Sociology BSc

Programme structure

The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.

The BSc Sociology degree programme is made up of compulsory (core) and optional modules, which are worth 15 or 30 credits each. Full-time undergraduate students need to complete modules worth a total of 120 credits each year.

Depending on your programme you can take up to 30 credits each year in another subject, for instance a language or business module, to develop career-related skills or just widen your intellectual horizons.

Please note that modules offered are subject to change, depending on staff availability, timetabling, and demand.

Year 1

The core modules provide training in the scientific study of social science and integrate the use ‌of cutting-edge quantitative methods, explanatory theory and techniques of political research with the study of substantive issues. The first year also gives you a foundational knowledge of sociological theory, methods and concepts. You will also gain important analytical techniques that will be useful across a range of subjects and research tasks.

Compulsory modules CodeModuleCredits SOC1041Data Analysis in Social Science15 SOC1004Introduction to Social Data 15 SOC1037Introduction to Social Analysis: Classical Social Theory15 SOC1038Introduction to Social Analysis: Contemporary Social Theory15 SOC1019Contemporary Society – Themes and Perspectives15 SOC1020Contemporary Society – Fields and Case Studies15 Optional modules

You are free to take two 15-credit modules or one 30-credit module in any discipline. Many students choose Introduction to Social Anthropology, but you may choose to take another Social Science subject, a language or a module in another discipline.

CodeModuleCredits SOC1039Social Issues Part 1 - Introducing Crime and Deviance 15 SOC1040Social Issues: Part 2 - Themes in Criminology 15 SOC1003Imagining Social Worlds: Texts15 SOC1008Imagining Social Worlds: Artefacts15SOC1028Media and Society15 SOC1036Foucault-Discipline and Punish15 ANT1004Introduction to Social Anthropology-Theorising the Everyday World15 ANT1005Introduction to Social Anthropology: Exploring Cultural Diversity15 ANT1006Cultures: Food15 ANT1001Introduction to Social Anthropology Part 115 Year 2 Compulsory modules CodeModuleCredits SOC2077Data Analysis in Social Science II15 ANT2004Into the Field 15 SOC2005Theoretical Sociology 30 Optional modules

You can choose from a list of modules reflecting the research expertise of academic staff.

30 credits you will select must be taken from the Q-Step modules indicated below.

CodeQ-Step modulesCredits POL2071Experimental Research in the Social Sciences15 SSI2002Data Analysis in the Workplace15 POL2046The Economics of Politics 15 SOC2091Immigration in Western Societies15 SOC2092Introduction to Terrorism Studies15 POL2081Thinking about Race: Perspectives from the Biological and Social Sciences 15 SOC2035International Criminal Justice: Comparative Criminology 15

CodeOther optional modulesCredits SOC2019Introduction to Quantitative Research 15 ANT2002Ethnography Now 15 SOC2005Theoretical Sociology 30 ANT2003Current Debates in Anthropology15 SOC2014Media in Society15 SOC2030Sociology of Art and Culture15 SOC2046AThe Holocaust, Genocide and Society30 SOC2031Ethnomusicology15 SOC2085Health, Illness and Bodies in Contemporary Society Part 1: Medicine and Social Control15 SOC2033Addiction 30 SOC2087Disability and Society15 SOC2050Knowing the Social: perception, memory and representation15 SOC2032Culture and Perception15 SOC2091Immigration in Western Societies 15 SOC2092Introduction to Terrorism Studies 15 SSI2002Data Analysis in the Workplace.
Those interested in applying for a work placement must take this module.15 Year 3

The centre-point of the final year is the compulsory dissertation which may draw on empirical data or your own original field work. This provides you with the opportunity to explore an area of interest and to demonstrate what you have learned over the previous three years. In addition, you’ll take up to three other specialist modules to create a programme of work which reflects your interests.

Compulsory modules CodeModuleCredits SOC3040Dissertation 30 Optional modules

You can choose from a list of modules reflecting the research expertise of academic staff.

15 credits must be taken from the Q-Step modules indicated below.

CodeQ-Step ModulesCredits SOC3094Statistical Methods for Social Data15 SOC3091Immigration in Western Societies15 SOC3092Introduction to Terrorism Studies 15 SOC3034International Criminal Justice: Comparative Criminology 15 CodeOther optional modulesCredits SOC3076Illness, Bodies and Medicine in Contemporary Society 15 SOC3028Media in Society 15 ANT3084Ethnomusicology 15 SOC3024Globalisation 15 ANT3078Eat: The Social Self as Consumer 15 ANT3002Childhood 15 SOC3016Gender and Society 30 ANT3086Addiction 30 ANT3005Human-Animal Interactions 15 SOC3046The Holocaust and Society 15 SOC3080Pharmaceutical Cultures 15 SOC3078BEat: The Social Self15 SOC3032Culture and Perception15