Science and religion | AQA A-Level Sociology

Aug 15

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Updated: 11 hours ago

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AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes

Estimated study time: 80 minutes

exam questions by topic 👇

These Science and religion A-Level Sociology revision notes examine two important systems of belief and the different types of knowledge claims they make. You will compare scientific explanations based on evidence with religious explanations associated with faith, consider why religion may remain influential even where science is important, and evaluate whether the growth of scientific and technological explanations necessarily weakens religion. The topic builds directly on ideology [Ideology] and prepares you for later debates about secularisation [Secularisation].

Learning Objectives 🎯

By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:

Define science and religion as systems of belief.
Explain what is meant by a knowledge claim.
Compare scientific and religious approaches to knowledge and explanation.
Analyse why science and religion may have different influences on people's lives.
Explain how the growth of scientific and technological explanations may be related to religious change.
Evaluate sociological interpretations of the relationship between science and religion.

Revision Notes 📚

Science and religion as systems of belief

AQA requires students studying Beliefs in Society to understand sociological explanations of ideology, science and religion, including Christian and non-Christian religious traditions.

A useful starting point is that both science and religion can be considered belief systems.

A belief system is an organised set of ideas or knowledge claims that provides explanations about the world.

AQA's specimen assessment describes both science and religion as containing knowledge claims, meaning statements that claim to explain why things are as they are.

The important sociological question is therefore not simply:

Which one is correct?

Instead, sociologists can ask:

How does each system establish what counts as knowledge?
On what basis are its claims accepted?
Can its claims be questioned or changed?
What kinds of questions does it attempt to answer?
Why might one system have greater influence than another in particular situations?

This distinction is important. Sociology examines science and religion as social systems of belief and knowledge, rather than attempting to prove or disprove religious doctrines.

Knowledge claims

A knowledge claim is a statement presented as providing an explanation of some aspect of reality.

Both science and religion make such claims, but AQA assessment material identifies important differences in the ways those claims may be established.

For example, a scientific explanation of illness may refer to an observable cause such as germs. A religious explanation may understand suffering through religious belief. The point is not that every religious tradition gives the same explanation, but that scientific and religious knowledge claims may rest on different foundations.

This leads to one of the central comparisons in this lesson:

Science tends to justify claims through empirical evidence, whereas religious claims may be grounded in faith and sacred belief.

Science as an empirical belief system

Scientific knowledge is generally described in the AQA material as empirical or evidence-based.

Empirical evidence is evidence obtained through observation or investigation of the world.

Scientific explanations can therefore be examined against evidence. Experiments provide one means through which claims can be investigated.

The basic process is:

A scientific explanation or knowledge claim is proposed.
Evidence relevant to the claim can be gathered.
The claim can be examined against that evidence.
Scientific knowledge may be retained, developed or revised.

This makes the relationship between evidence and knowledge particularly important in science.

Religion as a faith-based belief system

Religious belief may instead be faith-based.

Faith does not depend upon the same requirement for empirical verification as scientific knowledge. Religious beliefs may also derive authority from sacred texts and religious traditions.

AQA's specimen mark scheme explicitly allows a contrast between:

science as empirical and evidence-based;
religion as non-empirical and faith-based.

It also distinguishes experiments within science from faith within religion.

⚠️ Exam point: Do not simply write that “science has evidence but religion does not”. This is too crude.

The sociologically relevant point is that different belief systems use different bases for establishing and maintaining knowledge claims.

Comparing science and religion

The differences identified in AQA assessment material can be organised into four central comparisons.

Feature	Science	Religion
Basis of many knowledge claims	Empirical evidence	Faith and religious belief
Testing claims	Claims can be investigated using evidence and experiments	Central beliefs may not depend on empirical testing
Status of knowledge	Provisional and capable of revision	Religious knowledge may be treated as fixed or enduring
Type of belief system	May be characterised as relatively open	May be characterised as relatively closed

These are sociological distinctions used to compare the systems. They should not be turned into blanket claims that every scientific claim changes constantly or that every religious believer interprets every belief identically.

Open systems of thought

Science may be described as an open belief system.

An open system allows knowledge claims to be questioned and reconsidered.

Scientific knowledge is therefore provisional. This means that a claim may be accepted on the basis of current evidence without being treated as permanently beyond challenge.

New evidence may result in:

modification of an explanation;
rejection of an earlier explanation;
development of a more complete explanation.

This openness is one reason scientific knowledge can change over time.

Science as cumulative knowledge

Science can also be described as cumulative.

Cumulative knowledge develops as new knowledge is added to, modifies or improves existing understanding.

