4.6.

1 Subject Name: Principles of Sociology

4.6.2 Subject Code Number (if applicable): PSC106

4.6.3 Credits, learning hours and contact hours. 15 Credits, 150 learning hours and 50 contact hours.
4.6.4 Mode(s) of delivery (i.e. lectures, seminars, workshops, distance education, group work etc).

The module will be delivered through a variety of teaching activities of which the major method of
delivery will be lectures and tutorials. Lecturers will be availing of opportunities to best suit the students
in question when implementing alternative methods of delivery. It may also include the following.

 Study Manual: A workbook containing all detailed topics of the subjects, quizzes and session
questions, activity details would be provided to students for easy understanding of the taught sessions.
 Group discussion: This method will be used to make all students involved in learning the subject in
the form of discussion and brainstorming for better understanding of the subject.
 Simulation: Live simulation, virtual simulation and constructive simulation methodologies would be
used in the delivery of the course.
 Practical Demonstration: Practical demonstration helps in understanding and visualizing the
theoretical concepts applied practically in organizations. This helps in giving more clarity in
understanding and changes the misconceptions of students.
 Role Play: Role play includes a student who assumes the role of characters (leader/ Manager/ Decision
Maker) in a fictional setting. The role player takes responsibility for acting out these roles within a
narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character
development.

4.6.5 Minimum qualification and experience required by instructors/lecturers

Minimum Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) or a Diploma in a related field.

4.6.6 Pre-requisites (if applicable). Nil

4.6.7 Co-requisites (if applicable). Nil

4.6.8 Expected learning outcomes.

By the end of this module, students will be able to demonstrate the following:

Knowledge and understanding

Students will be able to:

 demonstrate knowledge and understanding of appropriate sociological topics
 understand the theoretical and practical considerations influencing the design and execution
of sociological enquiry
 understand and apply sociological terminology and concepts.

Interpretation of evidence

Students will be able to:

 demonstrate an awareness of the main methods of sociological enquiry and their uses
  interpret and apply relevant evidence and data
 show an awareness of different types and sources of evidence.

Analysis and evaluation

Students will be able to:

 evaluate the strengths and limitations of particular sociological studies and methods
 recognise limitations and bias in evidence and to distinguish between fact, opinion and value
 reach conclusions based on a reasoned consideration of available evidence

4.6.9 Curricular content in terms of topics and a summary of content planned for each lecture/tutorial
session/seminar, etc.

Week Topic Mode of

Delivery
Research methods
Students should develop an awareness of how information and data are
collected in sociology and be able to evaluate that information. This
will include primary and secondary data. This topic will also support
understanding of other topics in this module.

How to sociologists study society.

1  The main methods of investigation: participant and non- Lecture &
participant observation; questionnaires, interviews, Tutorial
experiments, case studies, longitudinal studies and content
analysis.
 Research strategies, for example the use of pilot studies.
 Sampling and sampling methods.
 The stages in devising and implementing a research strategy
and the problems that may be encountered.

Research methods
What information and data do sociologists use?
 Primary and secondary data
 Official and other statistics
 Published studies
 Different forms of evidence
Lecture &
2
What factors should be considered when evaluating a piece of Tutorial
sociological research?
 The method of data collection and the form of presentation may
influence the information given and the conclusions reached.
 The distinction between reliability and validity
 The potential influence of researcher bias and values in
distorting sociological data.
Culture and socialization Lecture &
3
This section considers the relationship between culture, society and the Tutorial
 individual.

What is the relationship between individual and society?

 Structuralist and interactionist views of the relationship
between individuals and society.
 The distinction between biological, psychological and social
explanations of human behavior.
 The diversity of human behavior and cultural variation. The
cultural differences between conceptions of childhood and
adolescence and cultural differences in conceptions of normal
gender role behavior and gender characteristics.

Culture and socialization

How to we learn to be human?
 The process of learning and socialization, primary and
secondary socialization.
4  Conformity and non-conformity; the agencies and processes of Lecture &
social control. Tutorial
 Culture and sub-culture; norms, values, beliefs and ideology.
 Role, age, gender, ethnic group and class as categories in the
social construction of differences.

Social stratification and inequality

This section explores the relationship between social, economic and
political processes and patterns of stratification.

What is social stratification?

 Patterns of social stratification with particular reference to
differences based on wealth, income, status, power, ethnic Lecture &
5
group or gender. Tutorial
 The main forms of stratification; slavery, estate, caste, class,
age, ethnicity, sex.
 The distinction between ascribed and achieved status.
 Changes in patterns of social stratification and accompanied
industrialization.

