Q: Do I need to have studied Sociology at GCSE to do the A Level?
Most secondary schools don’t offer Sociology at GCSE, so it isn’t a required prerequisite for studying it at A Level. If you have studied it before you will have an understanding of some concepts and topics that we go on to examine in more detail throughout the A Level course, such as socialisation and secularisation, or topics on the Family, Education, Religion and Crime. However, you certainly won’t be at a disadvantage for not having studied it before, most people will not have.
Q: What textbook do we use?
All of your textbook materials will be provided by college. In Year 12 everybody is allocated their own copy of “AQA A Level Sociology Book One” by Rob Webb, Hal Westergaard, Keith Trobe & Annie Townend which is the main course text. Other materials are uploaded on the subject’s Moodle page, so that all students have access to resources at home as well as at college.
Q: What is the difference between Sociology and Psychology?
Both subjects are social sciences. Psychology studies the influences on our individual behaviour, such as why someone may have depression, or why some people are more aggressive, or how what happens in childhood might affect a person’s development for example. Sociology examines bigger patterns in society, such as why there is more divorce, or less religion in society today. Many students study both subjects as there are some common themes of research methods, where you learn about how social scientists study people and society.
Q: What kind of class and homework will we do?
The classroom provides us with a good opportunity to open up discussion about the topics we look at, relating the theories we examine to our own experiences or ideas. However, Sociology is ultimately an academic subject where we use the theories of the Sociologists who have conducted research in society to answer the questions, rather than our own opinions, therefore after learning about and discussing theories, we will work on putting them together to construct essay answers.
We hope that the Course video, FAQs and Subject Live chat have answered all your questions about the course. If you do have any other generic questions, please contact the course leader [email protected]
Please note that queries about your individual progression onto the course should be directed to [email protected]
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