BA (Hons) Sociology

Examine the nature of human interaction

Examine the nature of human interaction

UCAS Logo
L300
3 years full-time
Bishop Otter Campus (Chichester)
  • Explore how the world works, why it works, and how it could change
  • Study topics including gender, ethnicity, disability, poverty, and social justice
  • Develop your own critical thinking, research, and analysis skills
  • Learn in smaller class sizes for better learning and support
Student smiling in their media class

Top 40

UK University

Guardian University Guide 2024

12th

in the UK for overall average positivity for Sociology

National Student Survey 2023

7th

in the UK for our teaching quality

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022

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Overview

Understand the world around you and how it will shape the future

Are you interested in how the world works? Does your future career involve making a difference to people and the world around you? Our BA (Hons) Sociology course provides you an in-depth understanding of how the world works and how it will evolve in the coming years and decades.

National Student Survey 2023

Overall average positivity
12th
in the UK for Sociology
Learning resources
3rd
in the UK for Sociology
Mental health and wellbeing
3rd
in the UK for Sociology

Explore the complex nature of human society

This course helps you make sense of what is happening in this period of incredible, fast-moving change, as you consider what aspects have been positive and exciting and what areas have created conflict, confusion, and challenge.

Study a variety of thought-provoking topics such as:

  • How people are given social status.
  • How gender, class, and ethnicity impact the opportunities given to us.
  • How culture shapes our personalities, values, and outlooks.
  • The role of the media in promoting ideologies.
  • How social change can come about through collective action and activism.

Focus on contemporary issues through a global lens

Throughout the course, you will develop skills in cultural competence, research, critical and analytical thinking as you gain a deeper understanding of a range of social issues within both British and international contexts.

Consider a wide variety of domestic and international issues including:

  • Social justice
  • Poverty
  • Discrimination
  • Migration
  • Developmental psychology
  • Celebrity culture
  • Consequences of the climate crisis

Develop your own critical thinking skills

This course will not tell you what to think, but rather provide you with the knowledge and skills you will need critically consider the world around you, as you follow your own passion within the subject and undertake your own independent research.

Gain the knowledge and skills needed to make a difference

You will develop key skills in research techniques, critical thinking, and analysis that you could use in a wide range of potential future careers, especially in fields that make a difference to communities.

Learn from expert staff who really get to know you

Our small, interactive seminars mean you are seen as an individual and not just another face in the crowd, as our team of experienced experts get to know you and how best to support your academic and personal development.

On this course you will:

  • Explore how the world works, why it works, and how it could change.
  • Consider a wide range of thought-provoking topics in both national and international contexts.
  • Develop your own critical thinking, research, and analysis skills that you can apply to a range of future careers.
  • Learn in smaller classes that allow our expert teaching staff to really get to know you and your needs.

The Course

Explore the working of society and human behaviour

Year One

In your first year, you will discover why sociology provides fascinating insights into so many aspects of our social world, as you gain a strong foundation on which you will continue to build throughout your degree.

Year Two

Your second year provides you with the opportunity to begin to specialise in topics that interest you, as you explore contemporary views on topics such as sexuality, health and wellbeing, crime, and the media.

Year Three

In your third year, you will work towards a final dissertation project that acts as the culmination of your learning throughout your degree.

Alongside this, you will examine the role of the media in the rise in anxiety in younger generations, how media reflects the world around us, and the sociological principles behind aggression and violence.

Making a Difference modules

In both your second and third years, you will have the opportunity to make a difference within your community, as undertake a critical examination of sociological ideas including community, neighbourhood, ‘belonging’, agency, and self-determination.

Expand your horizons with modules from other departments

As well as the modules below, you will have the opportunity to choose two of a range of modules taught across the Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences, Arts and Humanities.

Indicative modules

You will study a selection of core and optional modules in each year. Each module is worth a number of credits and is delivered differently depending on its content and focus of study.

This list is indicative and subject to change.

Select a year

Ageing and the Life Course

What is ‘childhood’? How would you define ‘old age’? This module explores how childhood and old age are ‘socially constructed’.

You will explore the historical view of children as merely ‘mini adults’, the invention of the ‘teenager’, and the contemporary view of old age being defined as roughly 20 years older than the person defining it.

You will discuss how government policy has attempted to keep pace with changing social attitudes and ask questions about what kind of society we should grow up in.

Explaining Society

Inequality and poverty are issues that provoke a wide range of social attitudes from outrage to indifference. Beginning with a detailed analysis of the various definitions of poverty and inequality, you will look at the impact of these issues on the life chances of individuals and their wider consequences for society as a whole. You will look at the implications of global inequality for the future of our planet.

