BSc(Hons) Sociology with Psychology (with Foundation Year)

This module will help you understand the expectations of higher education and develop the academic skills needed for your chosen social science pathway. Indicative content will include researching, organising and presenting ideas for essays, reports and case studies, alongside academic style, referencing and avoiding plagiarism. You'll develop reading, note-making, summarising, analysis and evaluation skills, and learn how to locate reliable books and journal articles. Planning, time management, reflection, oral presentation, examination preparation, academic use of information technology and collaborative teamwork will build your confidence as an independent learner.

This module will introduce you to key issues and theoretical approaches spanning sociology and criminology. Indicative topics will include identity and culture in social life, digital media and online cultures, education, social exclusion and inequality. You'll examine crime, deviance and social problems in relation to class, gender and ethnicity, alongside social, cultural and legal understandings of crime. The module will also provide opportunities to explore the profiling of dangerous and risky offenders and criminal justice institutions, helping you develop your understanding of the social world through social science ideas and research.

Through philosophy and political science, this module will introduce tools for understanding the contemporary world. You'll explore foundations of Western philosophical thought through classical texts, considering knowledge, being, the self, ethics, justice, education, beauty, politics and the state. The module will also examine the contemporary political and international order, including states and the international system. Themes such as climate change, terrorism, poverty, war and peace, culture, religion and security will help you reflect on connections between philosophical concepts, real political systems and current societal issues.

This module will introduce psychological research, theories and models alongside key topics in policing. It will typically include perspectives in psychology and selected themes from developmental, cognitive, social, humanistic and differential psychology. You'll also explore principles of investigative practice, community policing, contemporary challenges and evidence-based policing. Through these connected areas, you'll develop critical thinking and ethical approaches to building an evidence base. Group work and guided activities will strengthen your academic reading and writing, information searching, presentation software skills, planning, time management and collaboration.

In this module, you'll build a broad foundation across the core areas of psychology. You'll explore cognitive, biological, social and developmental psychology, alongside individual differences and the discipline's historical and conceptual foundations. Topics will typically include neuroscience, attention, perception, memory, intelligence, personality, attachment, language and cognitive development, motivation, emotion, social cognition, identity, group processes and mental health. You'll also consider the replication crisis and critical psychology, developing the critical thinking, communication, teamwork and independent learning skills needed for further psychological study.

In this module, you'll explore classical and modern sociological traditions and develop a critical understanding of modernity. You'll study the Enlightenment and the emergence of modern social science, alongside the work of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Modern perspectives may include interactionism, associated with thinkers such as Erving Goffman, and feminist approaches including Marxist and intersectional feminism. You'll also examine critiques such as Black Radical Thought. Through individual and group learning, you'll learn to connect sociological arguments with evidence and assess the strengths and limitations of social theory.

This module will introduce sociology through contemporary social issues and policy debates. You'll explore how conditions become defined as social problems through politics, policy and media, using sociological imagination to examine agenda-setting, framing, pathologisation and complex policy challenges. Topics will typically include poverty, inequality, health, employment, crime, substance use, ageing, disability, housing, racism, transport and culture. Historical, global and comparative perspectives will help you analyse government intervention, social welfare and the ways social problems connect with inequality, diversity and ideological interests.

This module will introduce you to research methods used across the social sciences. You'll explore quantitative and qualitative approaches, alongside the epistemological and ontological ideas that guide research decisions. Topics will typically include research design, ethnography, auto-ethnography, visual methods, reflexivity and ethics, considered through themes such as social groups, cultural diversity and identity, including virtual identities. Alongside your methodological understanding, you'll develop essential academic and employability skills in teamwork, communication, presenting, independent study, time management and referencing.

This module will develop the critical thinking skills needed for successful study in sociology and criminology. You'll learn how to observe carefully, reflect on experience and analyse arguments, evidence, beliefs and assumptions. Topics may include ethical reflection, conceptual analysis, logical reasoning, statistical misuse, knowledge and power, inequality, crime, discourse and deconstruction. You'll consider the uncertainty and limits of knowledge, as well as how academic work can perpetuate injustice or support positive change. Through structured argument and enquiry, you'll strengthen your academic and professional judgement.

In this module, you'll take an integrated approach to social psychology, individual differences and developmental psychology. You'll explore social cognitive, social constructionist and critical perspectives on how identities and differences develop. Topics will typically include childhood and adolescent development, friendships, relationships, self and identity, personality, intelligence, creativity, attitudes, stereotypes, attribution, gender, crowds and group processes. Along the way, you'll strengthen information retrieval, communication and critical evaluation skills, learning to compare sources and consider different perspectives on psychological questions.

Organised around key themes in social theory, this module will introduce influential accounts of modern society and apply them to real-world problems. The syllabus will typically examine culture through the Frankfurt School, urbanism through Simmel and the Chicago School, and social class through thinkers such as Bourdieu and Reay. You may also explore feminism, family and intimacy, race and ethnicity, and power, government and citizenship. Working with abstract concepts, you'll strengthen your ability to analyse information, evaluate arguments, exercise judgement and formulate responses to complex social questions.

Bringing together research methods and employability development, this module will help you understand how social science research can be applied to real-world problems. You'll explore research design, ethics, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, data analysis and different ways of evaluating knowledge. The syllabus may also consider issues such as colonial and postcolonial research approaches, workplace experiences, emotional labour and labour market participation. Alongside strengthening your research skills, the module will encourage critical reflection on your abilities, experiences and future opportunities beyond university.

This project and placement module will support you in connecting sociology with research, employment and professional practice. Your learning may be supported by cross-programme and discipline-specific content, including literature searching, bibliography development, policy and research relating to particular employment sectors, and ethical or risk issues linked with research or the workplace. You may also develop your understanding of research methods, methodologies and dissemination. Through independent and practice-based activity, you'll strengthen your employability, critical reflection and ability to apply sociological knowledge within a relevant context.