May 15, 2023 • 10 mins
In this episode, Matthew talks to Circe Newbold about Paper 1 for the AQA A-level Sociology exam. Circe Newbold is a lead examiner for Paper 1, here she explains some top tips in terms of what the examiners are looking for and how to structure questions.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi, Cerci, would you liketo tell us a little bit about who
you are and what your role iswith AQUA please? Okay? So m
yeah, So my name is certainYou Bold, and I've been a senior
examiner for AQUA four nineteen years.Um. Paper one, Research Methods and
Education is the paper I know reallywell. But for the last two years
(00:21):
I've also been examining Pape three lastsummer as an examiner, and this summer
they've asked me to be a seniorexaminer for paper three as well. Fantastic.
That's a that's a lot of experiencethere cecie and go. Yeah,
we're going to talk about Paper oneto start with. So what's what's your
general sort of dues and don'ts forstudents on the on the paper one?
(00:41):
UM. I mean, I thinkit's hard to answer that question by itself,
but my main thing I would sayis it's really important to keep an
onund the time, don't rush throughthe paper, and spend a decent amount
of time on the short questions becausethose should be an easy ten marks and
out of at ten marks can makequite a big difference between grade A star
(01:04):
and a grade C. Yeah,and just thinking about those short, short
mark questions. What is your advicein terms of how to set them out
and structure them? So I wouldset them out in bullet points, definitely
keep them separate from each other,but don't write too little. So it's
really important that you answer the question. And I think the word outline is
(01:27):
actually a bit misleading. I thinkit should really say outline and explain because
that's what they want. Not asbig an explanation as the tenmark question.
But actually so, I've thought ofan example. So for example, if
it was two external reasons why workingclass pupils underachieve. One reason could be
lack of parental interest and that wouldbe your one mark. But to get
(01:51):
the second mark, you need toexplain why that causes the pupil to underachieve,
so not getting support with homework ornot having a parent who sort of
check x in and supports them.So I would say, definitely bullet point
them, keep them separate. Ifyou're not sure about the answer, put
another answer down. That's always goodadvice good. And what if the student
(02:13):
does put more than two or morethan three. They sometimes do. I
mean sometimes I've read a paper wherethey could have maybe got eight marks.
If the first one's wrong, they'llcredit the two that are correct. So
there's nothing wrong with putting more thanone more than two answers down. Good
as long as you're not spending agesand ages on it. I guess,
well, yeah, of course,I mean, I think those first two
(02:34):
questions you've got about ten or fifteenminutes. Yeah, and then moving on
to next questions question three and four. Obviously item questions. Some students struggle
a little bit with that. Sowhat's your advice on the extent to which
students should use and refer to theitems? So question three, you must
use the item twice. You mustuse the item twice. If you don't,
(02:55):
you get three marks out of ten, even if you've you in a
page. So on question three,it's very very important, it's very restricted
use the item. My advice isstart each paragraph with the item. Underline
the item if necessary, make itvery very clear that you're using the item.
The person marking your paper isn't goingto search for the item, you
(03:19):
know, don't make them look forit. Make sure you use it.
And then obviously develop the item linkinto an answer to the question. And
you need to do that twice right, and for their question. For the
question for it is less important.And actually I would say item lifting,
where the beginning of the essay startswith the whole item copied out, that's
(03:42):
not very impressive. Sometimes the examineit if they've marked loads of papers and
I think I've done this myself.You start reading it and you're like,
wow, that's very impressive. Ohit's the item. Yeah, So don't
use it like that. But whatI would say to my students is use
the item as a plan for youranswer. The item is a scaffold for
your answer in question four because itlays out the debate in five or six
(04:08):
or seven lines. So yes,you should incorporate it into your answer,
but as a way to develop it, I might start the essay with the
item, but not the whole item, just like one sentence out of the
item in question four. The itemis a plan in question three. It's
compulsory that you use the item.And for question four, you need to
(04:31):
use the item to get to thevery top, do you well. I
mean, if the answer is reallygood, we will look for reference to
the item, and it could beimplicit reference. So you can get thirty
out of thirty without making a directlink to the item. If it's that
good, If it's that good,that's that's that's good to know. And
(04:51):
then for question five, I thinkit's often quite quite a week answer for
many students. So what's your adviceto gain a top bound dreamark for this
question? So question five, Imean, I really like methods in context.
I think it's give students the opportunityto really show their application skills.
It is difficult, though, andyou know, I think this is probably
(05:15):
where being an examine massively advantage tomy students, because I know what a
really good methods in context answer lookslike and what one that isn't so good
looks like. Don't need any studies, don't need any theory. It's all
about application. So it's quite hardto revise for this question because you don't
know what the issue is going tobe. But you can revise for the
(05:40):
possible context type questions. So forexample, you can write you can plan
things like getting into a school,getting access to parents, issues around children.
