not technical superiority [1]. Interpretive flexibility means groups use the same technology differently [1]. Owners and governments decide which technologies are funded and how they are used [1]. Algorithms reflect the biases of their designers and data [1].

Evaluation: Latour’s actor-network theory rejects the either/or by treating humans and non-humans as actants in networks [1]. Haraway argues human and machine are already merged, so the question’s split is too sharp [1]. Determinism ignores choice; constructionism may ignore constraint once technology is built [1]. Judgement: the relationship is two-way, with power deciding which direction dominates [1]. [12] Examiner insight: Strong answers use at least one theory that challenges the question’s either/or framing, such as actor-network theory.

Where marks are usually lost

• Calculation answers with no working shown, or percentage points confused with percentages.
• Describing a theory without linking it to the scenario or data given.
• Using the wrong media model, for example citing uses and gratifications as a passive-audience model.
• Treating misinformation and disinformation as the same thing.
• One-sided answers to “evaluate” or “to what extent” questions.
• No example from your own society where the question asks for one.
• Ending extended answers with no judgement, or a judgement that ignores the arguments made.
• Writing about AI and algorithms without naming a type, use or study.

Next steps

• Check your weaker answers against the study guide.
• Review AS links in the Exploring Sociology practice questions and the exam preparation guide.
• Find your gaps with our diagnostics.
• Want help from a teacher? Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Sociology (9690) specification, Version 1.1 (first teaching September 2026; first A-level exams May/June 2028), section 3.2.3 People and technology and section 4 Scheme of assessment.