At first, “provisional” and “cumulative” may appear contradictory.

They are not.

Scientific knowledge can accumulate because existing knowledge is open to testing and revision.

The relationship is:

existing knowledge → further investigation → new evidence → revision or development → expanded knowledge

AQA's specimen mark scheme specifically identifies the relationship between science as provisional knowledge and science as cumulative knowledge as a possible area of analysis.

Closed systems of thought

In the AQA comparison, religious belief may be presented as a relatively closed system of thought.

A closed belief system is less dependent on continuously testing its central claims against empirical evidence.

Religious knowledge may instead derive authority from:

faith;
sacred beliefs;
sacred texts;
established religious traditions.

This helps explain why some religious knowledge claims may be treated as enduring or unchanging.

AQA's specimen material explicitly identifies the contrast between science as an open system and religion as a closed system, as well as the relationship between unchanging religious knowledge and sacred texts.

Avoiding an oversimplified comparison

It is important not to turn this distinction into a caricature.

The sociological comparison is about the basis and organisation of knowledge claims, rather than an argument that religious people cannot respond to change or that scientific knowledge is completely certain.

A particularly useful distinction is:

science accepts the possibility that its knowledge claims may need revision;
religious claims may retain authority without needing to pass the same empirical tests.

This difference can form a strong analytical paragraph in an examination.

Scientific and religious explanations

Science and religion may also differ in what they provide explanations for.

Science can provide explanations based on observable processes and empirical investigation. However, AQA assessment material recognises that religion may continue to have greater influence on some people's lives because religion provides responses to ultimate questions.

Ultimate questions concern fundamental questions about human existence, meaning and suffering.

AQA's 2023 assessment material stated that religion claims to provide answers to life's ultimate questions. Its mark scheme recognised that some people may prefer religious explanations because scientific answers may be less comforting in relation to these questions.

This creates an important evaluation of the idea that science simply replaces religion.

Scientific and religious belief systems may not always perform identical roles.

Religion and support during change

Religion may also influence people's lives because it can provide support during periods of change.

AQA's 2023 assessment identified religious rituals and rites of passage as ways religion may help individuals cope with changes in their lives.

This suggests a difference between:

explaining what happens

and

helping individuals interpret or cope with what happens

Science may provide an evidence-based explanation of events, while religion may additionally provide meaning, ritual or psychological support.

This distinction is particularly useful in evaluative answers.

Why might religion remain influential despite science?

A simple theory of modernisation might suggest that greater scientific knowledge must automatically make religion less important.

The AQA material supports a more complicated relationship.

Religion may remain influential because it can provide:

explanations of ultimate questions;
rituals associated with significant changes;
psychological support;
meanings that scientific explanations may not provide in the same way.

This does not mean religion must always be more influential than science.

Instead, it demonstrates that the relative influence of the two belief systems may depend on what people require from them.

You will examine changing levels of religious importance in much greater depth in religion and religiosity [Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world].

Science, technological worldviews and religious decline

There is also sociological evidence within the AQA assessment framework for a more competitive relationship between science and religion.

AQA's 2024 mark scheme identifies the growth of a technological worldview replacing religious explanations as one possible contributor to secularisation. It also identifies rationalisation and disenchantment when explaining the relationship between social change and secularisation.

A technological worldview places greater emphasis on explanations associated with science and technology.

As scientific explanations become increasingly influential, people may use them in circumstances where religious explanations were previously more important.

The possible process is:

growth of scientific and technological explanations → reduced reliance on some religious explanations → declining religious influence → possible secularisation

This relationship is explored further in changing religious importance [Secularisation].

Rationalisation and religion

Rationalisation refers to the increasing importance of reasoned and systematic explanations rather than explanations based primarily upon religious tradition.

In relation to science and religion, rationalisation can therefore be connected with a movement towards explanations based upon reason, evidence and technological understanding.

AQA links this process with disenchantment, the weakening of religious ways of interpreting the world.

This creates one sociological interpretation of the relationship:

science expands → scientific explanations become more influential → religious explanations lose influence

However, this explanation needs evaluation.

Does science necessarily replace religion?

Not necessarily.

The AQA material provides two reasons to question a simple replacement model.

First, religion may address ultimate questions for which individuals do not necessarily seek an empirical scientific explanation.

Second, religion may perform psychological and ritual functions during significant periods of change.

Science becoming more influential in one area of life therefore does not logically mean religion must disappear from all areas.

A more sophisticated conclusion is that science and religion may:

compete over some explanations;
differ in how knowledge claims are justified;
provide different kinds of meaning;
remain influential at the same time.

