Sociology: Introduction to key concepts. Family and Households- theoretical perspectives and Changes in the family

• Students will be able to explain the relationship of the family to the social structure and social change
• Students will be able to explain, analyse and evaluate different perspectives on the role of the family

Sociology: Childhood, Demographics, changing family patterns

• Students will be able to analyse the nature of childhood, and changes in the status of children in the family and society.
• Students will be able to explain changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation, separation, divorce, childbearing and the life course, including the sociology of personal life, and the diversity of contemporary family and householdstructures
• Students will discuss and analyse gender roles, domestic labour and power relationships within the family in contemporary society and how these have changed
• Students will be able to describe and explain changes in demographic trends in the United Kingdom since 1900: birth rates, death rates, family size, life expectancy, ageing population, and migration and globalisation.

Sociology: Research Methods. Theoretical perspectives on role of education.

Students will examine the following areas:

• quantitative and qualitative methods of research; research design
• sources of data, including questionnaires, interviews, participant and non-participantobservation,experiments, documents and official statistics
• the distinction between primary and secondary data, and between quantitative and qualitative data
• the relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods; the nature of ‘socialfacts’
• the theoretical, practical and ethical considerations influencing choice of topic, choice of method(s)and the conduct of research.
• Students will examine and evaluate the role and functions of the education system, including its relationship to the economy and to classstructure

Sociology: Class differences, Ethnic differences and gender differences in educational achievement

• Students will analyse reasons for differential achievement between social class, ethnicity andgender.
• Students will analyse the contribution of both internal and external factors affecting achievement

Sociology: Gender differences in educational achievement. Globalisation and privatisation of education. Educational policies

• Students will consider the significance of educational policies, including policies of selection, marketization and privatisation, and policies to achieve greater equality of opportunity or outcome, for an understanding of the structure, role, impact and experience of and access to education;
• Students will analyse the impact of globalisation on educational policy

Sociology: Introduction to the Mass media and some of the key terminology. Ownership and Control of the Mass Media

• Introduction of the unit and structure, together with PLC
• Students will understand the difference between ownership and control; key trends in ownership patterns and structures in global media; Marxist and pluralist perspectives on control of the mass media.