Cambridge A Level Sociology 9699 — 2021 May/June Paper 4 · Variant 3

Cambridge International AS & A Level * 5 3 4 2 1 4 6 5 2 5 * This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated. DC (LEG) 202483/1 © UCLES 2021 [Turn over SOCIOLOGY 9699/43 Paper 4 Globalisation, Media and Religion May/June 2021 1 hour 45 minutes You must answer on the enclosed answer booklet. You will need: Answer booklet (enclosed) INSTRUCTIONS ● Answer two questions in total, each from a different section. ● Follow the instructions on the front cover of the answer booklet. If you need additional answer paper, ask the invigilator for a continuation booklet. INFORMATION ● The total mark for this paper is 70. ● The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].

2 9699/43/M/J/21 © UCLES 2021 Answer two questions in total, each from a different section. Section A: Globalisation EITHER 1 ‘Globalisation is leading to increased cultural diversity.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 2 ‘Dependency theory provides the best explanation of global inequality.’ Evaluate this view. [35] Section B: Media EITHER 3 ‘Media content is controlled primarily by governments.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 4 ‘The hypodermic syringe model accurately describes how people are influenced by the media.’ Evaluate this view. [35] Section C: Religion EITHER 5 ‘Rather than promoting social order, religion is a source of conflict in society.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 6 ‘There is little evidence to support the secularisation thesis.’ Evaluate this view. [35]

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4 9699/43/M/J/21 © UCLES 2021 Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity. To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series. Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which itself is a department of the University of Cambridge. BLANK PAGE