This provides a useful bridge to Christian and non-Christian beliefs [Christian and non-Christian religious traditions], where you will consider the diversity of religious traditions rather than treating religion as a single uniform system.

Science and religion as competing belief systems

There are clear reasons why science and religion may be viewed as competitors.

Science is:

empirical;
evidence-based;
provisional;
open to revision;
capable of producing cumulative knowledge.

In the AQA comparison, religious knowledge may instead be:

faith-based;
associated with sacred texts;
less dependent on empirical testing;
comparatively fixed or enduring.

When the two systems offer different explanations of the same issue, their knowledge claims may therefore conflict.

A scientific worldview may also contribute to secularisation when scientific and technological explanations replace religious ones.

Science and religion as different rather than competing systems

There is also a strong sociological case for arguing that competition is only part of the relationship.

Religion may perform functions science does not perform in precisely the same way.

For example, religion may:

address life's ultimate questions;
provide comfort;
provide rituals;
support people during change.

This means a person could rely upon scientific explanations in some areas while religious beliefs continue to influence other areas of their life.

The existence of scientific knowledge therefore does not automatically demonstrate the disappearance of religious belief.

Evaluating the relationship between science and religion

There are several useful lines of evaluation.

Evaluation 1: Different bases of knowledge

A strong distinction exists between empirical scientific knowledge and faith-based religious knowledge.

This supports the argument that science and religion are fundamentally different belief systems.

However, this tells us how their claims are established, not necessarily which will have greater influence over an individual's life.

Evaluation 2: Open and closed systems

Science can be seen as open because its claims are provisional and revisable. Religious belief may be viewed as comparatively closed where claims are treated as sacred or enduring.

However, avoid assuming this distinction means science is entirely unstable. Scientific knowledge can also be cumulative.

Likewise, the contrast should be used sociologically rather than as a judgement about whether particular religious beliefs are true or false.

Evaluation 3: Science may weaken religious explanations

Scientific and technological worldviews may replace some religious explanations.

This provides one possible explanation for religious decline [Secularisation].

However, it does not follow that every function of religion will also be replaced.

Evaluation 4: Religion may remain important

Religion may retain influence by answering ultimate questions and supporting individuals through significant changes.

The 2023 AQA question directly tested why religion may have a greater influence than science on some people's lives.

The wording “some people's lives” is significant. The relationship is not necessarily the same for every individual or social group.

Differences in religious beliefs and practices will later be explored through social patterns of belief [Social groups and religion].

A balanced sociological judgement

A strong overall judgement avoids two extremes:

Extreme 1: Science and religion are completely incompatible, so one must inevitably eliminate the other.

Extreme 2: Science and religion have completely separate roles and therefore never come into conflict.

The supplied AQA material supports a more nuanced conclusion.

Science and religion differ in the basis of their knowledge claims. Scientific knowledge is associated with evidence, openness and revision, while religious belief may be associated with faith, sacred authority and greater continuity.

Scientific explanations may reduce reliance on religious explanations in some areas. However, religion may continue to provide meanings, answers to ultimate questions and support that remain influential in people's lives.

The relationship can therefore involve both competition and continuing coexistence.

Applying science and religion in an examination

For a question comparing science and religion, avoid writing two separate mini-essays, one about science and one about religion.

Instead, make each paragraph a direct comparison.

For example:

Weak approach:“Science uses experiments. Religion involves faith.”

Better approach:“Science is more dependent on empirical testing than religion. Scientific knowledge claims can therefore be investigated and revised in response to evidence, whereas religious knowledge claims may instead derive their authority from faith or sacred texts.”

The second version develops a relationship between the two belief systems.

For an item question, identify a hook and build an analytical chain:

item hook → sociological concept → comparison → consequence

For example:

religion provides support during change → religious rituals may help individuals interpret significant life changes → science does not necessarily perform this ritual function → religion may therefore retain greater influence for some individuals

This type of explicit comparison is particularly important, as the examiner report identifies failure to compare religion with science as a weakness in responses.

