AQA A-Level Sociology Paper 2: Topics in Sociology

Last Updated on August 17, 2026 by Karl Thompson

AQA A-Level Sociology Paper 2: Topics in Sociology

Paper 2 is the options paper, and the only one of the three where you get a choice. This post covers:

1. The eight topic options and how the two sections work
2. The three questions you answer on each of your two topics
3. How to answer the 10 mark no-item question, the 10 mark item question and the 20 mark essay
4. Model answers for families and households, beliefs, media and global development

I marked all three AQA papers between 2010 and 2018. The advice below is what I gave my own students.

For all three papers and every question type, see my main page on AQA A-level sociology exams and model answers.

Paper 2 at a glance

Code	7192/2
Length	2 hours
Marks	80
Weighting	33.3% of the A-level
Format	Question booklet and a separate answer booklet
Questions	6 — three on each of your two topics

You answer one topic from Section A and one topic from Section B. Each is worth 40 marks.

Section A — choose one	Section B — choose one
Culture and Identity	Beliefs in Society
Families and Households	Global Development
Health	The Media
Work, Poverty and Welfare	Stratification and Differentiation

Most centres teach families for Section A and beliefs for Section B. I taught global development.

Answer the topics you were taught. Every year a few students attempt an option their centre never covered because the question looked more approachable on the day. It never goes well — you can’t fake the studies.

There is no theory and methods on this paper. That’s papers 1 and 3 only.

The three questions on every topic

Whichever two topics you take, the shape is identical:

Question	Marks	Time
Outline and explain two… (no item)	10	15 mins
Applying material from the item, analyse two…	10	15 mins
Applying material from the item and your knowledge, evaluate…	20	30 mins

Sixty minutes per topic, and you have two of them. That symmetry is useful: if you’re an hour in and haven’t finished Section A, you know exactly how much trouble you’re in.

The 10 mark ‘outline and explain’ question (no item)

These ask about two elements drawn from one or more bullet points in the specification for your topic — for example, the nature of childhood in relation to demographic trends. The question generally asks about the links or relationships between those two elements.

Modified from the AQA’s own advice on 10 mark questions.

• Both points come from your own knowledge — there’s no item to work from
• Pick two that are as different from each other as possible
• Give each its own paragraph, or two
• PEEL (Point, Explanation, Evidence, Link) is a useful structure for developing enough analysis
• You don’t need to evaluate. Analysis is what the mark scheme credits under AO3 here

Fifteen minutes.

Examples:

• Outline and explain two ways in which the decline in birth rates has affected the position of children in society (10)
• Outline and explain two ways in which women going into work has affected relationships (10)
• Outline and explain two ways in which changes to gender roles have affected diversity of family structures (10)

The 10 mark ‘analyse’ question, with the item

These come with a short item linked to the question, encouraging you to link two elements from the same or different bullet points in the specification.

The first part of the item contains a number of points about the first element. Those points are the hooks, and they’re designed to be developed into an explanation of how the two elements relate. The second part of the item links those points back to the question.

Both of your points must come from the item. That’s the whole difference between this question and the one above it.

Example

Read Item B then answer the question below.

Item B

Many commentators seem to agree that the ageing population is a problem for society — as it leads to an increasing strain on public services, and results in a greater burden being put on the younger generation to care for the elderly.

However, some claim that such problems have been exaggerated, and are based on stereotypical views about the elderly.

Applying material from Item B, analyse two consequences of the ageing population for British society (10 marks)

Read the item first. Underline the two hooks. Those are your two paragraphs.

Fifteen minutes.

The 20 mark essay

Thirty minutes, so plan for five and write for about twenty-two.

• Read the question and the item. If it asks you to do two things, do both
• Plan briefly — arguments and evidence for and against, plus a thought on the conclusion
• Aim for three to five points, depending on whether the question wants depth or breadth
• At least one point should stem from the item, ideally the first
• Overall evaluations before the conclusion, without repeating yourself
• Allow two minutes minimum for the conclusion

Structure:

• Introduction
• Point — relate it to the question
• Explain
• Expand
• Criticise
• Repeat three to five times
• Overall evaluations
• Conclusion, referring back to the item

A 20 mark essay is not a shrunken 30 marker. You have two of them on this paper and thirty minutes each — three well-developed points beats five thin ones almost every time.

Section A: Families and Households

The most commonly taught Section A option, and the one I have most material on.