Social Identities and Inequalities

Does family mean a place of safety, nurture and stability, or a site of oppression, conflict and turmoil? You will explore opposing views and perspectives of what it means to be a ‘family’, using sociological theory and contemporary research to develop your understanding of family and social change.

What Is Going On? Making Sense of the 21st Century

The 21st Century has been a period of rapid change and innovation, but also of conflict and uncertainty. This module explores the key events of the past 20 years, how they are interconnected and what they might mean for the future.

Why Sociology Matters

In this module, you will:

  • explore key sociological principles and theories
  • discuss the role of sociology in understanding the world we live in
  • develop the knowledge and skills you need to ‘think sociologically’.

In addition, you will discover why sociology provides fascinating insights into so many aspects of our social world and develop your ability to provide supporting evidence for your views and opinions.

Diversity and Duty of Care

This module will explore the broad concepts that underpin human rights, diversity and duty of care.

You will focus on the development of social identities and the relationship between diversity, discrimination and oppression.

Your research will be based on the initial premise that British society is diverse and includes a wide variety of cultures and will explore racism to exemplify the impact of oppression on marginalised people.

Analysing Social Problems

You will draw upon ethical principles to explore questions of ‘what is right and wrong?’ and ‘what should be done?’.

You will investigate how and why governments and other policymakers make decisions and, in doing so, gain deeper insights into how we, as individuals, view problems and make choices about the issues that affect our lives.

Human psychology will inform your discussions as you learn how people think and explore the common biases and mental shortcuts that can lead to prejudice and faulty decision making.

Being Human: Emotions and Behaviour in Social Life

What does it mean to be ‘human’? This question has puzzled humans throughout the centuries, and we often find answers in religion and philosophy as well as biology.

Recent advances in psychology, sociology and neuroscience have revealed the importance of emotions in shaping human behaviour, social attitudes and the social structures we experience every day.

Discussions in this module will aim to revolutionise how you see the world around you.

Criminology Classics and Controversies

In this module, you will develop your critical knowledge of classic and contemporary criminological cases and your understanding of the role of criminology in understanding different forms of crime. You will have the opportunity to compare and contrast profiles of criminological cases.

Health and Wellbeing

In this module, you will increase your critical understanding of adult and children’s health and wellbeing.

You will explore the sociology of health and health inequalities in detail and consider the impact of the NHS on British social policy and social attitudes, as well as our understanding of what constitutes a fair and just society.

You will develop your understanding of resilience in adults and children and the interrelationship between emotional well-being, physical health and the social obligations we have to one another. You will contrasts international concepts of health and wellbeing with those in the UK.

Making A Difference: Community Project

This module will enable you to put your learning into practice. You will work in a small groups to make a difference in people’s lives and develop a deeper understanding of some of the issues you have studied.

Media and Society

In this module, you will consider key concepts in media theory, the representation and social groups (class, gender, race, age) and the changing forms of media in the digital age. In addition, you will explore the affects on and responses of audience within the media and popular culture sphere as you consider its power, agenda setting, and influence.

Researching Societies

The module introduces you to a range of sociological methodologies and research methods that will equip you to design a small-scale research project in an area of sociology in the following year.

You will participate in a series of activities, involving research techniques, where you will need to reflect on your own experience.

The “qualitative versus quantitative” debate will be examined. Ethical issues in sociological research will be examined and innovative methods for research and how to research social media will be explored.

Sex, Sexualities and Society

Although sexuality is a relatively recent concept, issues concerned with sexuality have a long history in cultures across the world. On this module, you will explore how our contemporary views towards sexuality have evolved and the social forces that shape current debates, questions and arguments.

A Dangerous World? Risk, Anxiety and the Media

In this module you will explore how society constructs notions of risk, danger and dangerousness.

You will understand how the media functions in creating heightened anxieties in the population and how and why politicians respond to these anxieties.

You will critically analyse stories in the media and form your own judgements about phenomena presented as being a risk to society, exploring the social impact of themes as diverse as Covid-19, crime, mental health, islamophobia and youth culture.

Aggression, Violence and Abuse: A Sociological Perspective

You will use a sociological perspective to investigate the causes and impact of aggression, violence and abuse. Drawing on historical sources, you will note how social attitudes evolve and discuss the influence of feminism and other social movements in framing current debates.

You will explore the life chances of victims of aggression violence and abuse as well as themes as diverse as

  • Child sexual exploitation
  • Domestic abuse
  • Cyberbullying
  • Harassment
  • Hate crimes.

You will investigate implications of these topics for individuals, society and social change.