This document consists of 18 printed pages. © UCLES 2021 [Turn over Cambridge International AS & A Level SOCIOLOGY 9699/43 Paper 4 Globalisation, Media, Religion May/June 2021 MARK SCHEME Maximum Mark: 70 Published This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have considered the acceptability of alternative answers. Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for Teachers. Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes. Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the May/June 2021 series for most Cambridge IGCSE™, Cambridge International A and AS Level components and some Cambridge O Level components.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 2 of 18 Generic Marking Principles These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers. They should be applied alongside the specific content of the mark scheme or generic level descriptors for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these marking principles. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1: Marks must be awarded in line with: • the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question • the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question • the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2: Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions). GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3: Marks must be awarded positively: • marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit is given for valid answers which go beyond the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme, referring to your Team Leader as appropriate • marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do • marks are not deducted for errors • marks are not deducted for omissions • answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these features are specifically assessed by the question as indicated by the mark scheme. The meaning, however, should be unambiguous. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4: Rules must be applied consistently, e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed instructions or in the application of generic level descriptors. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5: Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question (however; the use of the full mark range may be limited according to the quality of the candidate responses seen). GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6: Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should not be awarded with grade thresholds or grade descriptors in mind.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 3 of 18 Social Science-Specific Marking Principles (for point-based marking) 1 Components using point-based marking: • Point marking is often used to reward knowledge, understanding and application of skills. We give credit where the candidate’s answer shows relevant knowledge, understanding and application of skills in answering the question. We do not give credit where the answer shows confusion. From this it follows that we: a DO credit answers which are worded differently from the mark scheme if they clearly convey the same meaning (unless the mark scheme requires a specific term) b DO credit alternative answers/examples which are not written in the mark scheme if they are correct c DO credit answers where candidates give more than one correct answer in one prompt/numbered/scaffolded space where extended writing is required rather than list-type answers. For example, questions that require n reasons (e.g. State two reasons …). d DO NOT credit answers simply for using a ‘key term’ unless that is all that is required. (Check for evidence it is understood and not used wrongly.) e DO NOT credit answers which are obviously self-contradicting or trying to cover all possibilities f DO NOT give further credit for what is effectively repetition of a correct point already credited unless the language itself is being tested. This applies equally to ‘mirror statements’ (i.e. polluted/not polluted). g DO NOT require spellings to be correct, unless this is part of the test. However spellings of syllabus terms must allow for clear and unambiguous separation from other syllabus terms with which they may be confused (e.g. Corrasion/Corrosion) 2 Presentation of mark scheme: • Slashes (/) or the word ‘or’ separate alternative ways of making the same point. • Semi colons (;) bullet points (•) or figures in brackets (1) separate different points. • Content in the answer column in brackets is for examiner information/context to clarify the marking but is not required to earn the mark (except Accounting syllabuses where they indicate negative numbers). 3 Calculation questions: • The mark scheme will show the steps in the most likely correct method(s), the mark for each step, the correct answer(s) and the mark for each answer • If working/explanation is considered essential for full credit, this will be indicated in the question paper and in the mark scheme. In all other instances, the correct answer to a calculation should be given full credit, even if no supporting working is shown. • Where the candidate uses a valid method which is not covered by the mark scheme, award equivalent marks for reaching equivalent stages. • Where an answer makes use of a candidate’s own incorrect figure from previous working, the ‘own figure rule’ applies: full marks will be given if a correct and complete method is used. Further guidance will be included in the mark scheme where necessary and any exceptions to this general principle will be noted.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 4 of 18 4 Annotation: • For point marking, ticks can be used to indicate correct answers and crosses can be used to indicate wrong answers. There is no direct relationship between ticks and marks. Ticks have no defined meaning for levels of response marking. • For levels of response marking, the level awarded should be annotated on the script. • Other annotations will be used by examiners as agreed during standardisation, and the meaning will be understood by all examiners who marked that paper.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 5 of 18 Question Answer Marks 1 ‘Globalisation is leading to increased cultural diversity.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The question invites discussion of two contrasting perspectives on the cultural impact of globalisation: one is the view that globalisation is leading to cultural convergence (a single global culture) and the other is the idea that globalisation is producing greater cultural diversity. One version of the cultural convergence perspective argues that globalisation has brought about a one- way flow of culture from the West to the less economically developed countries. A process of Westernisation (or Americanisation) has occurred whereby local cultures become less valued by people in poorer countries who come to identify increasingly with the same values and lifestyles that are found in rich capitalist countries such as the US and Western Europe. Tranformationalist and postmodernist theories of globalisation argue that the idea of cultural convergence exaggerates the impact of globalisation and fails to acknowledge how Western culture is enriched by inputs from other world cultures and religions. In this view, globalisation is actually producing greater cultural diversity, both by exposing more people to different cultures and through glocalisation (a process whereby cultural influences from other countries are modified and adapted to local culture and needs). Good answers will set out the arguments for suggesting that globalisation is producing greater cultural diversity and offer an evaluation that is likely to contrasts between the cultural divergence and cultural convergence perspectives. Indicative content For: • Global tourism, travel, migration and trade have all contributed a situation where people are exposed to a wider variety of cultural influences today. Elements of different cultures are increasingly combined together (what Steger refers to as ‘cultural hybridity’). • Global corporations have seized the opportunity to strengthen the appeal of their products and services by incorporating attractive elements from different cultures around the world (aspects of Bollywood incorporated in Hollywood films, for example). • Local people modify and adapt elements of global culture to strengthen and enhance local cultures. • Globalisation may also have led to a revival or reinvigoration of some cultural forms. For example, traditional social values have been reasserted by fundamentalist movements opposed to the influence of globalisation. A resurgence of nationalism and interest in national cultures is another response by those who feel threatened by the globalising forces. 35

