The study of sociology aims to provide students with an understanding of the social world in which we live.  We examine how society is organised and the key factors influencing individuals and groups within that society.  Key questions  include:

• Who benefits from our current organisation of society?
• Who is disadvantaged as a result?
• How do we interact within our society?
• How do class, gender and ethnicity influence our place and role in society?

Pupils are encouraged to draw upon their own personal experiences and general observations.  Sociology helps pupils to develop a critical, rigorous and analytical approach to their studies as they examine a number of issues.

Curriculum by Year Group

AS Level:

Unit 1: Families and Households – examination module (1 hour)

The relationship of the family to the social structure and social change; changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, divorce, child-bearing and the life-course, and the diversity of contemporary family and household structures; the nature and extent of changes within the family, with reference to gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships and changes in the status of children in the family and society; demographic trends in the UK since 1900.

Unit 2:  Education; Sociological Methods – examination module (2 hours)

The role and purpose of education in contemporary society; differential educational achievement by class, ethnicity and gender; relationships and processes within schools, with particular reference to teacher/pupil relationships, pupil subcultures and the hidden curriculum;  the significance of educational policies.

Quantitative and qualitative methods of research; their strengths and limitations; sources of data, including questionnaires, interviews, participant and non-participant observation, experiments, documents, and official statistics and the strengths and limitations of these sources;  the distinction between primary and secondary data, and between quantitative and qualitative data;  the relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods;  the theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s) and the conduct of research

A2 Level:

Unit 3: Beliefs in Society – examination module (1 hour 30 minutes)

Different theories of ideology, science and religion, including Christian and non-Christian religious traditions;  the relationship between religious beliefs and social change and stability;  religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements;  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.

Unit 4:  Crime and Deviance; Sociological Theory and Research Methods – examination module (2 hours)

Different theories of crime, deviance and social order and control;  the social distribution of crime and deviance by age, class, ethnicity, gender and locality, including recent patterns and trends in crime;  globalisation and crime in contemporary society; the mass media and crime; green crime; human rights and state crimes;  crime control, prevention and punishment, victims and the role of the criminal justice system and other agencies;  the sociological study of suicide and its theoretical and methodological implications

Sociological theory and research methods builds upon the topics studied in unit 2 and relates to the use of theory and methods in the study of crime and deviance.