Not really sure
Also last year Marxism came up for both units as one of the 33 mark essays - so maybe not another big question on that
But here's what has come up in previous years:
June 2013:
01
Identify and briefly explain three characteristics of sects.(9 marks)
02
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that the growth of religious fundamentalism is a reaction to globalisation. (18 marks)
03
Evaluate the contribution of Marxist theories to our understanding of the role and functions of religion in the world today. (33 marks)
04
‘Different social groups have different social and spiritual needs and use religion and religious organisations in very different ways.’
To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view? (33 marks)
Jan 2013:
01
Identify and briefly explain three ways in which women may be disadvantaged by religion today. (9 marks)
02
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that religion no longer acts
as a ‘shared universe of meaning’ for people today.
03
Assess the view that religion inhibits social change.
04
Evaluate the role of New Age movements in society today.
June 2012
01
Identify and briefly explain three reasons why statistics on religious belief may not be accurate.
02
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that women are no longer
oppressed by religion.
03
‘Religion is still the most significant ideological influence in the world today.’ To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view?
04
Critically examine sociological views of sects in society today.
Jan 2012
01
Identify and briefly explain three reasons why members of minority ethnic groups may seem to be more religious than members of the majority population. (9 marks)
02
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that most people today choose not to be lifelong members of religious organisations. (18 marks)
03
‘The growth of New Age and similar movements is evidence of a spiritual revolution in society today.’
04
To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view?
Assess the usefulness of functionalist theories in understanding religion today.
(33 marks)
June 11:
01
Identify and briefly explain three characteristics of religious fundamentalism. (9 marks)
02
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that religion is a force for
social change. (18 marks) EITHER
03
Assess the view that secularisation has been a feature only of modern European societies. (33 marks)
04
Assess the view that new religious movements are mainly for the middle classes and the young. (33 marks)
Jan 2011
01
Identify and briefly explain three reasons, apart from lower church attendance, why the Church of England might be seen to be ‘in decline’, (Item A, line 7). (9 marks)
02
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that, while the Church of England is declining, other religions and spiritual movements are flourishing. (18 marks)
03
Assess the view that, for minority ethnic groups, the practice of religion and membership of religious groups is mainly a form of cultural defence. (33 marks)
04
Assess the view that religion is a major source of instability and conflict in society today.
(33 marks)
Additionally here is a copy of what is on the spec broken down so all the parts are made obvious:
1 Different theories of ideology, science and religion, inc. Christian & non-Christian religious traditions
• Theories of ideology: Marxist, neo-Marxist, pluralist and feminist accounts; hegemony
• Theories of science: the social construction of knowledge; political, social and economic contexts of science; theory and observation; falsification; paradigms
• Theories of religion: Functionalist, Marxist, neo-Marxist and feminist.
2 The relationship between religious beliefs and social change and stability
• Functionalism: conservative force, inhibition of change, collective conscience, Durkheim and totemism, anomie; civil religions
• Marxism: religion as ideology, legitimating social inequality, disguising exploitation etc
• Weber: religion as a force for social change: theodicies, the Protestant ethic
• Neo-Marxism: religion used by those opposing the ruling class, liberation theology
• Feminism: religious beliefs supporting patriarchy
• Fundamentalist beliefs: rejecting change by reverting to supposed traditional
values and practices.
Teacher Resource Bank / GCE Sociology / Schemes of Work: Unit 3 (SCLY3) / Version 1.0
3 Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice
• Typologies of religious organisations: churches, denominations, sects and cults, with examples of each
• New Religious Movements and typologies of NRMs eg world rejecting/accommodating/affirming; millenarian beliefs, with examples of each
• New Age movements and spirituality, with examples
• The relationship of these organisations to religious and spiritual belief and
practice.
4 The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs and practices
• Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs and other organisations
• Gender and religion: women: women’s greater participation, women in religious
organisations including NRMs; men’s participation and organisational roles in
religions; sexuality and religion; images of gender in religions
• Ethnicity and religion: religion and ethnic identity; religion in migrant communities;
religions and minority ethnic groups in the UK today
• Age and religion: religious participation and belief by age group; religious
socialisation
• Social class and religion: religious participation and belief by social class.
5 The significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world, including the nature and extent of secularisation in a global context
• Globalisation and belief systems, including fundamentalism
• Postmodernity: end of meta-narratives, ‘spiritual shopping’
• Secularisation: problems of definition and measurement; aspects of secularisation
such as disengagement, rationalisation, rise of pluralism/diversity, desacralisation,
disenchantment, individuation
• Arguments and evidence for and against secularisation eg attendance and
membership; believing without belonging; the secularisation cycle theory and compensators (Stark and Bainbridge); UK compared with other countries (eg USA) and global significance of religion today.