Module SOC2050 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC2050: Knowing the Social World
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
The module draws theory and empirical work together in ways that help us to understand the social world. In this module we will explore a variety of approaches to social research and gain hands-on experience with some of the techniques these sources have employed. The aim is to equip you with key life skills that are applicable in the workplace and in daily life – for example, evaluating the veracity of accounts and claims, judging situations, and learning about people and their ways.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate knowledge of various methodological approaches to sociological research; 2. demonstrate an understanding of the advantages and limitations of those approaches; 3. evaluate critically empirical social research; 4. use and evaluate critically techniques of sociological research; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 5. use methodological knowledge and awareness of techniques to assess critically empirical claims in different areas of sociology; 6. demonstrate an understanding of the interrelations between empirical research and sociological theory; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 7. assess critically research-based claims in public discourse; 8. communicate effectively in written and verbal form. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Sessions will consist of lectures with question/answer and discussion, hands-on workshops and tutorials linked to honing research techniques.
From year to year, the module’s precise content may vary. The syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics::
- Introduction: Knowing the Social (perception and reality; epistemology and ontology; meaning; framing; ethics)
- Unobtrusive measures (physical traces; oblique perspectives, the ‘light footprint’, archives and numbers)
- Sensory methods (multi-sensory and cross-sensory issues, non-verbal, the material world, embodiment)
- Textual methods (poetics and metaphor, style, content, narrative and discourse analysis, voice)
- Talk and spoken discourse (personae, turn-taking, cueing and discourse strands and registers, ensemble)
- Interviews and focus groups (performance, leading, prompting, the self-effacing interviewer, what we say vs what we do?, cueing, follow-up, the micro-macro link)
- Ethnography and Participant Observation (materiality, embodiment, practice, setting, scenes, organisations, ethnomethods, experience)
- Practical Workshops (on sensory, textual, interview and participant observation)
- Portfolio Clinic (on the written assignments)
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 16 | 8 Lectures 2 hours each |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 3 | 2 revision session 1.5 hours |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 3 | Tutorials 1 hour each |
| Guided Independent study | 64 | Reading set texts and wider reading to inform formative assessment items |
| Guided Independent study | 64 | Application of data collection /analysis for essay preparation |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Questions asked in class by instructor | 10 minutes per session | 1-8 | Verbal |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical Discussion of the theoretical and practical issues involved | 50 | 2,000 words | 1-8 | Written |
| Practical application of data collection/analysis | 50 | 2,000 words | 1-8 | Written |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical Discussion of the theoretical and practical issues involved | Critical Discussion of the theoretical and practical issues involved | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
| Practical application of data collection/analysis | Practical application of data collection/analysis | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Indicative Basic Reading List
Alan Bryman. 2008. Social Research Methods (3rd edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Blaxter, L. and C. Hughes and M. Tight. 1996. How to Research. (Open University Press).
May, Tim. 2001 (3rd Edition). Social Research (Open University Press,).
Fish, William. 2010. Philosophy of Perception: A Contemporary Introduction. London: Routledge
