Sociology
The AS course consists of two modules:
1. Family and Households - we will be looking at the changing patterns of
family life such as the impact of an increase in divorce and the changed way in which men and women view their roles within the family today.
2. Education and Sociological Methods - a major part of this section will be considering why some groups are more successful in the education system than others and how sociologists gather their evidence.
The A2 course will consist of two additional modules and will consider questions such as the following:
1. Stratification and Differentiation,Theory and Methods - the way in which and the extent to which people's lives are affected by their social class, gender, ethnic group and age, and sociological perspectives on these issues.
2. Power and Politics - what is power and who has it? Why do people vote as they do?
Skills gained
By the end of the course you will be able to:
• present ideas and explanations in a clear and logical, written form.
• understand, interpret and analyse sociological and non-sociological material presented in a variety of forms e.g. written reports and studies, graphs and tables of statistics.
• contribute to discussion and debate by presenting a viewpoint clearly and logically and listening to and assessing alternative explanations.
• use a range of sources for individual research.
• take clear and meaningful notes both in lessons and from other sources.
Links with other subjects
The range is very wide but particularly useful links exist with psychology, geography, history and government and politics.
Post A Level
Sociology is an increasingly popular subject at degree level where it can be studied in its own right and is also to be found in a wide range of other courses including education, health related courses, leisure and tourism and sports studies. It is useful in many careers especially those involved in dealing with people, such as marketing, teaching, administration, social work, media, journalism and tourism.
