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Sociology - Subject Code: AS 5191 / A2 6191

Sociology is a contemporary subject, which is very much rooted in the present. It explains the way in which society “works” and how individuals live together and co-operate through social institutions such as the education system, the family, religious institutions and the law. Sociology examines the ‘evolution’ of society and argues that a new type of society is developing.
It is an exciting and thought provoking subject because it uncovers unspoken “truths” examining the exploitation of certain social groups like ethnic minorities, females and the working class and explains through various perspectives, how we do not live in a “fair” society where everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
It provides a framework, through the ‘A’ level syllabus for backing up all of these arguments with authors who have put in place an academic framework, with various concepts, principles and research. These are known as sociological perspectives.
‘A’ level students frequently comment “I always instinctively knew a lot about the unspoken assumptions uncovered in ‘A’ level sociology, but it is only now that I have relevant information to back up the contentious issues raised”.
Sociology is an “essay-based” subject, requiring a lot of note-taking and independent reading and is a rigorous and academically intensive ‘A’ level subject. Students should be good at English language, discursive essay writing, debating, analysing contentious issues and be able to link together numerous sociological authors and their arguments in a lucid and coherent essay format. This subject goes well with ‘A’ level English, Religion, Politics, History, Geography and Business Studies.

Conclusion: Sociology can be defined as a dynamic, exciting subject which at ‘A’ level empowers students with concepts, principles and facts, sharing the aim of understanding and explaining the social world that we, as humans, live in. Mills called the ability to study the structure of society at the same time as individuals’ lives the “sociological imagination”. The sociologist has to consider “the economic and political institutions of our society and not merely the personal situation and character of the individual”.

This information is not just of use to sociologists. It is important to all members of society, if they wish to understand, change and improve their lives.

Degree courses which previous students have taken at University after completing
‘A’ level Sociology at St. Louis Grammar School:
Teaching (primary and secondary level), Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, Law, English, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, History, Media Studies, Computer Science, Business Studies, Architecture, Business Management, Social Work and many others.

Modules / Assessment

AS = Lower Sixth/50% of ‘A’ Level

Students do 3 modules:                   Unit 1: The family (Exam 1 hour 15 mins)
                                                            Unit 2: Education (Exam 1 hour 15 mins)
                                                            Unit 3: Methods (Exam 1 hour)
This unit is about studying the collection and collation of material for sociological research and various methods are studied and critically evaluated.

A2 = Upper Sixth/50% of ‘A’ Level

Students do 3 modules:                   Unit 4: Religion (Exam 1hour 30 mins)
                                                            Unit 5: Theory and Methods (Exam 1 hour 30 mins)
                                                            Unit 6: Crime and Deviance (Exam 1 hour 30 mins)

Some of you may repeat modules from AS. Details of conversion of marks to grades available from teacher