Academic management

SOCIOLOGY is a basic core common subject for all the Bachelor’s Degrees in which it is offered. The course has an introductory character and provides basic knowledge on both the concepts, theories and methodologies which are central to the sociological perspective, and on the essential dimensions, structures and processes of contemporary societies, with particular attention to Spanish society.
In the different degrees, the subject forms part of the degree’s relevant Social Sciences module and its contents have been adapted to the other courses of which this module consists.

As a basic core subject, SOCIOLOGY does not demand specific skills or competences apart from those relating to access to the degree.

Competences

The subject is aimed at the development of the competences which enhance the capabilities for analysis and synthesis, for critical and self-critical reasoning and learning and for fluent oral and written communication. The knowledge of the sociological perspective will contribute to a better understanding and recognition of the democratic principles of equal treatment and opportunities in the development of contemporary societies.

More specifically, SOCIOLOGY will provide a framework of knowledge and competencies which will facilitate the understanding of the societal environment in which economical behaviour, actors and institutions are embedded.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of the learning process, the student should acquire a set of sociological concepts, theories and methodologies. Also, the student should be able to put into practice this knowledge to understand the fundamental dimensions and dynamics of contemporary societies. Furthermore, the student should learn the basic characteristics which define Sociology as a scientific discipline and the discipline’s field of study. Additionally, the student should also be able to understand and interpret the social reality from a sociological perspective.

The course programme of the subject is organized in two parts or sections. Each of these parts is divided into four different units.

Part 1. The Sociological Perspective

Unit 1. Sociology as a form of observation: social change and the origins of Sociology; the sociological perspective in everyday life; questions of epistemological nature; questions of technical nature; methodology of sociological investigation; how to design a sociological research project.

Unit 2. The human being in society: society as a phenomenon sui generis; social roles and functions; social groups; primary and secondary groups; social networks; organizations.

Unit 3. Society in the human being: the social construction of reality; socialization: process, agents and results; development of personality and personal identities; the person as a repertoire of social roles; social deviation; structural and process analyses.

Part 2. Social Structures and Social Change

Unit 4. Societal change and evolution: principal theories of change and social evolutions; factors of social change; principal patterns of transformation of today’s society; information society, knowledge society and globalization.

Unit 5. Social inequalities and stratification: social inequalities; social stratification; types of social stratification; poverty and exclusion; discrimination: concept and types; social mobility; the Welfare Sate; global inequalities and international cooperation.

Unit 6. Demographic dynamics and cultural diversity: natural population shift; birthrate, marriage and mortality; migration movements; demographic dynamics and population structure; international migrations and cultural diversity; ethnocentrism; multiculturalism and interculturalism.

Unit 7. Families: concept and functions of the family; types of families in history and related to cultural diversity; recent evolution of the family; structure and functioning of the family; intergenerational conflict; family, community and society.

The methodology of the subject combines lectures (with a theoretical focus) and seminars (with a practical content) as well as other activities requiring the attendance of the students, such as group tutorials.

The work plan foresees both learning activities that require attendance and complementary activities which do not.

The learning activities requiring attendance will have a total duration of 53 hours, according to the following distribution:

1) Lectures, with a theoretical focus. In the lectures, the professor will provide the basic theoretical concepts and the terminology of sociological analysis. Also, the students will receive some fundamental notions for the understanding of the macro-processes and structures of society, with the aim of fostering their capacity of critical reflection.

2) Seminars, with a practical content. The seminars will require the active collective and individual participation of the students in the exercises provided by the professor. These exercises will be aimed at complementing and reinforcing the theoretical contents of each unit. The seminars will also require the utilization of different instruments of text analysis and techniques of qualitative and quantitative analysis of social phenomena which will the basis for the subsequent interpretative debate.

3) Group Tutorials. Additionally, complementary sessions of Group Tutorials will be held, which will require the attendance of the students.

The learning activities which do not require students’ attendance include individual work to be carried out by the student in order to prepare and revise the practical exercises provided in the Seminars, the preparation of work essays, the study and reading for the Evaluation Sessions and the use of the different bibliographic, audiovisual and electronic resources related to the subject.

Evaluation of the subject will rely on the following instruments:

1) A final written examination

The final written examination accounts for 60 per cent of the final mark. This examination will evaluate the student’s command of the theoretical aspects of the course programme, as well as the individual’s capacity to contextualize and explain social phenomena by means of sociological concepts and the use of relevant sociological theories. It will also take into account other basic competences, such as the student’s capacity of analysis and synthesis, creativity and linguistic abilities, including the appropriate use of the terminology of the subject, the order and consistency in the presentation of the written discourse and the accurateness in syntax and spelling.

2) The participation in practical Seminars

These Seminars will facilitate the continuous evaluation of the learning results of the students participating in these sessions. The professor will assess the students’ capacity to apply relevant sociological concepts and theories to the practical cases discussed in these seminars and to adequately interpret and explain the social phenomena studied; at the same time, basic competences such as teamwork, organization and planning, spoken and written communication, management of information, problem solving and decision making are being assessed.

The evaluation of this part will be as follows:

• Three activities, linked to central topics, which (together) represent 30 per cent of the final mark;
• The realization of other Seminar activities, which represents up to 10 per cent of the final mark; to obtain a mark in this section, the student should have attended at least 80 per cent of the Seminars.

Note: The mark for continuous assessment will only be taken into account if the mark obtained for the written exam is higher than a 4. If plagiarism is detected in any of the assignments that form part of the continuous assessment, the final mark for this part will be a 0.

In the extraordinary call (in July), the student may choose to replace the three activities mentioned above by a number of additional questions related to the contents of these activities.

The students of the subject will have to use and consult on a regular basis a number of basic references in order to complement the theoretical and practical materials provided during the course.

• Macionis, J. and Plummer, K. (2008), Sociology, Harlow: Prentice-Hall (4th edition).

         (This is the course handbook)

• González, J. y Requena, M., Tres décadas de cambio social en España, Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
• Elwell, F.W. (n.d.): Glossary of the Social Sciences. URL. http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/glossary/Index.htm

 Additionally, the professor can propose complementary references to be consulted in relation to a particular unit of the course programme.

 Finally, the subject requires basic knowledge of the most common computer instruments of quantitative and qualitative analysis and graphic representation for the realization of Seminar practices and work essays. Basic skills of written and oral presentation and of working with Word, PowerPoint, Excel (or similar software programmes) are expected.