Sociology FAQ Home

Sociology is the study of how societies work and change. It asks how our lives are shaped by institutions, cultures, relationships and inequalities, and how people in turn shape the societies in which they live.

At Royal Holloway, you will investigate some of the major questions facing contemporary societies, while learning to see familiar aspects of everyday life in new ways. Topics may include social class and inequality, gender, race and ethnicity, religion, health, migration, violence, sexuality, digital life, culture and social change.

We currently offer three undergraduate degrees with Sociology at their core: the BA in Sociology, the BA in Sociology and Philosophy, and the BSc in Criminology and Sociology.

• The BA in Sociology allows you to study the discipline in the most depth, examining how societies function, how people and institutions interact, and how social change shapes the world around us.
• The BA in Sociology and Philosophy allows you to bring sociology into conversation with a range of philosophical traditions from contemporary analytic philosophy to ancient Stoic thought.
• On the BSc in Criminology and Sociology, you will explore issues of criminal behaviour, punishment, and rehabilitation strategies while also examining the social forces that affect individuals and impact on their behaviour.

There is overlap between the three degrees, but they differ in emphasis. The BA in Sociology offers the broadest route through the discipline, while the joint degrees allow you to combine Sociology with a more sustained focus on either Philosophy or Criminology.

No. You do not need an A-level in Sociology to study the subject at Royal Holloway.  Our first year is designed to introduce you to the foundations of sociology, including key sociological ideas, major questions about contemporary society, and the research and study skills you will need throughout the degree. Students arrive from a wide range of academic backgrounds, and this diversity of perspectives is an important part of studying sociology.

Sociology is not simply a body of established knowledge. Sociologists are continually conducting research into how societies are changing and developing new ways of understanding those changes.

Being taught in a research-focused department means that you encounter ideas and evidence at the forefront of the discipline. You will be taught by academics whose own research contributes to moving the discipline forward and also contributes to addressing activity social and political questions in contemporary society.

It also means learning how sociological knowledge is produced: how to formulate a good question, collect and analyse evidence, evaluate competing explanations and construct a convincing argument.

In the first year, you will develop a foundation in sociological theory, contemporary social issues, and sociological research methods.

As you progress through the degree, you will have greater opportunities to develop your core knowledge in more advanced classes and to pursue particular interests through optional modules. Sociology at Royal Holloway covers a broad range of areas, allowing you to explore both enduring sociological questions and rapidly changing features of contemporary society.

In your final year, you will also have the opportunity to undertake a dissertation: an independent research project on a sociological question that interests you.

Learning how to investigate society is a central part of the degree.  You will be introduced to both qualitative methods, such as interviews and observation, and quantitative methods, including questionnaires, statistics and the analysis of social data.

You will learn how to:
•    formulate sociological research questions;
•    design a research project;
•    collect and evaluate evidence;
•    conduct interviews and observations;
•    design and interpret surveys;
•    analyse qualitative and quantitative data;
•    understand research ethics;
•    communicate findings clearly and persuasively.

These skills are developed progressively across the degree and culminate in the opportunity to carry out your own independent research.

Much of the work that you will do at undergraduate level is linked to the presentation and production of ‘knowledge’. Understanding how this knowledge is created, developed, used and transmitted is vital to achieving a good degree, and also vital to future employability. In order to fully achieve this, it is important that you are equipped with the relevant skills.

These skills form a key part of our curriculum, and importantly, teach you keys things e.g.:
•    How to ask the right questions in the right way.
•    How to design and conduct investigation, whether experimental or in the finding of information.
•    How to assess and collate that information and present it in a meaningful way.

These skills - critical to successful research - are also vital skills in the learning process and are best conveyed by those actively engaged in doing research.

In answering this question, it is perhaps easier to say what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that academic staff do research all the time and leave students to be taught by teaching fellows. All staff that teach at undergraduate level are active in research.

Research is a process that involves a lot of organisation; the development of a set of skills which are used to find information and to construct arguments and debates; and the ability to form and present these ideas into a series of outputs, published in the scientific literature. As an undergraduate, you benefit from this experience in a range of ways:

• Your teaching, particularly as you progress into the third year, is informed by modern and up-to date ideas which are at the leading edge of current research topics, often taught by people who are leading authorities on the topics themselves.
• Your practical work, especially the dissertation, can be carried out with access to high quality laboratories, field equipment, and other facilities.
• At all levels of the course, the sorts of skills that your lecturers need to do their own research are embedded in the courses that you do. These include how to find relevant information, how to read and utilise the ideas contained therein in your work, how to plan and execute tasks in such a way that the information you end up with is trustworthy and reliable, and how to present information in effective and useful ways.

Hence, by research led, the Department employs expert practitioners who, through a range of teaching methods, teach you both subject specific skills, and also key generic skills which are vital to your studies, but will also play an important role in future employability.

Teaching takes place through a mixture of lectures, seminars and workshops.

Lectures introduce important ideas, debates and evidence. Seminars give you the opportunity to explore those ideas in greater depth through discussion, exercises and analysis of readings or research. Workshops are particularly important for developing practical research and analytical skills.

University study also involves substantial independent work. You will spend time reading, preparing for classes, carrying out research and working on assessments outside your scheduled teaching sessions.

We use a range of assessment methods designed to develop different skills.  These can include essays, examinations, presentations and research-based assignments. You will also receive opportunities for formative work, allowing you to practise skills and receive feedback before completing assessed work.

In the final year of the BA Sociology degree, you will undertake a dissertation on a topic of your choice, with individual guidance from an academic supervisor.

Class sizes vary according to the module and type of teaching.

Lectures normally bring together larger groups of students, while seminars and workshops take place in smaller groups so that students can discuss ideas, work with evidence and develop research and analytical skills.

As you progress through the degree and choose more specialised optional modules, classes will often become smaller and more focused. Thus, in year 1, lectures usually have about 100 students, but in Year 2 and Year 3, due to optional modules, this falls to an average of 30 students. Seminar sessions in all three years will usually have between 10 and 20 students. 

A Sociology degree develops much more than knowledge of a particular subject.  You will learn how to identify assumptions, analyse evidence, compare explanations and communicate complex ideas clearly. You will also acquire practical research skills and experience of working with both qualitative and quantitative information.  These skills are useful in a wide variety of careers in which understanding people, organisations, evidence and social change matters.

Sociology graduates enter a very wide range of careers.

The degree develops skills that are valuable wherever organisations need people who can research problems, analyse evidence, understand different groups and perspectives, and communicate clearly. Possible areas include government and the civil service, charities and NGOs, social research, policy, journalism and communications, education, marketing, human resources and the wider public and private sectors.

It also provides strong preparation for postgraduate study and professional training.

The standard offer is a guide to the level of academic performance that we would expect. However, we do take into account personal statements and references and tailor offers to individual students if we think you have the potential to do well on our degree course.

There is no problem applying to us for deferred entry. In your personal statement we would like to find out a bit more about your plans for the gap year. While some students may be using the year for travel or volunteer work overseas, we understand that other students will use the year to earn money to fund their studies.