CIE A-Level Sociology Wiki
For those unfamiliar with this Specification, Cambridge International A-level Sociology is largely aimed at – and followed by – students outside the UK (although around 150-odd UK schools do enter students for the exam). It’s a fairly “traditional” Specification by contemporary UK standards, but if you want to know a bit more about it, have […]
Sociology ShortCuts: Labelling Theory
Labelling is a staple theory in the sociology of crime – both in its own right (Becker’s concept of the Outsider, for example) and in terms of its incorporation into other theoretical explanations (Radical Criminology, for example) – and in this ShortCut Professor Sandra Walklate outlines some of the theory’s key ideas: Outsiders Social interaction […]
Understanding Crime and Deviance in Postmodernity: Part 1
Although the concept of a “postmodern criminology” is, for various reasons, highly problematic this doesn’t mean that newer approaches to understanding and explaining crime don’t have something to offer the a-level sociologist. In this two-part extravaganza, therefore, we can look at two (yes, really) dimensions to this criminological shift through the medium of a couple […]
Beyond Milgram: Obedience and Identity
In the early 1960s two apparently-unrelated events, separated by thousands of miles, took place that, in their own way, shocked the world. The first, in early 1961, was the Jerusalem trial of Adolph Eichmann. He was accused – and subsequently convicted – of being one of the organisers of the Nazi Concentration Camps in which […]
Exam check list: do’s and don’ts
Another checklist put together for the CIE Sociology textbook. No great revelations, but probably helpful to know. Do: Practice answering questions under exam conditions. The more you practice the better you become. Sleep on it Memory functions best when activity, such a revision, is followed by sleep; during sleep the brain consolidates learning and retention. […]
A Modest Proposal for Structured Sociology Teaching: Part 3
The previous post identified and briefly outlined the 5 categories that make-up the Structured Teaching scheme and in this post we can look at each category in a little more detail by way of a “worked example” based around Differential Educational Achievement. We can start with a visual example of what a mind-mapped structure might […]
Maths in Psychology
The 2015 A-level Psychology Specifications place a new emphasis on students’ ability to both understand and, more-importantly, apply a range of statistical tests to psychological problems. This new set of short films, written and presented by Deb Gajic (UK Psychology teacher and examiner) covers the main statistical tests students encounter in psychology: Chi Square, Sign […]
Amoral Panics: Part 3
While the two previous posts looked at moral panics from two different perspectives (“from below” in the case of interpretivist approaches and “from above” in the case of hegemonic neo-Marxist positions) a different way of looking at the concept, developed by Waiton (2008), is to consider contemporary forms of panic in the context of a […]
Revise Psychology: Reductionism
Psychology Revision series for A-level and AP Psychology teachers and students. This revision film uses the example of obesity to outline and evaluate reductionist and holistic approaches in psychology. The full film is available to rent (7 days) or buy from and covers key: definitions: reductionism, scientific parsimony, holism applications: obesity, evaluations: uses and limitations […]
Psychology: Reliability and Validity
Reliability and validity are two important methodological concepts in both Psychology and Sociology because they address the problems involved in “doing research” – and while this film is aimed at A-level and AP psychology students (who are required to cover the issues in much greater depth), it should also be useful for sociology teachers who […]