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 6 of 18 Question Answer Marks 1 Against: • Martell argues that global processes are sweeping away significant territorial boundaries and bringing about the global homogenisation of cultural tastes. • Global markets and trading networks have spread Western consumer culture to most parts of the world and an interest in products, brands, and materialistic lifestyles is undermining the appeal of local cultures to young people in particular. • Leisure habits in many parts of the world are increasingly shaped by a global popular culture disseminated by global media that specialises in distributing the same music, television, film, computer games, and video to a global audience. • Globalisation has contributed to the dominance of English as the universal language of international trade and global culture. It is predicted that at least 50% of languages spoken in the world in 2018 will have disappeared by the end of the 21st century.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 7 of 18 Question Answer Marks 2 ‘Dependency theory provides the best explanation of global inequality.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The question invites candidates to consider the reasons for the disparity between in income and wealth between rich countries and poorer countries today. There are a number of theories that seek to explain global inequality, one of which is dependency theory. Marxist sociologist Frank rejected the modernisation theory argument that global inequalities are caused by ‘deficient’ cultures of poorer nation-states. In contrast, Frank argued that global capitalism has systematically under-developed the economies of poorer countries in order to benefit the economies of the richer nations. This capitalist exploitation has left poorer countries in a state of dependency on Western nation-states. Answers must demonstrate knowledge of dependency theory and should also evaluate that theory relative to other ways of explaining global inequality. In good responses, contrasts are likely to be drawn between dependency theory and modernisation theory. World systems theory may also feature in well-informed answers. Indicative content For: • The inequalities in the structural relationship between rich countries and poorer countries identified in dependency theory help to explain why many poorer countries have found it so difficult to develop their economies successfully. • Dependency theory helps to make sense of efforts by Western nation- states to control poorer countries through policies associated with colonialism and neo-colonialism. • The interest that richer countries have in keeping poorer countries less developed provides a context for understanding why efforts by Western powers to help poorer countries escape poverty have seemed limited and ineffective. • The advantages that transnational corporations gain from access to the markets, resources, and labour supply of poorer countries are clear to see and revolve around the ability to make profits relatively easily through the ease with which these markets and workers can be exploited. Against: • Poorer countries can resist dependency and produce positive benefits, as examples such as Tanzania and Cuba illustrate. • Dependency theory fails to explain why some less economically developed countries have greatly improved their economic position (the so-called Asian Tiger economies, for example) while others remain in desperate poverty. • ‘Dependency’ is a difficult concept to operationalise and, therefore, test or measure empirically. 35

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 8 of 18 Question Answer Marks 2 • It may be exaggerated to think that capitalism has been wholly negative for poorer countries. There have been some improvements in the standard of living of the poor in many developing countries and TNCs, western aid projects, and support from capitalist-leaning transnational organisations, such as the IMF and World Bank, would seem to have contributed to this positive development. • Modernisation theory questions the extent to which developed countries are responsible for the economic difficulties faced by less developed countries. Rostow, for example, argues that developing societies need to adopt practices and values that are conducive to economic growth in order to overcome problems of poverty and deprivation. The practices and values, in Rostow’s view, should be based on the Western model of development.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 9 of 18 Question Answer Marks 3 ‘Media content is controlled primarily by governments.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The focus of the question is who controls the media and, specifically, how much influence do governments (nationally and/or through supra-national organisations) have on media organisations. Candidates may distinguish between different types of political regime: authoritarian versus democratic, for example. Authoritarian regimes usually exercise greater direct control over the media than is the case in democratic countries. Different means through which governments can seek to control the media may be discussed (censorship, funding, publishing and broadcasting laws, regulation, parliamentary scrutiny of media activities). Evaluating how effective these means are in helping governments control the media could form part of a good analytical response to the question. Evaluation could also be provided by considering other social actors and agencies who might play a role in controlling the media, such as media owners, editors and journalists, audiences, and non-governmental regulatory bodies. Good answers will draw conclusions about whether control of the media is concentrated in the hands of one particular group or social agency, or whether control is contested between different groups. How far can governments influence the process of control and what, if any, are the limits to government action in relation to the media. Indicative content For: • Examples suggest that authoritarian regimes are often very successful in controlling the media. • Democratic regimes usually show greater respect for media rights and freedoms and, up to a point, are happy to accept a free market in media content. Nevertheless, many direct and indirect means are available to democratic governments to control the media, including censorship, allocation of state funding, regulatory supervision, and fines for media organisations that fail to conform to government regulations. • Even democratic governments have intervened to shut down media outlets considered undesirable. Ultimately, considerable power is available to national governments to set the limits within which media organisations operate; the threat of government censure or closure alone may be sufficient to ensure that media organisations take care to avoid displeasing the authorities. • Governments are an important source of information for the media and that is another consideration encouraging media organisations to align themselves with government ideas about how the media should operate. Against: • Media conglomerates tend to operate on a global scale today and that makes it easier for them to avoid detailed control by particular nation- states, if they so wish. 35