Social stratification and inequality

How are social inequalities created? What are the main features of
social inequality?

Lecture &
6  Wealth and income: the evidence and reasons for the
distribution of wealth and income in different societies. The Tutorial
problems of defining wealth and poverty and the consequences
of being rich or poor.
 Ethnic grouping: a general knowledge of the nature, size and
distribution of different ethnic groups in any one society.
  Prejudice and discrimination: evidence concerning
discrimination in education, employment and life chances. The
concept of scape-goats.
 Gender: the differences between sex and gender. The
consequences of gender role socialisation.
 Social class: evidence pointing to social class differences. The
nature, extent and significance of social mobility. An
appreciation of the implications of social class for chances in
employment, health and life style. The changing nature of the
working class, middle class and upper class.

Power and authority

This section considers power, authority and decision-making is
society.

What is power? What are the sources of power and authority?

7  The various forms of power, control and authority: charismatic,
coercive, economic, bureaucratic and the control of ideas and
beliefs.
 Aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy, dictatorship.
 Differing interpretations of the role of the State in
contemporary societies.

Family
This section considers the functions the family performs, variations in
family structures and the changing nature and roles performed within
the family.

What are families?

 The nature of the family with cross cultural comparisons,
including monogamy, polygamy and polyandry.
 The extended and nuclear family.
 The functions of the family.
 The family as an agency of social control and of social stability. Lecture &
8  Alternatives to the family. Tutorial

What are the main roles within the family?

 The maternal and paternal roles; the role of the child and of
members of the extended family.

What change are affecting the family?

 Demographic trends; marriage and divorce; single parent
families.
 Changes in family role relationships.
 Cross-cultural variations
Education Lecture &
9
This section considers the influence of education on the individual and Tutorial
 changing patterns and practices within the educational process.

What is education?
 Informal and formal educational processes.
 Intelligence and its relationship to educational achievement.
 The relative effect of heredity and environment.
 The aims and functions of education.
 The relationship between education, social mobility and social
stratification.
 Education as an agency of social control and social stability.
 Education as an influence for social changes.
 Alternatives to schools and schooling.
 Changes and developments in educational provision.

Crime, deviance and social control

This section considers the nature of ‘normal’ and ‘deviant’ behavior in
different social contexts.

What is normal behavior and deviance? Why are there rules in society?
 Deviance: the relative nature of conformity, normality and Lecture &
10 deviance. Tutorial
 The influences, both formal and informal, which help to
maintain order in society: socialisation, the media, religion, the
police, courts and penal system.
 The development of sub-cultures, with particular reference to
youth cultures.

Crime, deviance and social control

Why are society’s rules broken? What are the consequences of

breaking the rules?

 Crime: the difference between deviance and crime, law and

law-breaking.
 Explanations of deviant and criminal behaviour: biological, Lecture &
11 environmental, economic, psychological and sociological. Tutorial
 The role of formal agencies, the media and others in defining
deviance and crime: stereotyping, labelling and deviance
amplification.
 The nature and extent of crime.
 Crime related to new technologies, e.g. the Internet.
 An examination of official statistics of crime and their
interpretation related to the Maldivian context.

12 REVISION
4.6.10 Assessment methods and grading criteria.

The module will be assessed by an end of the module examination and continuous assessments.

 Final Exam (50 %)

 Continuous Assessments (50 %)

The examination will test the candidate’s ability to recall and the understanding of theories and frameworks and
its application in given scenarios at this level. The continuous assessment component will subject students to a
variety of assessments, including a major assignment which will require students to produce a piece of work
with literature review and application of theories and concepts to some practical situation related to the content
covered in the module. Further, assessments in this component may also comprise unit tests, group work or
individual presentations and similar commonly used assessment methods.

Attendance
Please note that students must attend 80% of the total number of classes in a subject / course.

Grading System
0- 49 - Fail
50-64 - Pass
65-74 - Credit
75- 84 - Distinction
85-100 - High Distinction
4.6.11 List of reference materials, if relevant.
 An introduction to sociology, Browne K. Polity Press, ISBN: 0745650082
 Sociology for GCSE, Wilson, P, Kidd, A, Collins Educational, ISBN: 0003224449
o Sociology: A very short introduction, Bruce S, Oxford Paperbacks, ISBN: 0192853805
o Sociology, Giddens A, Polity Press, ISBN: 074563379X
o AS and A level Sociology, Barnard, A. Burgess T, Kirby, M. Cambridge University Press, ISBN:
0521532140