Key Words 🔑

Key word	Student-friendly definition	How it may be used in an exam
Belief system	An organised set of ideas or knowledge claims used to understand and explain aspects of the world.	Use when establishing that both science and religion can be studied sociologically.
Knowledge claim	A statement that claims to provide an explanation of why something is as it is.	Compare how scientific and religious knowledge claims are established.
Empirical evidence	Evidence based on observation or investigation of the world.	Explain the evidence-based character of scientific knowledge.
Faith	Acceptance of religious beliefs that does not depend upon the same empirical testing required by science.	Contrast the basis of religious knowledge with scientific evidence.
Open belief system	A system in which knowledge claims can be questioned and revised.	Apply when explaining the provisional nature of scientific knowledge.
Closed belief system	A system in which central knowledge claims may be protected from empirical challenge and treated as enduring.	Use when comparing religious and scientific systems of thought.
Provisional knowledge	Knowledge accepted on current evidence but remaining open to revision.	Explain why scientific knowledge may change.
Cumulative knowledge	Knowledge that develops as new findings build upon or modify existing understanding.	Analyse how science can progress while remaining provisional.
Ultimate questions	Fundamental questions concerning existence, meaning and suffering.	Explain why religion may retain influence even where science is important.
Technological worldview	A way of interpreting the world that places greater emphasis on scientific and technological explanations.	Link the growth of science to possible secularisation.

Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡

The June 2023 examiner report gives particularly useful guidance because students answered a question directly comparing the influence of religion and science.

Examiner hint: Make your points genuinely different. In 2023, some students gave two reasons that overlapped, which limited the effectiveness of their response.

If asked for two reasons, decide before writing what distinguishes reason one from reason two. For example, one paragraph might focus on ultimate questions, while the second focuses on support during periods of change.

Examiner hint: Keep the comparison explicit. Some 2023 responses explained why religion was influential but failed to compare its influence with science.

Do not stop at:

“Religion provides support during difficult times.”

Develop the comparison:

“Religion may therefore have greater influence than science for some people because religious rituals provide forms of support and meaning that an empirical scientific explanation may not provide in the same way.”

Examiner hint: Read the direction of the question carefully. A small number of students reversed the 2023 question and explained why science was more influential than religion.

Underline or mentally isolate the key wording before planning, particularly comparative wording such as greater than, different from, or more important.

Examiner hint: For a 10-mark analyse question, use the item's hooks. AQA's examiner guidance states that these prompts must be used to access application marks. Two developed paragraphs are preferable to several undeveloped points.

Introductions and conclusions are not needed for 10-mark questions. Use that time to develop the two required points.

For longer evaluation, do not simply place contrasting views next to one another. Examiners emphasise that successful evaluation weighs strengths and limitations and reaches a reasoned judgement.

Common Mistakes ⚠️

Mistake: Saying science is not a belief system because it is factual

Why this is incorrect: AQA explicitly treats science and religion as belief systems containing sets of knowledge claims.

How to improve: Explain that calling science a belief system does not mean scientific claims lack evidence. It means science is an organised system for producing and evaluating knowledge claims.

Mistake: Writing that scientific knowledge never changes

Why this is incorrect: Scientific knowledge is provisional, meaning it may be reconsidered when evidence develops.

How to improve: Remember the useful combination:

science is provisional and cumulative

It can build knowledge while remaining open to revision.

Mistake: Assuming cumulative and provisional knowledge contradict each other

Why this is incorrect: Scientific knowledge can accumulate precisely because earlier claims may be tested, modified or developed.

How to improve: Explain the process:

testing → evidence → revision → development of knowledge

Mistake: Saying all religious beliefs are completely unchanging

Why this is incorrect: The AQA comparison concerns the basis of religious knowledge claims and their relationship with faith and sacred texts. A sweeping statement about every believer or every religious tradition is unnecessary.

How to improve: Use careful wording such as:

“Religious knowledge may be treated as fixed or enduring.”

Mistake: Explaining religion without comparing it with science

Why this is incorrect: The 2023 examiner report specifically identified this as a weakness.

How to improve:

Use comparative wording throughout:

whereas;
unlike;
compared with;
in contrast;
therefore religion may have greater influence because...

Mistake: Assuming that greater scientific influence automatically means religion disappears

Why this is incorrect: AQA material also recognises the continuing importance of religion in relation to ultimate questions and support during periods of change.

How to improve: Distinguish between science replacing some religious explanations and science replacing all functions or meanings associated with religion.

Mistake: Reversing a comparative question

Why this is incorrect: Students in 2023 sometimes answered why science had greater influence even though the question asked why religion might have greater influence.

How to improve: Before writing, turn the wording into a sentence stem that you repeat mentally:

“Religion may be more influential than science because…”

Exam-Style Questions ✍️

Questions

1. Define the term knowledge claim.[2 marks]

2. Explain one way in which scientific knowledge may be described as provisional.[4 marks]

3. Explain one difference between empirical scientific knowledge and faith-based religious knowledge.[4 marks]

4. Outline and explain two reasons why scientific explanations may reduce the influence of religious explanations.[10 marks]

5. Read Item A and answer the question that follows.

Item A

Scientific explanations can be investigated using observation and evidence. Scientific knowledge can therefore develop when new evidence becomes available.