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 10 of 18 Question Answer Marks 3 • Democratic governments are not involved in the day-to-day running of media organisations and so have little influence over decisions taken by editors and journalists at that level. Overall, it would be unrealistic for democratic governments to seek to control the detailed production of media content. • Democratic governments are accountable to the electorate and measures such as censorship have not always proven popular with the wider population in countries where there is a high degree of support for media freedom. • Regulating the new media has so far proved challenging for national governments, partly because global networks (such as the internet) take control of the new media beyond national frontiers. To-date, it looks like democratic government have less control over the new media than they do over the traditional media. This may be changing as governments come under pressure to ensure tighter regulation of social networking sites to prevent unwelcome content from, for example, terrorist groups and political extremists.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 11 of 18 Question Answer Marks 4 ‘The hypodermic syringe model accurately describes how people are influenced by the media.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question Sociological attempts to explain media effects provide the underpinnings for this question. The hypodermic syringe model was an early attempt to describe how the media influences audiences. Media content acts like a drug injected directly into a vein using a syringe, having a direct and powerful effect. Later theorists have generally accepted that the media isn’t quite so overwhelming in its influence as the simple syringe analogy suggests. However, if taken less literally, the hypodermic syringe model is a useful reference point for sociologists who want to argue that the media have a powerful influence on the way people think and behave. Other models of media effects stress that audiences are not passive consumers of the media and, where the media is an influence on thoughts and behaviour, the processes involved are quite subtle and possibly indirect. Good answers are likely to evaluate the hypodermic syringe model by drawing contrasts with other models such as uses and gratifications, reception analysis, and cultural effects. Indicative content For: • In the context of mass society where the media are the main source of information for many people, it is plausible to think that the media has a powerful influence on the way people think and behave, even if the influence is not quite as direct and overwhelming as the syringe model implies. • Confusing media representations with reality has provoked mass panic at times (Orson Welles War of the Worlds radio dramatization, for example). Likewise, the role of the media in creating moral panics that have measurable short-term effects on the way some people think and behave has also been well documented. • It is not easy to prove or disprove whether the media have a powerful, direct influence on behaviour because of the difficulty of separating relevant variables and measuring the precise effects of media exposure. However, there is a large body of anecdotal evidence of some people claiming they have personally experienced, or witnessed in others, a dramatic change of behaviour associated with exposure to certain media content. • Belief that the media can have a powerful and relatively immediate effect in influencing thoughts and behaviour has encouraged companies to spend huge sums on advertising. Likewise, government regulations to restrict access to certain media content, particularly in the case of children, also implies a belief that the media can be an invasive influence. Against: • The syringe model wrongly assumes that audiences are passive and that audience members are all affected in the same way. • The syringe model also assumes the audience is an ‘atomised mass’ whose response to media messages is unaffected by their social relations with others. 35

