During the course you will be encouraged to develop your own sociological awareness through active engagement with the contemporary world. Sociologists are interested in explaining why society works the way it does and the extent to which our behaviour, experiences and life chances are shaped by our social class, age, gender, ethnicity and locality. Those interested in the subject will want to understand the world in which they live – how and why it functions as it does and who has power and who does not. The subject is a two-year linear course which will enable you to demonstrate a wide range and depth of knowledge and understanding and develop skills of application, analysis, interpretation and evaluation. The topics studied in the first year are education, research methods and your teachers will choose from a choice of topics including families and households, culture and identity, health and work or poverty and welfare. In the second year theory, research methods and crime and deviance are compulsory and teachers again will choose from a choice of topics including beliefs in society, global development, the media or stratification and differentiation. All units are assessed by written examination.