Year 12 Sociology Curriculum Plan

Overview

Sociology deals with the social world and all the relationships; interactions and events that happen when people meet people. Sociologists try to understand the processes involved.

The curriculum in Year 12 prepares students for the AQA AS Sociology examination. The options studied are:-

  • Module 1 Families and Households.
  • Module 2 Education and Research Methods.

Assessment for each of the modules is by examination. Module 1 is one hour; Module 2 is two hours.

Module 1 is examined in January, Module 2 in the summer.

Past papers, mark schemes and examiners reports can be viewed on the AQA Sociology site.

The marks for these modules can be carried forward to Year 13 and contribute to the final A2 grade.

General links to explore for Sociology AS:

Module 1 Families and Households

In this module the following topics are studied:

  • The relationship of the family to the social structure and social change, with particular reference to the economy and state policies
  • Changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce, child bearing, and the life course, and the diversity of contemporary family and household structure.
  • The nature and extent of changes within the family with reference to gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships.
  • The nature of childhood and changes in the status of children in the family and society.
  • Demographic trends in the UK since 1900; reasons for changes in birth rates, death rates and family size.

Resources for Module 1

Module 2 Education and Research Methods

In the Education section of this module, the following topics are studied:-

  • The role and purpose of education, including vocational education and training, in contemporary society.
  • Different explanations of the different educational achievement of social groups by social class, gender and ethnicity in contemporary society.
  • Relationships and processes within schools, with particular reference to teacher/pupil relationships, pupil subcultures, the hidden curriculum, and the organisation of teaching and learning.
  • The significance of educational policies, including selection, comprehensivisation and marketisation, for an understanding of the structure, role, impact and experience of education.
  • The application of sociological research methods to the study of education.

In the Sociological Methods section the following topics are studied:-

  • Quantitative and qualitative methods of research; their strengths and limitations; research design.
  • Sources of data, including questionnaires, interviews, observation techniques, experiments, documents, and official statistics; the strengths and limitations of these sources.
  • The distinctions between primary and secondary data, and between quantitative and qualitative data.
  • The relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods; the nature of ‘social facts’.
  • The theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing the choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of the research.

Resources for Module 2