Research Methods: Types & Interpretation of Data (WJEC Eduqas GCSE Sociology): Exam Questions

Exam code: C200

2 hours14 questions
11 mark

Select the appropriate term from the box to complete the sentences below.

Feminists Culture Bowles and Gintis Secondary Willis Functionalists

...............................refers to data in research that was originally used or collected by somebody else.

212 marks

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

A recent sociological study looked at bullying in schools to help understand young people’s experiences. The researchers used the method of unstructured interviews as they wanted to collect qualitative data.

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using questionnaires in research.

You should explore at least two strengths and two weaknesses in your response.

3a1 mark

Look at the following information and answer the questions that follow.

The UK has a monarchy where there is a king or queen. The table below shows the percentage (%) of people of different ages, between the years 1994 and 2021, who thought it very important for Britain to have a monarchy.

UK attitudes towards the monarchy by age, 1994–2021

Age group

18–34

35–54

55+

1994

21

29

45

2000

19

26

45

2005

35

36

51

2011

35

36

51

2015

32

37

50

2021

14

27

44

Adapted from British Social Attitudes Survey, National Centre for Social Research, 2022.

Identify the age group with the highest percentage in 2021.

3b1 mark

Identify the group with the largest decrease in percentage between 1994 and 2021.

3c4 marks

Describe two patterns or trends shown in the table, supporting your answer with reference to the statistics in the table.

4a2 marks

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

A recent sociological study looked at poverty among school children. They looked at secondary data first.

Describe what is meant by secondary data.

4b4 marks

Explain two advantages of using secondary data for this research.

4c12 marks

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using observation in research.

You should explore at least two strengths and two weaknesses in your response.

5a1 mark

Look at the following information and answer the questions that follow.

UK Employment rate for disability and gender 2013–2019

2013

2015

2017

2019

Men – with disabilities

45.3%

47.0%

50.8%

54.3%

Men – non-disabled

82.8%

84.9%

85.6%

86%

Women – with disabilities

41.9%

44.5%

48.9%

52.4%

Women – non-disabled

72.4%

75.2%

76.4%

77.4%

The table shows the percentage employment rate for people aged 16–64 comparing disability and gender.

Adapted from Office for National Statistics, ons.gov.uk (opens in a new tab), 2019.

Identify the group with the lowest percentage employment rate in 2019.

5b1 mark

Identify the group with the largest increase in percentage employment rate between 2013 and 2019.

5c4 marks

Describe two patterns or trends shown in the table, supporting your answer with reference to the statistics in the table.

6a4 marks

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

A recent sociological study looked at teenagers’ attitudes to climate change. Questionnaires were used in the research. Sampling was used to make the study representative.

Explain two advantages of using questionnaires for this research.

6b12 marks

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using unstructured interviews in research.

You should explore at least two strengths and two weaknesses in your response.

7a1 mark

Look at the following information and answer the questions that follow.

Top jobs Britain 2014–2019

Senior Judges

Armed forces officers

Newspaper Journalists

MPs

Footballers

Olympic medallists

Top TV, Film and Musicians

percentage who attended independent schools 2014

71%

62%

43%

33%

8%

35%

44%

percentage who attended independent schools 2019

65%

49%

44%

29%

5%

31%

38%

*Independent Schools are private schools which parents have to pay for their children to attend. 7% of the general population attend independent schools in Britain.

Adapted from Sutton Trust – ‘Elitist Britain’ 2019

Identify the job with the highest percentage who attended independent schools in 2019.

7b1 mark

Identify the job with the lowest percentage who attended independent schools in 2019.

7c4 marks

Describe two patterns or trends shown in the table supporting your answer with reference to the statistics in the table.

8a1 mark

Look at the following information and answer the questions that follow.

Gender Pay Gap in the UK

UK average

South East

London

North

Midlands

South West

Wales

Scotland

Gender Pay Gap 2017

14%

16.3%

20.7%

10.6%

14.6%

13%

8.3%

11.1%

Gender Pay Gap 2018

13.7%

15.4%

19.9%

10.3%

13.4%

14.5%

8.5%

10.2%

*Gender pay gap equals the average gap in pay between men’s and women’s pay. Adapted from fawcettsociety.org.uk (opens in a new tab) 2017 and 2018

Identify the areas with the highest and lowest gender pay gap in 2018.

Highest …………………

Lowest ………………….

8b1 mark

Identify the areas which are below the UK average in 2017.

8c4 marks

Describe two patterns or trends shown in the table supporting your answer with reference to the statistics in the table.

9a4 marks

A secondary school wants to find out about the reasons for children not attending school. The researcher has decided to use questionnaires to investigate this.

Outline two reasons why questionnaires would be a suitable method to use for this research.

9b6 marks

Discuss and evaluate the benefits of using unstructured interviews instead of questionnaires for this research.

101 mark

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

A recent sociological study looked at teenagers’ use of social media. Researchers interviewed 400 teenagers using the method of structured interviews. They sampled teenagers from different ability groups and made sure they had a representative number of boys and girls. They were careful to consider ethical issues.

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of structured interviews as a method of research.

You should explore at least two strengths and two weaknesses in your response.

11a1 mark

Look at the following information and answer the questions that follow.

Poverty in the UK over 20 years

1995

2012

2016

Children in the UK living in poverty

33%

27%

30%

Pensioners in the UK living in poverty

28%

13%

16%

Lone parent families living in poverty

58%

41%

46%

Single people without children living in poverty

25%

28%

25%

Adapted from Joseph Rowntree Foundation UK Poverty 2017

Identify the percentage of pensioners in the UK living in poverty in 2016.

11b1 mark

Identify the group with the highest percentage increase in poverty between 2012 and 2016.

11c4 marks

Describe two patterns or trends shown in the table, supporting your answer with reference to the statistics in the table.

121 mark

Select the appropriate term from the box to complete the sentences below.

polygamy culture Durkheim values quantitative Marx

Data in the form of numbers is referred to as ......................... data.

13a4 marks

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

A recent sociological study looked at teenagers’ attitudes to marriage. The primary method used was questionnaires. Over a thousand teenagers answered questions on the subjects of marriage and their futures.

Explain two advantages of using questionnaires for this research.

13b12 marks

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of observation as a method of research.

You should explore at least two strengths and two weaknesses in your response.

14a1 mark

Look at the following information and answer the questions that follow. A guide to the Minimum Wage in the UK, 2018

What age group?

The Minimum Wage (per hour)

Under 18

£4.20

18 to 20

£5.90

21 and above

£7.38

25 and above

£7.83

Adapted from livingwage.org.uk (opens in a new tab)

Identify the age group paid the lowest wages.

14b1 mark

Identify the difference in the amount paid to the lowest and the highest paid workers as shown in the table.

14c4 marks

Describe two patterns or trends shown in the table supporting your answer with reference to the statistics in the table.