The specification

Questions are drawn from across these bullet points, and in any one exam year typically more than 60% of them are covered somewhere on the paper:

• the relationship of the family to the social structure and social change, with particular reference to the economy and to state policies
• changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce, childbearing and the life course, including the sociology of personal life, and the diversity of contemporary family and household structures
• gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships within the family in contemporary society
• the nature of childhood, and changes in the status of children in the family and society
• demographic trends in the United Kingdom since 1900: birth rates, death rates, family size, life expectancy, ageing population, and migration and globalisation

Because the 10 mark questions work by linking two bullet points, reading this list is a reasonable way to predict what might come up. Childhood and demographic trends, for instance, is an obvious pairing — and it has come up.

Model answers — families and households

10 mark, no item:

• Examples of possible 10 mark families and households questions
• Outline and explain two ways in which the family might be losing its functions (10)
• Outline and explain two social changes which may explain the decline in marriage (10)
• Outline and explain two ways in which changes to gender roles have affected diversity of family structures (10)
• Outline and explain two ways changing gender roles may have affected children’s experience of childhood (10)

10 mark, with item:

• Analyse two ways in which an ageing population may affect family structures (10)
• Analyse two changes in the position of children in society over the last 100 years (10)
• Analyse two ways in which the nuclear family might perform ideological functions (10)
• Analyse two ways in which migration patterns have affected household structures in the UK (10)
• Analyse two ways that globalisation may affect domestic labour in the UK (10) — from the June 2023 paper

20 mark essays:

• Evaluate the view that the main aim of the family is to meet the needs of capitalism (20)
• Assess the reasons for the long term increase in the divorce rate (20)
• Evaluate the personal life perspective on the family (20)

Other possible 20 markers:

• Assess the view that the main aim of the family is to serve the needs of capitalism (20)
• Assess the view that the family has become more child-centred (20)
• Assess the reasons for changes in the birth rate and family size (20)

Whole families and households topic notes · How I would have answered the families section of the 2017 paper

Section B: your second topic

Same three questions, same timings, different content. Model answers by option:

Beliefs in Society

• Outline and explain two ways in which religion might promote social change (10)
• Outline and explain two ways religious organisations have changed in response to globalisation (10)
• Outline and explain two reasons why some groups are more likely to join world-rejecting new religious movements (10)
• Analyse two reasons why younger people are generally less religious than older people (10)
• Analyse two criticisms of the view that religion is merely a tool of oppression (10)
• Analyse two reasons for gender differences in the membership of religious organisations (10)
• Evaluate the view that the extent of secularisation has been exaggerated (20)
• Evaluate the view that religion no longer acts as a ‘shared universe of meaning’ (20)
• Evaluate the view that religious beliefs and organisations are barriers to social change (20)

Whole beliefs in society topic notes

The Media

• Outline and explain two ways in which the new media may be creating a global popular culture (10)
• Analyse two reasons why the media portray minority ethnic groups negatively (10)
• Evaluate the pluralist view of the ownership and control of the media (20)
• Evaluate the view that the media have a direct and immediate effect on their audiences (20)
• Evaluate the view that the media portray women in a stereotypical way (20)

Whole media topic notes

Global Development

• Outline and explain two criticisms other theories of development might make of dependency theory (10)
• Outline and explain two reasons why trade does not always promote development (10)
• Evaluate explanations of development and underdevelopment put forward by dependency theorists (20)

Whole globalisation and global development topic notes

Culture and Identity

Culture and identity topic notes — a Section A option, and one that overlaps usefully with the media if you take both.

Stratification and Differentiation, Health, Work Poverty and Welfare

Less commonly taught, and I don’t currently have model answers for these. The question structure is identical, so the advice above still applies.

Sociology Revision Resources for Sale

For more revision resources you might like my A level sociology revision mega bundle — designed to cover all three exam papers for the AQA A-level sociology specification, and costs £19.99.

The bundle covers the following topics:

• Paper 1 (7192/1): Education, including Methods in Context and Theory and Methods
• Paper 2 (7192/2): Families and Households, Beliefs, and Media
• Paper 3 (7192/3): Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods

Overall the bundle contains:

1. over 200 pages of revision notes
2. 60 mind maps in pdf and png formats
3. 50 short answer exam practice questions and exemplar answers
4. Covers the entire A-level sociology syllabus, AQA focus

Signposting and Related Posts

This post has been written for students sitting AQA A-level sociology paper 2, specification 7192/2.

• All three papers, all five question types, and model answers
• Paper 1: Education with Theory and Methods
• Paper 3: Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods
• The AQA A-level sociology specification, all topics at a glance

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