Independent Project

This independent project allows you to conduct an in-depth investigation into an aspect of sociology that particularly interests you.

You may conduct business-related research or choose to research a topic that prepares you for your future career choice, or focus a subject that interested you during your degree.

Making A Difference: Preparation for Professional Careers

This module offers another opportunity to get involved in real social issues. You will develop your communication, problem-solving and other employability skills as you explore a topic of your choice.

Music, TV and Film in a Changing World

With a specific focus on the 21st Century and the latter part of the 20th Century, this module will take you on a journey through key social changes and movements as reflected and shaped by music, TV and film.

You will discuss a range of topics starting with the protest songs of the 1960s and explore how music has influenced and been shaped by key events and societal changes, and explore how film, TV and other media forms have highlighted society.

Disability in the 21st Century

This module will start by considering historical, social and cross-cultural perspectives on disability and learning difficulties. Government policy initiatives, legislation and resulting welfare responses to disability will be explored with a particular focus on the lived experience of disability.

Disability will be considered across the life course. Drawing upon dominant perspectives and the medical and social models. The notion of ‘care’ will be critically examined, including ethical issues, such as, the potentially competing rights of carers and disabled people.

Oppression and discrimination will be examined throughout the module, with particular attention to simultaneous oppression, social exclusion and hate crimes.

Teaching and Assessment

Feel the support of our experienced and expert staff

Smaller class sizes for better learning

You will build your subject knowledge and practical experience through lectures, workshops, and tutorials in small classes, which means our expert teaching staff really get to know you and what support you need.

Assessments

You will be assessed through a range of assignments including:

  • Essays
  • Group and individual presentations
  • Academic posters
  • Vlogs
  • Book reviews

Experience

Discover our historic campuses and close student community

Integrated Foundation Year Option

Build your academic confidence and skills with an initial foundation year

We also offer our BA (Hons) Sociology with Integrated Foundation Year course.

This four-year course includes an integrated, introductory foundation year that develops your academic skills and confidence, as well as provides you with an overview of core aspects of sociology that you will build upon in your further years of study.

Study Abroad

Explore the opportunity to study part of your course abroad

As a student at the University of Chichester, you can explore opportunities to study abroad during your studies as you enrich and broaden your educational experiences.

Students who have undertaken this in the past have found it to be an amazing experience to broaden their horizons, a great opportunity to meet new people, undertake further travelling and to immerse themselves within a new culture.

You will be fully supported throughout the process to help find the right destination institution for you and your course. We can take you through everything that you will need to consider, from visas to financial support, to help ensure that you can get the best out of your time studying abroad.

Careers

Where you could go after your studies

Our BA (Hons) Sociology degree prepares you for a range of careers in areas such as welfare, education, social research, and the government.

You will develop your research skills during the course so you could work as a researcher in large company or the Civil Service. Many students also go on to postgraduate studies and become independent researchers.

Future career options include:

  • Social Policy – government departments, transnational organisations, charities and NGOs
  • Social Research – government departments, transnational organisations, charities and NGOs, consultancy firms, universities
  • Business – Advertising & Marketing Executive, PR Officer
  • Education – Teacher at Secondary /College level, University Lecturer
  • Community – Development Officer, Social Worker, Housing Manager, Immigration Support, Probation Officer
  • Journalism – inc. New media

Further Study

You may decide to continue your study at the University of Chichester and undertake a postgraduate degree. Our postgraduate courses offer you the opportunity to deepen your knowledge and greatly improve your career prospects. Postgraduate study options available at Chichester include Masters, PGCE and PhD.

Course Costs

Course Fees 2024/25

UK fee
£9,250
International fee
£15,840

For further details about fees, please see our Tuition Fee page.

For further details about international scholarships, please see our Scholarships page.

To find out about any additional costs on this course, please see our Additional Costs page.

Entry Requirements

Typical offers (individual offers may vary):

UCAS
96-112
tariff points from A levels or combination with AS / EPQ / BTEC/ Cambridge Technical.
A Levels
BBC-CCC
BTEC/Cambridge Technical
DMM-MMM
Access to HE Diploma
Pass
with at least 12 Distinction and 15 Merits.
GCSEs
C/4 or higher
in English Language.
IB
26-28 points
IELTS
6.0
with no element lower than 5.5.

Non-standard Application Entry Routes

The University has an alternative entry route for applicants who have relevant skills and experience but who do not hold the formal minimum entry qualifications required. Applicants who demonstrate the necessary skills and experience to enter a course of higher education will be asked to complete an entry task involving the completion of specially set assignments.

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Frequently asked questions

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