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 12 of 18 Question Answer Marks 4 • The reception analysis model question how much influence the media have on audiences, because the latter interpret what they see, hear or read according to their pre-existing views, attitudes and opinions. • By contrast with the reception analysis view, the cultural effects model is closer to the hypodermic syringe model in arguing that the media can have significant effects on attitudes and behaviour. But sociologists who support the cultural effects model say that media effects come about indirectly and through long-term exposure to media content; the short-term impact of consuming media content is very limited.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 13 of 18 Question Answer Marks 5 ‘Rather than promoting social order, religion is a source of conflict in society.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question Both functionalist and Marxist theories, in ways that differ to some extent, claim that religion plays a key role in maintaining social order. Other sociologists have argued that this view overlooks the many historical and current examples of where religion appears closely associated with wars and other conflicts around the world. The question invites candidates to consider issues arising from this contrast between functionalist/Marxist theories of religion and evidence about the part religion has at times played in dividing communities and setting countries and peoples against each other. In particular, debate should focus on how far evidence of disharmony linked to religious conflicts is sufficient to undermine the credibility of Sociological theories that view religion as a factor that promotes social order. Indicative content For: • Social order implies harmony between people, or at least the existence of controls that prevent significant conflict and unrest breaking out in society. Yet there are numerous examples of bloody conflicts and extreme persecution and unrest in which religion appears to have played a part. Conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland and between Hindus and Muslims in India, are just two examples of this. • Functionalist and Marxist theories that emphasise the supposed role of religion in promoting social order appear to downplay the potential for divisions between religious groups to act as a source of conflict. This seems to be a major lacuna and one which perhaps undermines the credibility of claims that religion makes a significant contribution to social order. • Conflicts based around religious divisions are rarely short-lived; they often run on in a society for decades and, in some cases, centuries. Hence, it is not as if religious conflicts can be written off as a minor exception to what functionalists and Marxists see as the normal role of religion in helping to maintain social order. • Whilst it is true that the values of peace and harmony are central to most religious teachings, it is not always the case that organised religions set out determinedly to avoid conflict or to help maintain the status quo. Liberation Theology, for example, is a concerted effort by a committed group of priests in Latin America to challenge oppressive political regimes and press for social changes that would help alleviate poverty and exploitation. Against: • In most conflict situations, including those where religious divisions are fuelling the unrest, organised religions are also usually seeking to be part of the solution, seeking out ways of resolving differences and making overtures of reconciliation. 35

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 14 of 18 Question Answer Marks 5 • The success of religion in helping promote social order can sometimes be seen as contributing to conditions that later result in bloody conflicts breaking out. For example, long periods of order in a society may allow privileged groups to become more powerful at the expense of other groups who they exploit and take for granted. In this situation, support for other religions may build up among marginalised groups, challenging the power of the dominant religion and interests of privileged groups that it supports. In other words, there may be a dialectical relationship between the role of religion in promoting social order and involvement of religions in triggering conflict; these two features of religion are not necessarily inconsistent. • Successful capitalist economies (US, UK, Germany, Japan) have often enjoyed long periods of relative stability within their own borders where divisions such as those between employers and workers and managed harmoniously for the most part. Marxist sociologists may be right in arguing that religion has made a significant contribution to achieving this level of integration and stability. This suggests that just as there is evidence to show that religion may sometimes help trigger social conflict, there is also a significant weight of evidence to support claims that religion promotes social order/social integration. • Max Weber rightly warned against making sweeping generalisations about the contribution that religion makes to society. He recognised that the role of religion can vary across time and between societies, and that not all religions have the same impact on people’s thoughts and behaviour. In some situations, Weber said religion could be a source of social change, in others it may act as a conservative force or a catalyst for division and confrontation. This is a more nuanced way of thinking about the role of religion than the one presented in traditional functionalist and Marxist theories of religion.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 15 of 18 Question Answer Marks 6 ‘There is little evidence to support the secularisation thesis.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question Although the question invites discussion of the secularisation thesis in general, good answers will pay particular attention to examining the evidential (empirical) basis for claiming secularisation has occurred. Evidence used to support the secularisation thesis includes church attendance records, statistics about levels of participation in religious ceremonies, attitude surveys to measure religiosity, and historical records that shed light on the role of religious organisations in the community in former times. The empirical support for the secularisation thesis can be scrutinised both in terms of its reliability and methodological soundness and, more broadly, in relation to whether the evidence presented in itself is sufficient to make a plausible case for claiming that secularisation has occurred. Good answers might include a discussion of different ways of defining secularisation and how this may affect conclusions drawn about whether the secularisation thesis has been proven empirically. Similarly, candidates might note that more recent evidence about religious belief and practice is, arguably, less supportive of the secularisation thesis than the evidence presented in the 1960s and 1970s when sociologists first advanced the thesis. Indicative content For: • Availability of evidence about the role of religion in earlier times is limited to some extent and, more importantly, the reliability of that evidence can be questioned on numerous points. • Evidence about church attendance records, participation in religious ceremonies, and membership of religions groups tell us little about the extent to which the people involved were religious. For example, some may feel social pressure to attend religious ceremonies rather than holding strong spiritual beliefs. • Some of the available evidence is ambiguous; for example, evidence of declining church membership in the UK is somewhat at odds with the fact that the number of people identifying as Christian when completing the census form has remained relatively stable for more than a century. • What evidence there is to support the secularisation thesis is being undermined by more recent evidence suggesting a religious revival in many countries. For example, there has been a sharp rise in membership of new religious groups in many western societies, and recent studies also indicate the numbers engaging in privatised worship are increasing. Against: • Sociological research supporting the secularisation thesis collected large amounts of data from many different sources and from a range of countries. Follow up studies also developed new ways of measuring the claims about secularisation and came up with findings that many sociologists found convincing as further supporting evidence for the secularisation thesis. 35

