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Featured Podcast
The Sociology Show: Studying Sociology for the First Time
Are you studying Sociology for the first time? Do you want to know a little bit more about what Sociology is, what you will study and what you can do with a Sociology qualification? In this episode, Matthew talks to fellow teacher Ben Hewitson about some of the common questions students have when studying the subject for the first time.
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Featured Films
Research Methods for the Social Sciences (streaming, Academic Video Online)
Introducing social science research, this program teaches how to gather and interpret data. It examines types of experimental design, explains when different types of experiments are appropriate, and discusses experimental and control groups.
Sociological methods in action. Questionnaires and interviews (streaming, Academic Video Online)
How do school students negotiate the pressures to perform well academically alongside the pressure to be popular and cool? Carolyn Jackson combined questionnaires and interviews to research this question and this film uses her study, Lads and Ladettes, to illustrate why these methods are chosen, their respective strengths and limitations and how the strengths of one can be used to offset the limitations of the other.
Sociological methods in action. Case studies (streaming, Academic Video Online)
If you go and see your doctor or a therapist, you'll become a 'case' to them. They'll want to know a lot more about you. Similarly, sociological case studies involve putting a social group, an event or a place 'under the microscope'. This film looks at a classic sociological study, The Spiritual Revolution, to show why case studies are used in sociology, what they provide for the sociologist and the extent to which findings can be generalised.
Sociology methods in action. Participant observation (streaming, Academic Video Online)
Some research questions can only really be studied by sociologists getting out of their offices and interacting directly with the people they want to study. Starting with the famous Chicago School of sociology, this film looks at some classic studies to illustrate why participation observation is used in sociology, its major strengths and limitations and its contribution to sociological understanding.
Exploring society. Lesson 3, Sociological inquiry (streaming, Academic Video Online)
Sociological Inquiry examines processes by which sociologists study group behavior and how the processes differ from everyday observations and conclusions.
Crash Course Sociology: Sociology Research Methods (Streaming: Academic Video Online)
Today we’re talking about how we actually DO sociology. Nicole explains the research method: form a question and a hypothesis, collect data, and analyze that data to contribute to our theories about society.