Department Leader: Amy Coates

AQA Sociology A Level– 7192

The function of sociology, as of every science, is to reveal that which is hidden.

Pierre Bourdieu

Subject Information

Sociology is a social science studying the patterns of, and reasons for, human behaviour, social organisation and culture.  Sociology helps us to explore and understand the society in which we live and how its various elements fit together and influence each other.  It is a subject that combines scientific methodology and humanities based investigation to allow Sociologists to understand what drives and creates change in our cultural norms.

Throughout the two year course you will explore topics including “Who commits crime and why?”, “Is education a way of controlling the working classes?”, “Are families no longer important?” and “Why might girls outperform boys in education?”.  Your lessons will include a series of debates, analysing and manipulating scientific research, examining case studies and carrying out investigations.

Pathways in Sociology

Sociology is useful for any future role that requires lots of interaction with others or an understanding of human behaviour and development. An A Level in Sociology can lead to a plethora of careers including jobs in advertising, media, journalism, careers guidance, social services, the police and teaching amongst many others.  It can also lead to a wide range of degree level subjects.  A qualification in the subject will also tell employers that you are a person who can debate a passionate subject, understand demographics and deal with difficult situations in an empathetic and level headed way.

Course Content

A full reading list will be provided and students will be able to borrow a course book.  In addition, the following websites might be useful for checking out some of the content we cover:

http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/sociology/as-and-a-level/sociology-7191-7192 The AQA website to download the specification

https://revisesociology.com/ - a great revision resource and overviews of our topics

https://www.slideshare.net/ - Slideshare has some great presentations uploaded by teachers and students.  Check out also, Prezi which has a number of presentations uploaded by students, for example, https://prezi.com/lm8lnkzhtje2/introduction-to-sociology/

https://www.tutor2u.net/sociology - this site has some free resources, vlogs and video tutorials and some exemplar answers.

https://napierpress.com/ - lots of student/ teacher activities that is based on the main textbook we use

http://politybooks.com/kenbrowne/resources.asp - a great revision resource and overviews of our topics

http://www.podology.org.uk/videos/4556339394 - lots of useful clips for students to watch

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qy05 - it’s a great way of getting up to date information on a whole range of contemporary social research – the typical format is a sociologist summarizing their research and responding to questions from the host, or occasionally it may take the form of a ‘panel interview’ if there’s a broader topic under discussion.

http://www.sociology.org.uk/index.htm - videos, and other resources

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r4vz this programme provides an in-depth, analytical (funny that!) look at public policy issues.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd - questions current trends and patterns in contemporary society –

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2YEGWfZ0lihoOD7JNkDx2g/videos?flow=grid&sort=p&view=0  - is the place to go for some excellent podcasts on a range of topics within Sociology

https://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/sociology/gcse/sociology/teach/resource-list - lots of useful links for sociology