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 16 of 18 Question Answer Marks 6 • Some evidence about the role of religion in the past is almost unquestionably reliable; for example, evidence about the role of the church in civic ceremonies and in organising community activities such as providing welfare support and running schools. This evidence supports claims that there has been a decline in the social significance of religion in many societies. • Some supporters of the secularisation thesis argue that the debate centres on whether religion has lost its relevance at the social, cultural and political levels; not whether at the personal level people have become less (or more) religious, which is known as religiosity. Whilst evidence about changes in religiosity may be highly subjective, that doesn’t detract from the secularisation thesis if it is accepted that secularisation refers to changes in the social significance of religion rather than changes in people’s personal beliefs. • A lot of recent evidence put forward to challenge the secularisation thesis concerns personal beliefs and private forms of religious practice. That evidence therefore tells us nothing about the social significance of religion today – the role religion plays in shaping social structures and practices and its influence in relation to major cultural and political events.

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 17 of 18 Generic levels of response Level AO1: Knowledge and Understanding Marks 3 • Good knowledge and understanding of the view on which the question is based. • The response contains a range of detailed points with good use of concepts and theory/research evidence. 7–9 2 • Reasonable knowledge and understanding of the view on which the question is based. • The response contains either a narrow range of detailed points or a wider range of underdeveloped points, with some use of concepts and references to theory or research evidence 4–6 1 • Basic knowledge and understanding of the view on which the question is based. • The response contains a narrow range of underdeveloped points with some references to concepts or theory or research evidence. 1–3 0 • No knowledge and understanding worthy of credit. 0 Level AO2: Interpretation and Application Marks 4 • Very good interpretation and application of relevant sociological material. • The material selected will be accurately interpreted and consistently applied to the question in a logical and well-informed way. 10–11 3 • Good interpretation and application of sociological material. • The material selected will be accurate and relevant but not always consistently applied to the question in a way that is logical and clear 7–9 2 • Reasonable interpretation and application of sociological material. • The material selected will be mainly accurate but its relevance to the question may be confused or unclear at times. 4–6 1 • Limited interpretation and application of sociological material. • The material selected is relevant to the topic but lacks focus on or relevance to the specific question. 1–3 0 • No interpretation and application worthy of credit. 0

9699/43 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED May/June 2021 © UCLES 2021 Page 18 of 18 Level AO3: Analysis and Evaluation Marks 4 • Very good analysis and evaluation. • Clear and sustained analysis of the view on which the question is based, with detailed and explicit evaluation. • There is also likely to be a range of contrasting views and/or evidence discussed, demonstrating good understanding of the complexity of the issues raised by the question. 12–15 3 • Good analysis and evaluation. • The evaluation may be explicit and direct but not sustained, or it will rely on a good outline of contrasting views and/or evidence, clearly focussed on evaluating the view in the question. • The response demonstrates some understanding of the complexity of the issues raised by the question. 8–11 2 • Reasonable analysis and evaluation. • There is a description of some relevant contrasting views and/or evidence but these are only implicitly focussed on evaluating the view in the question. • The response demonstrates some awareness of the complexity of the issues raised by the question. 4–7 1 • Limited analysis and evaluation. • There are a few simple points of implicit or tangential evaluation. • The response demonstrates little awareness of the complexity of the issues raised by the question. 1–3 0 • No analysis and evaluation worthy of credit. 0