You can make some sort of assumptionsabout children that they are might not
have great literacy skills, they mightbe intimidated by a middle class researcher.
(06:02):
They might not want to admit thatthey're underachieving. And those are general assumptions.
So if, for example, thatthe method is primary method like interviews,
those could be weaknesses. So howto talk to children could be a
problem. If, on the otherhand, the method was something like questionnaires,
you could turn that into a strength, so the children don't have to
(06:24):
sit in front of a researcher.Therefore they might be more likely to be
honest. But really it's not abouthow much you write. I mean,
I've seen answers that are maybe sixseven paragraphs got full marks because every paragraph
is directly linked to the topic andthe context. That's the most important thing
with that question and talking about thatlink. So we often see papers where
(06:46):
the student's just written a methods answerwith no direct links at all. So
what's the maximum they can gain ifthey do that. It has to be
really really excellent methods knowledge, andthen it could get up to twelve more
than twelve. Yeah, even ifit's fantastic. Yeah, yeah, good
excellent. I mean that question,sorry, that question isn't really about methods.
(07:09):
It's about application. That's the mostimportant thing that that question is looking
for. Yeah, thank you,and then moving on to the final question,
it's another ten marker. Students oftenmuddle the structure with question three,
So can you just explain the differencefor students, please, no evaluation required
to that question. Evaluation will notget you any marks. In fact,
(07:33):
I would say you probably lose marksbecause you write less that's actually relevant.
So it's I mean, it's abit tricky because what that question does is
it takes two separate points from thespecification and put them together in a way
which might not seem easy to understand. So I think there was one two
(07:55):
ethical issues with primarily quantitative methods.So on one side you've got ethical issues,
which is factors affecting the choice ofmethod. On the other side,
you've got primary constitative methods. SoI mean the idea is to think of
an ethical issue for an issue inthis case, deception, explain why it's
(08:16):
an ethical issue, link it toa primary constitative method. Experiments would be
a good example of that, andideally have a study which demonstrates that issue.
If you can't think of a study, try and think of an example
when that might be an issue.And basically you have to do that twice
(08:37):
and that was going to be myfinal question. Actually, does that limit
you from getting top marks? Ifyou don't have a study in there,
you might not get you might getto tem ups without a study. But
I think it partly depends on whatthe question is, because those questions can
really vary because they could be methodsor they could be theory. So like
before this, but I think acouple of years ago it was two criticisms
(09:00):
of a functionist perspective, and thatcan sometimes throw students a bit. They're
expecting it to be research methods.I think to get ten there probably would
have to be a study or areally good theory reference. So I see.
Thank you very much for advice onpaper one. Thank you
Hi, Cerci, would you liketo tell us a little bit about who
you are and what your role iswith AQUA please? Okay? So m
yeah, So my name is certainYou Bold, and I've been a senior
examiner for AQUA four nineteen years.Um. Paper one, Research Methods and
Education is the paper I know reallywell. But for the last two years
(00:21):
I've also been examining Pape three lastsummer as an examiner, and this summer
they've asked me to be a seniorexaminer for paper three as well. Fantastic.
That's a that's a lot of experiencethere cecie and go. Yeah,
we're going to talk about Paper oneto start with. So what's what's your
general sort of dues and don'ts forstudents on the on the paper one?
(00:41):
UM. I mean, I thinkit's hard to answer that question by itself,
but my main thing I would sayis it's really important to keep an
onund the time, don't rush throughthe paper, and spend a decent amount
of time on the short questions becausethose should be an easy ten marks and
out of at ten marks can makequite a big difference between grade A star
(01:04):
and a grade C. Yeah,and just thinking about those short, short
mark questions. What is your advicein terms of how to set them out
and structure them? So I wouldset them out in bullet points, definitely
keep them separate from each other,but don't write too little. So it's
really important that you answer the question. And I think the word outline is
(01:27):
actually a bit misleading. I thinkit should really say outline and explain because
that's what they want. Not asbig an explanation as the tenmark question.
But actually so, I've thought ofan example. So for example, if
it was two external reasons why workingclass pupils underachieve. One reason could be
lack of parental interest and that wouldbe your one mark. But to get
(01:51):
the second mark, you need toexplain why that causes the pupil to underachieve,
so not getting support with homework ornot having a parent who sort of
check x in and supports them.So I would say, definitely bullet point
them, keep them separate. Ifyou're not sure about the answer, put
another answer down. That's always goodadvice good. And what if the student
(02:13):
does put more than two or morethan three. They sometimes do. I
mean sometimes I've read a paper wherethey could have maybe got eight marks.
