Sociology

Welcome to sociology

Introduction: what is sociology?

Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. The subject matter of sociology is our own behaviour as social beings. Sociologists are concerned with investigating the connections between what society makes of us and what we make of ourselves.

Sociology is concerned with examining contemporary society. If you choose the course you will study many aspects of life in modern Britain. We look at issues such as:

·                        Why is crime rising?

·                        Why has the divorce rate risen so greatly since the 1970s?

·                        Why are groups attracted to religious cults?

·                        Is the news biased on TV and in the press?

Sociology has a long and very successful history in LSU. Our A Level and AS results are significantly higher than those nationally and we have very good ‘value added’ scores for our students. Our GCSE students also consistently achieve higher results than their individual GCSE targets.

Department philosophy

As a department we strongly believe that students flourish in an environment where they are encouraged to develop respect for both themselves and others. We encourage empathy in our students and learn that empathetic understanding is an essential sociological tool for understanding of the social world. We are committed to equality of opportunity and believe that moral development goes hand in hand with both respect for others and challenging oppression and injustice.

 

Our subject develops a critical understanding of the social world and sociology challenges racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination.

 

In terms of moral and ethical development, sociology encourages students to question many previously taken for granted ideas and to see how knowledge can be used as a tool of oppression. Ethical issues are firmly embedded in the teaching of sociological research methods. We firmly believe that it is our duty as social researchers to conduct ourselves in an ethical and humanistic manner. In preparing our GCSE students for their coursework investigation it is strongly emphasised to our students that ethical guidelines must be adhered to.

 

Our  expectations of  students at GCSE and GCE AS/A level

We expect you to:

·                        write essays and other written assignments on a regular basis,

·                        interpret and respond to various stimulus materials which may be text based, visual or statistical.

·                        be an active and willing participant in the classroom.

·                        with support, develop your skills as an independent learner through individual and group research projects.

·                        Use opportunties provided to develop your communication skills though pair and group discussion and debate.

·                        give seminar presentations in class as required

Coursework

There is no coursework at AS /A level. At  GCSE level students undertake an in-depth research project into a sociological research issue of their choice, as long as it accords with ethical guidelines. This provides students with the opportunity to design research instruments and undertake their own secondary and primary research.

 

 

 

 

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