Sociology

Award: GCSE 

Awarding Body:  AQA

Specification Code: 8912

This course leads on to an A-Level.

Why study Sociology?

Sociology aims to broaden students’ minds, helping them to see the world from different perspectives in new and thought provoking ways.

To decide on future policy, governments, businesses, academic institutions and communities alike must evaluate the here and now and assess how best to make use of their understanding of the society of today.

Sociologists offer the most complete and wide ranging interpretations of modern life; from the scientific empirical analysis of human behaviour to the more specifically human evaluation of distinctly personal experiences. 

To study Sociology is to develop a variety of skills explicitly transferable to any if not all careers. These unique skills have helped channel many Westside students towards academic study and successful careers in Law, the Media, Teaching, the Police Force, Administration and many other areas of employment.

Component 1 - Families and Education

Component 2 - Crime & Deviance and Social Stratification

Assessments

2 exam papers. One for component 1 and one for component 2. Each exam is 1 hour and 45 minutes long.

Award: A-Level

Awarding Body: AQA

AS Offered: NO

Specification Code: 7192

Specification Website: AQA A-Level Sociology

Institution: Bayside/Westside

The aims of the course are to offer an engaging and effective introduction to Sociology. Students will learn the fundamentals of the subject and develop skills valued by universities and employers. The Sociology syllabus focuses primarily on contemporary British society, although it encourages students to consider wider historical issues that have contributed to modern day events. The course also includes the effects of globalisation and new technologies on society, fostering the development of critical and reflective thinking with a respect for social diversity. It will provide an awareness of the importance of social structure and social action in explaining social issues. Students will be encouraged to develop their own sociological awareness through active engagement with the contemporary social world.

Students will engage in theoretical debate and are encouraged to be actively involved with the research process. Topics covered will include: Families and Households, Education, Beliefs in Society, Crime and Deviance and Theory and Research Methods. Throughout these topics, the following core themes will also be studied: Socialisation, Culture and Identity, Social Differentiation, Power and Stratification.

Lessons will involve topical discussions, research, note-taking, and question and answer sessions. Regular homework assignments will be given that include essays of between 800 and 1000 words, in which students will need to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of sociological theories, concepts and evidence, as well as evidence of being able to apply these to a range of issues. Students will also have to display evidence of analysis and evaluation. 

Subject Content

Education

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of the following content:

• • The role and functions of the education system, including its relationship to the economy and to class structure.

  • Differential 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 identities and subcultures, the hidden curriculum, and the organisation of teaching and learning.

  • The significance of educational policies, including policies of selection, marketisation and privatisation, and policies to achieve greater equality of opportunity or outcome, for an understanding of the structure, role, impact and experience of and access to education; the impact of globalisation on educational policy.

Methods in Context

Students must be able to apply sociological research methods to the study of education.

Theory and Methods

Students must examine the following areas:

• • Quantitative and qualitative methods of research; research design.

  • Sources of data, including questionnaires, interviews, participant and non-participant observation, experiments, documents and official statistics.

  • The distinction 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 choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research.

  • Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories.

  • The concepts of modernity and post-modernity in relation to sociological theory.

  • The nature of science and the extent to which Sociology can be regarded as scientific.

  • The relationship between theory and methods.

  • Debates about subjectivity, objectivity and value freedom.

  • The relationship between Sociology and social policy.

Beliefs in Society

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of the following content:

• • Ideology, science and religion, including both Christian and non-Christian religious traditions.

  • The relationship between social change and social stability, and religious beliefs, practices and organisations.

  • Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice.

  • The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs and practices.

  • The significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world, including the nature and extent of secularisation in a global context, and globalisation and the spread of religions.

Families and Households

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of the following content:

• • The relationship of the family to the social structure and social change, with particular reference to the economy and to state policies.

  • Changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce, childbearing and the life course, including the sociology of personal life, and the diversity of contemporary family and household structures.

  • Gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships within the family in contemporary society.

  • The nature of childhood, and changes in the status of children in the family and society.

  • Demographic trends in the United Kingdom since 1900: birth rates, death rates, family size, life expectancy, ageing population, and migration and globalisation.

Crime and Deviance

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of the following content:

• • Crime, deviance, social order and social control.

  • The social distribution of crime and deviance by ethnicity, gender and social class, including recent patterns and trends in crime.

  • Globalisation and crime in contemporary society; the media and crime; green crime; human rights and state crimes.

  • Crime control, surveillance, prevention and punishment, victims, and the role of the criminal justice system and other agencies.

Assessment

Paper 1: Education with Theory and Methods 

• • 2 hour written exam

  • 80 marks

  • (33.3% of A-Level)

Paper 2: Families and Households & Beliefs in Society

• • 2 hour written exam

  • 80 marks

  • (33.3% of A-Level)

Paper 3: Crime & Deviance with Theory and Methods 

• • 2 hour written exam 

  • 80 marks 

  • (33.3% of A-Level)