Some religious beliefs gain their authority in a different way and may remain important without being tested through scientific investigation.

Applying material from Item A, analyse two differences between science and religion as systems of belief.[10 marks]

6. Read Item B and answer the question that follows.

Item B

A person may accept scientific explanations of events in the physical world while continuing to use religious beliefs to understand questions of meaning. Religious rituals may also provide support during important changes in life.

Science and religion may therefore have different influences on people's lives.

Applying material from Item B, analyse two reasons why the growth of science may not remove the influence of religion.[10 marks]

7. Read Item C and answer the question that follows.

Item C

Scientific and technological explanations have become increasingly important in contemporary society. Some sociologists argue that this reduces the need for religious explanations.

However, religion may continue to provide answers to questions and forms of support that science does not provide in the same way.

Applying material from Item C and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the growth of science inevitably leads to a decline in religion.[20 marks]

8. Read Item D and answer the question that follows.

Item D

Science is often described as an open system of thought in which knowledge claims can be reconsidered in response to evidence. Religious beliefs may instead gain authority through faith, tradition and sacred knowledge.

However, both science and religion provide people with ways of understanding the world.

Applying material from Item D and your knowledge, evaluate the view that science and religion are fundamentally different systems of belief.[20 marks]

Answers and mark scheme

Question 1

A knowledge claim is a statement that claims to provide an explanation of why something is as it is.

Award credit for identifying both:

that it is a claim or statement about knowledge;
that it provides or claims to provide an explanation.

Question 2

A possible answer:

Scientific knowledge is provisional because scientific claims remain open to investigation and revision. If evidence challenges an existing explanation, the explanation may be modified or replaced rather than treated as permanently true.

Credit should be given for:

identifying the possibility of revision;
explaining the role of evidence;
linking this clearly to scientific knowledge.

Question 3

A possible answer:

Scientific knowledge is empirical because claims are investigated using evidence obtained from observation or investigation. Religious knowledge may instead be faith-based, meaning that its authority does not depend on passing the same type of empirical test.

A developed answer should make the comparison explicit.

Question 4

Possible reasons include:

Scientific and technological explanations may replace some religious explanations. As an evidence-based technological worldview becomes more influential, individuals may rely less on religious explanations of events.

Rationalisation may reduce reliance on religion. Greater emphasis on systematic and reasoned explanations may contribute to disenchantment and make some religious explanations less influential.

Each reason should be developed to show:

change in explanation → effect on reliance on religion → possible decline in religious influence

Evaluation is not required for an outline and explain question.

Question 5

Two clear differences should be developed from the item.

First difference: empirical evidence and faith

The reference to observation and evidence can be used to explain science as empirical. Scientific claims can be investigated against evidence, whereas religious knowledge may instead derive authority from faith or sacred belief.

Second difference: changing and enduring knowledge

The reference to scientific knowledge developing can be used to explain science as provisional and cumulative. Religious claims may be comparatively fixed or enduring rather than being routinely revised in response to empirical evidence.

Alternative valid development could contrast science as an open belief system with religion as a relatively closed belief system.

Higher-level responses will analyse the difference rather than merely list paired terms.

Question 6

First reason: ultimate questions

Use the item's reference to “questions of meaning”. Religion may provide explanations concerning ultimate questions. Science may provide empirical explanations without providing the same kind of religious meaning, so religion may remain influential.

Second reason: support during change

Use the item's reference to religious rituals. Religion may provide rituals and support during significant changes in life. The existence of scientific explanations therefore does not necessarily remove the psychological or ritual role of religion.

Strong answers should repeatedly connect each argument to why science does not necessarily remove religious influence.

Question 7

Indicative content may include:

Arguments supporting the view:

growth of a technological worldview;
scientific explanations replacing some religious explanations;
rationalisation;
disenchantment;
science as evidence-based;
science as open and capable of cumulative development;
possible links between these changes and secularisation.

Arguments questioning the view:

religion provides answers to ultimate questions;
religion may provide psychological support;
religious rituals may help people cope with change;
scientific and religious systems may perform different functions;
the growth of scientific influence in one area does not establish the disappearance of religion in every area.

A strong response should focus particularly on the word “inevitably”.

A well-supported judgement would recognise that scientific and technological explanations may contribute to declining reliance on some religious explanations, but the AQA material does not support the claim that science must eliminate religion. Religion may continue to provide beliefs, meanings and support that remain influential.

Question 8