BSc Sociology

This course builds on students understanding of research methods studies in year 1 and aims to expand and depend methodological understanding. It will expand alow the students to develop a greater understanding of how research methods shape what we know about the world and the strengths and weakness of different approaches. It will have a particular emphasis on undertaking analysis and ensure that students know who interpret data both through manual analysis and using software such as NVIVO. 
 

Methods of Assessment: 
Quantitative Methods task (Group work - Teaching Period One)        35%
Qualitative Methods task (Individual - Teaching Period Two)              35%
Exam    MEP                                                                               30%

This module seeks to enable students to acquire a competent understanding of the ways in which different social inequalities intersect with ‘race’, and the complexity of social inequalities. In doing so, they will be able to conceptualise the social (i.e. dynamic) rather than natural character of ‘race’ using specialist literature, and demonstrate a critical understanding of the key debates around racism. The concepts explored in this module include; ‘race’, racism(s), racialisation, and ‘intersectionality’. The substantive areas through which these are then developed are migration into the UK from 1948 to the present; the impact of the European Union on British migration policy; the politics of immigration in Britain; and responses to Asylum-seeking in the Contemporary UK.

Assessment method: Assessed essay (2,000 words)

This module explores competing feminist theories through focusing on topics within the sociology of the body. It uses empirical studies to explain and explore theoretical issues and assist the understanding of a number of key feminist theorists. The empirical studies will also introduce sociological understanding on a range of social and political issues including the aging society and the growth of cosmetic surgery. It will also explore the social construction of bodily issues such as love and sexuality.

Assessment method: essay (30%) exam (70%)

This module aims show the central role of the media in society. It will examine how the production and reception of different media industries is shaped by its norms and practices and is an integral part of the social construction of social issues. Key areas to be covered include: It will consider the extent of media power and the changing shape of mass communication.

Assessment Method:  
Essay 2000 words                   100%

This module introduces students to sociological understandings of crime and examines criminal justice policy. It will explore what crime is and the ‘causes’ and consequences of crime. The module will also examine the construction of the criminal justice system and the implications this has ‘criminals’, ‘victims’ and wider society. The module will explore crime, subversion and injustice from a critical perspective which students will develop the tools to understand the social processes involved in defining crime and enacting punishment.

Assessment method: exam.

This module seeks to introduce students to the key environmental challenges facing policy makers and their responses to these. We examine key theories such as risk society, ecological modernization and environmental economics and instruments of policy implementation, comparing regulatory, market and voluntary approaches.  We explore these in relation to specific areas of environmental policy, but with particular emphasis on climate change and climate change mitigation.  We examine policy making at the local, national and supranational level. The programme is delivered through lectures, student presentations and class discussion.  

Assessment method: a class test (20%) and a 2,500 word assignment.

This module follows on from Classical Social Theory I and reviews some well-known and some not so well-known social theorists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The course examines the preoccupations of sociologists working in different times and contexts and considers the relationship between social theory and wider popular debates. Students will be expected to read original writing by key theorists and to link discussion of this material to a consideration of key themes in the course.

Assessment method: essay.

This module offers students the opportunity to undertake an independent project of social research. The topic and methodology are chosen through consultation with an academic supervisor, and may address any sociological problem using appropriate method(s). The module is an advanced exploration of designing, conducting and presenting social research; undertaking independent intellectual work; and extending critical and organisational abilities. There are six taught sessions during the first term which outline the research process and strategies for organising independent work. The remaining time is spent on independent study in cooperation with individual supervisors.

Assessment method:  Viva of work in progress, during term (10%, TP1), written dissertation of 6,000-8,000 words, due during exam period (90%, TP2)

Students will align classical theorists, many of whom they will already have studied, with examples drawn from popular culture. This mix of historical and contemporary subject matter is intended to treat social theory as a living set of ‘social blueprints’ (Barron, 2013) to be grappled with, criticised and applied to the modern global and technological world around us. In terms of approach, the module links each theorist/approach with an example drawn from popular culture, the media or modern technologies, as these increasingly overlap, via the Internet. This is intended to demonstrate the continuing cultural validity of the thought of theorists such as Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Adorno, Gilman, Barthes, de Saussure and Milton Friedman.

Assessment method:  
Coursework: 500 word abstract 15%
2,500-word essay 85%
Feedback will be given through: Written feedback on abstract, and essay when it is returned, plus ongoing feedback during classes.

Through the systematic examination of a series of theoretical perspectives underpinned by relevant empirical examples, the module explores corporations as social actors, paying particular attention to their ability to shape the world according to their interests.  Case studies include Rupert Murdoch and News International, and the Oil Industry. 

Assessment method:  exam.

In this module students will develop an understanding of the specialist literature relating to the topics taught, and the skills required to critically engage with the three key terms in the module’s title both in relation to a variety of subject areas, and as intersecting lines of identity.

The field of study is drawn from the scholarship on racism, and we note the many overlaps and connections between the three systems of inequality; ‘race’, class and gender. There is a deliberate attempt to mix historical and contemporary subject matter, as well as to use international points of comparison. The range of substantive areas addressed includes; ‘race’ and science; slavery and its legacy; eugenics & Social Darwinism; segregation; white identities; mixed-ness, and anti-Nomadism.

Assessment method:  Assessed essay (3000 words).

Education is a key institution of power and social change. Its importance is illustrated not only by the centrality of education to government policy, but also in the faith that is placed in its capacity to empower individuals, advance equality, and enable democratic participation. But education can also disempower people and divide societies. This module offers a framework for understanding why. It examines the history of education in the UK and comparatively, students’ educational autobiographies, theoretical perspectives on education, and current debates in British education to explore relationships between education and the state, family, social movements and identity.

Assessment method:  Portfolio of coursework, due during exam period (100%)

This module looks at changes in society brought about by campaigning groups and protest.  It combines theory and case studies in order to examine the relationship between social movements and social change.  Case studies range from the US civil rights movement to the current “Occupy” protests.

Assessment method: The module is assessed by exam.