Sociology
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Our Aims
The Social Science Department is more like a faculty, comprising as it does the subjects of GOVERNMENT & POLITICS, ECONOMICS and SOCIOLOGY. GCSE Law is sometimes offered to interested Lower 6th pupils who can fit the classes into their timetable.
The three main subjects in Social Science are only available at Advanced level and are therefore new to all pupils who choose to study them.
This has both advantages and disadvantages in that it gives all pupils a chance to start afresh, on an equal footing and with a new subject that may well spark renewed interest in study. The main disadvantage is that pupils begin with little or no background in all three subject areas and a fair amount of independent, but guided, reading is required to obtain the necessary detail which is needed to set issues and concepts into context.
Staff
Mrs J Robb
Senior Subject Teacher
Curriculum
We sit the AQA syllabus, which is changing this year from a 3 module course to a 2 module course. Methods are now an integral part of the second module in both Lower and Middle 6th.
AS Modules
Families & Households
Education and Sociological Methods
A2 Modules
Religion
Crime & Deviance and Theory and Methods
What is Sociology?
Sociology is the study of the social world, the groups we form and the societies in which we live. It is the study of our behaviour, both as individuals interacting with others, or as members of the bigger groups that we form. We look at areas of our lives that we may perhaps take for granted, and put them under the microscope to better understand the differences and the similarities in the experiences of people within these institutions.
What is a family? Is it mum, dad and two children? Or is it a single parent with a baby? Or a family of two adults both of whom have been married before and bring their respective children together to form a new family? These are among the issues studied in L6.
What about school? Why is it compulsory? Why do we have exams? Why do girls do better than boys? We study Education also in Lower 6th and will be considering theories of education involving these and other issues.
Additional Information
In Middle 6th we move from studying topics to which we have a close attachment and experience to two modules: Crime & Deviance and Religion with which we have experience, albeit not necessarily directly. These topics also have great impact on the society in which we live. What is deviance? Who says a particular act is deviant? Why do we have more boys in trouble with the law than girls? Is religion dead? Does it still serve a purpose in Western societies? What do we call religion? Is Feng Shui a religion, or Qu’abbalh, or the Moonies? Is religion really ‘the opium of the people?’
Sociologists are often accused of just looking at issues and then stating the obvious. While we do study topics and issues that are part of everyday life, sociologists must be able to back up their statements with case-studies and examples to illustrate claims or observations. These are gained through research and a study of research methods is therefore a key part of Lower 6th and Middle 6th work. Questionnaires and interviews, participant and non-participant observation…all are looked at with relevant case studies of actual research to help us understand the advantages and disadvantages of using particular methods in certain circumstances.
