Sociology
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Sociology is an extremely popular subject at A-level and university level and is a discipline for those with enquiring minds. You will embrace questions to help you understand why people commit crime, why certain groups achieve and underachieve in the British education system, why is racism, sexism and homophobia persistent in society and who benefits from these forms of discriminations. You will be encouraged to embrace topics of the day like debating whether or not prisons work, did the fire at Grenfell tower need to happen, is immigration as big an issue as the media makes out, who is responsible for global warming and can it be reversed, were we right to ‘Brexit’ Europe?
You will gain a good grounding in research methods and Universities are attracted to A-level sociology as it is a rigorous academic subject, developing skills of knowledge and understanding, application, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, critical thinking skills and you will develop a vast knowledge of diverse people and populations and begin to think about policy and solutions to social problems. Cambridge University is now offering degrees is Sociology at their highly prestigious university.
Occupations gained from studying Sociology include Social Researcher, academic, University lecturer, member of the criminal justice system, police officer, probation officer, law, solicitor, para-legal, local and central government, civil servant, politics, political party activist and researcher, Journalism, Social worker, health care worker, Market research analyst, Urban planner and Diversity manager amongst other occupations.
Michelle Obama majored in sociology before meeting her husband Barack Obama. Other notable people who studied Sociology include Rev. Martin Luther King and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Entry requirements
Students will need to have achieved a level 5 or above in English Lnguage GCSE in order to meet the standard expected for longer essay responses in exams and 4 other literacy-based GCSEs. A GCSE in Sociology is not required, although it is useful.
Course structure and content
Unit 1 – Education with Theory and Methods.
Education
You will learn about the functions of the education system, including its relationship to the economy and class structure. You will begin to explain the reasons and evaluate why certain classes, ethnic groups and genders underachieve in the British education system. You will analyse the relationships and processes within school, with reference to teacher / pupil relationships, pupil identifies and subcultures and organisation of teaching and learning. You will examine the significance of educational policies, including polices of selection, marketisation and privatisation and polices to achieve greater equality of opportunity or outcome and consider the impact of globalisation on education policy.
Methods in Context.
You will learn how to evaluate the different research methods and be able to apply them to an educational context.
Theory and Methods
In this section you will embrace the sociological debates surrounding quantitative and qualitative methods, Positivism Vs Interpretivism, sociology and science, value free Vs committed sociology, modernist and post-modernist arguments.
Unit 2
This is the Options unit where you will study the Sociology of the Family and Global Development.
Sociology of the family explores the relationship to the social structure and social change, with reference to the economy and state policies. You will get the opportunity to examine changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce, childbearing including the diversity of contemporary family and household structures. You will investigate the nature of childhood and compare childhoods around the world to see its impact on the individual, family, community and the wider society. There will be debates surrounding the nature of power with families, changing gender relations, why young people are choosing not to marry and have children at a young age and what this means for your generation.
Global development – involves understanding what is Development, underdevelopment and global inequality; globalisation and its influence on the cultural, political and economic relationships between societies; the role of transnational corporations, non-governmental organisations and international agencies in local and global strategies for development; development in relation to aid and trade, industrialisation, urbanisation, the environment, and war and conflict; employment, education, health, demographic change and gender as aspects of development. You will get the opportunity to investigate a country of your choice and ascertain why it is economically limited and what impact this has on the country and its position in the world.
Unit 3
Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods.
This is a unit that most young people are excited to study as you will begin to understand the sociological explanations for why people commit crime, understand the difference between crime, deviance, social order and social control. You will explore the pattern and distribution of crime across class, gender and ethnic lines. Questions to consider is why certain groups figure heavily in stop and search, why prisons appear not to be working, consider if certain gender groups are looked upon favourable to the other gender group and why. You will explore the new types of crimes and think about what fuels them. Can we solve crimes to the extent they are shown on TV? Are states implicit in crimes and why do we not know the full extent of their activities. Why are we the most surveilled country in Europe? Do people feel safer on our streets, given the amount of surveillance or do people prefer to more police on the streets.
Theory and Methods:
We develop on the work covered in Y12 which includes, quantitative and qualitative methods, Positivism Vs Interpretivism, sociology and science, value free Vs committed sociology, modernist and post-modernist arguments.
Assessment
All exams are sat at the end of Year 13.
Assessment is by examination, 3 x 2-hour exam at A Level.
Paper 1 – Education with Theory and Methods.
Questions
Education: short answer and extended writing, 50 marks
Methods in Context: extended writing, 20 marks
Theory and Methods: extended writing, 10 marks
Paper 2 – Topics in Sociology
Questions
Section A: extended writing, 40 marks
Section B: extended writing, 40 marks
Paper 3 – Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods
Questions
Crime and Deviance: short answer and extended writing, 50 marks
Theory and Methods: extended writing, 30 marks
