The Sociology Department

Sociology is currently offered in the Sixth form at Key Stage 5.

Exam Board: AQA

Why study Sociology?
Sociology examines evidence of the extent towhich individuals and groups are influenced by‘society’. It looks at ‘culture’ what it is, how we learn to become part of it and the idea of ‘high’ and ‘low’, ‘mass’ and ‘folk’ cultures. It also looks at how our ‘identity’ is shaped by factors like age, gender, social class and ethnicity, and asks to what extent do these factors affect our chances in education, employment and health, or even our likelihood to commit crime! ?What are the effects of the mass media or the school, on the individual - or do we function more as social groups than individuals? How far are rich countries to blame for poverty in the poorer world, or rich social classes to blame for the relative poverty of the rest of the population? What is happening to society? Do we live in a meritocratic society? Are we living in a more criminal society? These, and many other areas of social life, are examined on a local, national and international scale.

All this is carried out in terms of a debate as to whether or not Sociology is a science. Is ‘society’ able to be examined in a way which is possible in the natural sciences, or do human beings defy reliable or valid scientific examination? Sociology looks closely at different research methods, and you will be encouraged to examine howdifferentmethods can be applied to the topics you study at AS and A2.

You can bring to the course your own life experiences, so enhancing the quality of what you are investigating, and take fromit a greater awareness of how society operates. It will also encourage you to consider how society might change for the better. If you study Sociology you will be encouraged to question many assumptions about the way society does, or should, operate. If you enjoy taking part in lively and informed debate about many of the issues that dominate local, national and international society, investigating social issues and trying to make sense of it all, Sociology could well be for you!

What will you study?

AS Unit 1: Families and Households OR *Culture and Identity
- What is Sociology?
- Is Sociology a science?
- Can Sociology be value-free?
- What is socialisation?
- What is culture?
- What is meant by functionalism, Marxism, Interactionism, Feminism and Sociobiology?
- What is high and low culture, mass/popular culture, folk and global culture?
- What are the main agents of socialisation?
- What are formal and informal control?
- What is labelling and stigma?
- What shapes identity?

AS Unit 2: Education and Research Methods
- What is the role of education in contemporary society? (Marxist and Functionalist views)
- How do processes in schools affect relationships?
- What effects do gender, ethnicity and social class have on educational achievement?
- What is the historical context of education in England and Wales since 1870?
- What does sociological research set out to do?
- What methodology is available?

A2 Unit 3: *Global Development OR Mass Media
- What is ‘development’ and how can it be measured?
- What theories explain development? (Modernisation and Dependency Theories, Mercantile Capitalism, Colonialism, Neo-colonialism, World Systems Theory, Populism and Neo-populism)
- What is the impact of aid, loans, debt and globalisation on development?
- How important in development are factors of population, health, education, gender, urbanisation, industrialisation and the environment?

A2 Unit 4: Crime and Deviance (this will include Sociological)
- What is the difference between crime and deviance?
- What are the views of the causes of crime from a Functionalist, Marxist, Neo-Marxist (Left Idealist and Left Realist) , Interactionist, New Right, Postmodern, Situational and Control theory and Feminist standpoint?
- How accurate are the official crime statistics?
- What are the Functionalist/Positivist, Interactionist, Phenomenological and contemporary theories about the causes of suicide?
- What are ethnic, social class and gender patterns of crime?
- What is the relationship between crime, deviance and research methods?

Methods, which will be studied partly in a practical way).
* denotes topics 2009-10

Method of assessment
Assessment is through four written papers.

Future prospects
Degree courses in social sciences are very popular, and whilst the use of Sociology is very specific in careers such as the police, social work, probation service, residential care, nursing and health visiting, there aremany other areas intowhich sociology graduates move, e.g. management, education, advertising.