Exam-style question
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Which approach avoids generic social commentary on The Media? Variant 4.
- A.Use sociological theory, evidence or research methods to explain media and society, rather than giving a moral opinion.
- B.Writing generic social commentary instead of using sociological concepts.
- C.Treating AO1 description as if it were AO3 evaluation.
- D.Write a broad opinion about The Media without sociological theory, evidence, method or AO focus.
Model answer
What a good answer should say
- The correct answer is Use sociological theory, evidence or research methods to explain media and society, rather than giving a moral opinion..
Explanation
Why this works
The correct option is Use sociological theory, evidence or research methods to explain media and society, rather than giving a moral opinion. because it matches this objective's Sociology focus.
AO1: media and society is the sociological focus needed to the relationship between ownership and control of the media. Define the relevant concept, theory, evidence or method accurately before applying it.
AO2: Apply the point to crime patterns, victims, punishment, media or criminal justice agencies rather than writing a generic comment about society. AO3: Analyse by explaining the chain from social structure, social action, institution, policy or method to its effect on behaviour, opportunity, identity, control or inequality.
Where research evidence is used, explain how the method, sample, data type, validity, reliability or representativeness affects the conclusion. Evaluation should consider the strength of evidence and competing sociological perspectives; the judgement should follow from the evidence and context, not from moral opinion.
The distractors are weaker because they blur a concept boundary, omit education-specific methods application where required, or replace sociological reasoning with generic commentary.
Common mistake
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