For all you students out there thinking of doing Sociology for A Level here are some tips:

- If you like reading, debating, writing essays - this subject is for you.

- If you like challenging, stimulating social issues - this subject is for you.

- Sociology looks at inequalities in society between different social groups:
~ Social Class
~ Gender
~ Ethnic Minority Groups

AREAS OF STUDY INCLUDE
Education, Health and Methods at AS Level.
Theory & Methods, Religion and Crime & Deviance at A2 Level.

QUESTIONS UNDERTAKEN:
Why do working class underachieve in Education?
Do working class or middle class have different cultures, values, attitudes?
Are women equal with men?
Does class matter?
Do the media create violence?
How free are you?
Do schools work?
Why do more middle class children than working class children go to University?

In sociology we shall look at these issues and elaborate on them through various sociological perspectives and studies.

Sociology is not ......

It may be helpful to start by looking at what sociology is not. It is not 'social work', although social workers may well study sociology as part of their training. It is not 'social policy', although the findings from sociological research often influence the making of social policy. It is not about making the world 'a better place' - though its findings can be used to do that. It most certainly isn't just 'common sense', although many of the topics you study will be things that everybody thinks that they already know all about.

Finally, it isn't, I'm rather glad to say, an 'easy option'. Sociology is a respected displine with a long academic tradition streching back to the eighteenth century (some would say even earlier). Athough we would argue that sociology is enjoyable, it is as intellectually demanding a subject as any you will study. This you will soon learn.

Individuals and societies

So, to go back to the original question - what is sociology? Put at its simplest, sociology is the academic study of the ways in which individuals and groups live in societies. The discipline raises fundamental question about the ways in which people shape the society in which they live and about how, in turn, being a member of society influences each of us in various ways.

Getting below the surface.

During your sociology course, you will begin to look at your society and what is going on around you in a new way. You will begin to see 'beneath the surface', and find that you are using new words to interpret what you see. You will realise that a lot of the things that other people take for granted, things that 'everybody knows' to be true, are not supported by the evidence. In fact, the evidence often points to exactly the opposite conclusion. Some, perhaps many, of your own views and assumptions - views you now hold dear - will be sorely challenged by what you are about to learn. Studing sociology, as you will find out, is not always a comfortable experience.

By the end of your course you will have learned a great many interesting things about society and you should have developed a range of important skills, which will be of great benefit to you in the future.

- You will have learned to question and challenge ideas and assumptions.
- You will look more critically at the evidence (if any) on which such assumptions are based.
- You will have learned to evaluate ideas, research methods, statistics and other forms of data in terms of their strengths and weaknesses.
- Through taking part in lively classroom debates about the society in which you live, and others you are introduced to - you will have improved your communication skills.
- In the written work you have done, especially under timed conditions, you will have developed your ability to express yourself in a clear and focused way.
- You will find that you will be able to analyse situations, newspaper and magazine articles, television programmes and politicians' speeches to revel their underlying and often hidden, meanings and messages.

Warning: sociology changes lives

It sounds as if you are about to acquire greater powers - but do not underestimate the capacity of sociology to mess up your whole view of the social world. For some people, starting this journey will be just the first stage of a whole career spent looking beneath the surface of the taken-for-granted world - the one that most people are fated to see. This is because a lot of sociology is actually about doing good, painstaking, detective work.

Above all, we hope you will have an enjoyable and stimulating course but - be warned - studying sociology can change your life!

Sociology Department - Mrs O Grimley & Mrs L McGilly

Sociology AS/A2 Links of Interest

Sociology AS/A2 Work Sheets