Cambridge O Level Sociology 2251 Past Papers 2026

Research Methods, Identity and Inequality

Duration: 2h

Family, Education and Crime

Duration: 1h 45m

Non-official statistics

Candidates gave vague, generalised assertions about non-official statistics being inaccurate or biased without providing context or explaining why specific organisations might produce flawed data.

Paper 1

Types of question in research

A substantial number of candidates confused types of question (open, closed, scaled, multiple-choice) with research methods (questionnaires, interviews) or with specific questions a sociologist might investigate.

Paper 1

Validity vs reliability

While candidates used methodological terms confidently, there was a widespread tendency to conflate validity (true picture) with reliability (repeatable results), leading to confused evaluations of research methods.

Paper 1

How age affects social identity

Responses described different age groups in stereotypical terms rather than sociologically explaining how age affects rights, labelling, discrimination, and social expectations using concepts and evidence.

Paper 1

Techniques of gender socialisation

Many candidates described what males are expected to do rather than explaining how socialisation occurs, failing to name specific techniques like canalisation, verbal appellations, manipulation, and role modelling.

Paper 1

Urbanisation and family change

Candidates spent too much time describing how extended families lived in rural areas without answering how urbanisation changed family life, missing points on nuclear family emergence, structural differentiation, and changing conjugal roles.

Paper 2

Discrimination against young people specifically

A significant number of candidates wrote about discrimination linked to a young person's ethnicity, gender, or class rather than discrimination against young people per se, such as lower wage rates, negative media representation, or age-related legal restrictions.

Paper 1

Why crimes go unreported

While candidates made multiple points about non-reporting, answers were often list-like and lacked sociological development, failing to link to specific concepts like the dark figure, institutional racism, or white-collar crime.

Paper 2

Marxist views of the family

Many candidates explained Marxist features (the family as a support for capitalist exploitation, ‘warm bath’ theory, reproduction of labour) but did not explain the LIMITATIONS of the view — i.e. failed to contrast with functionalist, feminist or interactionist critiques. Some took ‘warm bath’ literally and lost marks.

Paper 2

Global homogenisation of cultural identities

The strongest answers framed this as westernisation/Americanisation/McDonaldisation with concrete examples of brands and media spreading worldwide. Weaker answers either bunched all examples into one point or argued (incorrectly) that increased migration causes homogenisation rather than hybridisation.

Paper 1

Capitalism as an economic system

Definitional questions on capitalism proved difficult — partial definitions mentioned proletariat/bourgeoisie or economic exploitation without defining capitalism as an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and production for profit.

Paper 1

Educational inequalities — global vs within-society scope

Candidates discussing global educational inequality often described inequalities within a single society (by class, gender or ethnicity) instead of comparing different locations across the world. Strong answers contextualised inequality between countries before exploring its causes.

Paper 2