If the first one's wrong, they'llcredit the two that are correct. So
there's nothing wrong with putting more thanone more than two answers down. Good
as long as you're not spending agesand ages on it. I guess,
well, yeah, of course,I mean, I think those first two
(02:34):
questions you've got about ten or fifteenminutes. Yeah, and then moving on
to next questions question three and four. Obviously item questions. Some students struggle
a little bit with that. Sowhat's your advice on the extent to which
students should use and refer to theitems? So question three, you must
use the item twice. You mustuse the item twice. If you don't,
(02:55):
you get three marks out of ten, even if you've you in a
page. So on question three,it's very very important, it's very restricted
use the item. My advice isstart each paragraph with the item. Underline
the item if necessary, make itvery very clear that you're using the item.
The person marking your paper isn't goingto search for the item, you
(03:19):
know, don't make them look forit. Make sure you use it.
And then obviously develop the item linkinto an answer to the question. And
you need to do that twice right, and for their question. For the
question for it is less important.And actually I would say item lifting,
where the beginning of the essay startswith the whole item copied out, that's
(03:42):
not very impressive. Sometimes the examineit if they've marked loads of papers and
I think I've done this myself.You start reading it and you're like,
wow, that's very impressive. Ohit's the item. Yeah, So don't
use it like that. But whatI would say to my students is use
the item as a plan for youranswer. The item is a scaffold for
your answer in question four because itlays out the debate in five or six
(04:08):
or seven lines. So yes,you should incorporate it into your answer,
but as a way to develop it, I might start the essay with the
item, but not the whole item, just like one sentence out of the
item in question four. The itemis a plan in question three. It's
compulsory that you use the item.And for question four, you need to
(04:31):
use the item to get to thevery top, do you well. I
mean, if the answer is reallygood, we will look for reference to
the item, and it could beimplicit reference. So you can get thirty
out of thirty without making a directlink to the item. If it's that
good, If it's that good,that's that's that's good to know. And
(04:51):
then for question five, I thinkit's often quite quite a week answer for
many students. So what's your adviceto gain a top bound dreamark for this
question? So question five, Imean, I really like methods in context.
I think it's give students the opportunityto really show their application skills.
It is difficult, though, andyou know, I think this is probably
(05:15):
where being an examine massively advantage tomy students, because I know what a
really good methods in context answer lookslike and what one that isn't so good
looks like. Don't need any studies, don't need any theory. It's all
about application. So it's quite hardto revise for this question because you don't
know what the issue is going tobe. But you can revise for the
(05:40):
possible context type questions. So forexample, you can write you can plan
things like getting into a school,getting access to parents, issues around children.
You can make some sort of assumptionsabout children that they are might not
have great literacy skills, they mightbe intimidated by a middle class researcher.
(06:02):
They might not want to admit thatthey're underachieving. And those are general assumptions.
So if, for example, thatthe method is primary method like interviews,
those could be weaknesses. So howto talk to children could be a
problem. If, on the otherhand, the method was something like questionnaires,
you could turn that into a strength, so the children don't have to
(06:24):
sit in front of a researcher.Therefore they might be more likely to be
honest. But really it's not abouthow much you write. I mean,
I've seen answers that are maybe sixseven paragraphs got full marks because every paragraph
is directly linked to the topic andthe context. That's the most important thing
with that question and talking about thatlink. So we often see papers where
(06:46):
the student's just written a methods answerwith no direct links at all. So
what's the maximum they can gain ifthey do that. It has to be
really really excellent methods knowledge, andthen it could get up to twelve more
than twelve. Yeah, even ifit's fantastic. Yeah, yeah, good
excellent. I mean that question,sorry, that question isn't really about methods.
(07:09):
It's about application. That's the mostimportant thing that that question is looking
for. Yeah, thank you,and then moving on to the final question,
it's another ten marker. Students oftenmuddle the structure with question three,
So can you just explain the differencefor students, please, no evaluation required
to that question. Evaluation will notget you any marks. In fact,
(07:33):
I would say you probably lose marksbecause you write less that's actually relevant.
So it's I mean, it's abit tricky because what that question does is
it takes two separate points from thespecification and put them together in a way
which might not seem easy to understand. So I think there was one two
(07:55):
ethical issues with primarily quantitative methods.So on one side you've got ethical issues,
which is factors affecting the choice ofmethod. On the other side,
you've got primary constitative methods. SoI mean the idea is to think of
an ethical issue for an issue inthis case, deception, explain why it's
(08:16):
an ethical issue, link it toa primary constitative method. Experiments would be
a good example of that, andideally have a study which demonstrates that issue.
If you can't think of a study, try and think of an example
when that might be an issue.And basically you have to do that twice
(08:37):
and that was going to be myfinal question. Actually, does that limit
you from getting top marks? Ifyou don't have a study in there,
you might not get you might getto tem ups without a study. But
I think it partly depends on whatthe question is, because those questions can
really vary because they could be methodsor they could be theory. So like
before this, but I think acouple of years ago it was two criticisms
(09:00):
of a functionist perspective, and thatcan sometimes throw students a bit. They're
expecting it to be research methods.I think to get ten there probably would
have to be a study or areally good theory reference. So I see.
Thank you very much for advice onpaper one. Thank you
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