Clarification details
pdated December 2017. This document has been updated in its entirety to address issues that have arisen from moderation.
Evaluation
This standard builds on the understanding of sociological theory established in 8989 and 8990. To develop the evaluation, the evidence should include:
- a comparison of the theories
- an explanation of the key concepts of the theories
- an explanation of how they apply to an aspect(s) of society
- identify strengths and weaknesses of the theories.
These aspects provide the analysis referred to in the Merit and Excellence notes in the standard. Analysis requires breaking something down into its parts and showing how the parts relate to each other to make a whole.
The evaluation needs to demonstrate the student’s ability to form a critical opinion of the usefulness of the selected sociological theories. The ‘usefulness’ will focus on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the theories when they are applied to aspects of society.
The student evidence should include evaluative language to show the extension from descriptions and explanations.