BA (Hons) Psychology and Sociology

Personality and Individual Differences is a multifaceted module that covers the history, cornerstone theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches of personality research. The structure of human personality is examined using a trait-based approach, which is applied in a variety of sub-topics leading to a comprehensive understanding of how personality and individual differences influence thought and behaviour in different settings. The contributions of biological and environmental factors in the development of personality and individual differences, as well as associated controversies are also explored. You will consolidate your learning by utilising psychometric methods to design and run a quantitative study in an area of personality research of your choosing. Accordingly, this module helps to prepare you for your third-year dissertation module in providing experience of the research process, from design, gaining ethical approval, data collection and analysis to reporting and discussing findings.

This module will develop your knowledge and understanding of social psychology, one of the core areas of psychology introduced in Researching Psychology I. Social Psychology will engage you with the breadth and diversity of social psychology as a discipline from social constructionism and group processes through to social cognition, collective behaviour, and social interactions. The purpose is to help you gain a detailed understanding of how people think, feel and act in relation to others and the world around them. Key topics will engage you with the indexical nature of the discipline locating historical and contemporary research and theory within its broader socio-economic and cultural context.

This module will build and extend on core methods and statistical techniques acquired at level 4 in Researching Psychology I. You will develop knowledge and skills integral to advanced psychological research designs, including the use of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. Specifically, this module covers three research methods strands including experimental, psychometric, and qualitative methods. Statistical underpinnings and application of techniques relevant to experimental (e.g., One-way ANOVA, Factorial ANOVA) and psychometric-based research (e.g., Regression, Multiple Regression) are covered and directly extend methods learnt in Researching Psychology I. Additionally, you will develop applied methods skills by utilising specialist software such as SPSS for the analysis of quantitative data. A variety of qualitative approaches, methods and analyses will also be considered such as interviewing skills, diaries and photo elicitation, discourse analysis, polytextual thematic analysis and descriptive phenomenology.

This module taps into a growing movement within the social sciences towards refiguring sociology as a specifically public sociology. The aims of the movement are to refresh the discipline’s sociological imagination, engaging audiences beyond the academy and contributing in a meaningful way to the debates that are sparked by, and the solutions that are proposed in response to, pressing societal issues and challenges. It is in that context that this module has been designed to help you understand some of the highest profile intellectual debates on social issues in the contemporary public sphere in relation to three key sociological categories: race, religion and sexuality. Religion has not always had a positive encounter with either sexuality or racial minorities and these encounters continue to be an area of significant importance for sociologists. This module will offer you opportunities to encounter issues of race, racism, poverty, sexuality, gender, powerlessness and liberation. It will explore the implications these global issues have for sociology in order to provide insights into how academics have been able to influence policy debates and learn how to apply the social science understandings developed in lectures and workshops to the critical analysis of public debates. You will also have an opportunity to develop the ability to explain some of the ways in which your studies have wider relevance to society. You will also be supported to recognise that some, at least, of the arguments encountered are not as clear cut as they might seem, and that identifying the best evidence to justify political and/or policy arguments can be quite challenging. There will also be the opportunity for you to develop some valuable transferable skills, in particular learning how to prepare and present a sustained complex argument and how to defend an argument in response to questions and opposing points of view.

This module will focus on connections between psychology and sociology in examining joy; sociology and religion in determining how beliefs and values shift in relation to happiness; and the role of happiness in developing sociology in new directions of study and contribution to society. What makes you happy? Why does it make you happy? How long does it make you happy for? How does your behaviour / attitudes / beliefs / values change when you are happy? How do sociologists measure happiness? Happiness was a topic in early sociology and interest in the subject briefly revived in the 1970s in the context of social indicators research. Today it is a vital strand of emerging research in the context of austerity, climate crisis and in response to the covid-19 pandemic. Happiness can be measured at two levels, the individual (micro level) and the collective one (macro level). It can be done through standard sociological methods – quantitative and qualitative, but often the results are then used to consider more standard themes of sociology – poverty, crime, consumerism, alienation and anomie. Understanding how we can measure or quantify happiness means better understanding the importance of definitions and criteria. For example, happiness could be described as three distinct elements chosen for their own sakes: positive emotion, engagement, and meaning. These three elements would be more measurable and definitive than happiness. This module will enable students to refine and hone your research skills by asking you to explore something so intangible and personal as happiness. This will be vital for success in your third year capstone project.

Sociology of Education is a sub-discipline of Sociology that takes a critical and analytical look at the design, development, experience and outcomes of the education system. Over the course of the module we will take the UK education system as a case study for helping us to understand the ways in which political, social, moral and economic agendas have shaped (and continue to shape) schools and universities. Paying close attention to key policy-making, we will ask critical questions about the role and purpose of education in relation to wider society. This module offers a critical perspective on the ways in which education is organised and delivered, the values and power relationships that underpin it, and the outcomes it produces. You will be introduced to a variety of sociology of education theories, enabling you to critically evaluate education systems, processes and practices. You will explore a range of current issues and debates, e.g. those relating to the (re)production of inequalities, the sociology of knowledge, and school-to-work transitions. Finally, you will investigate alternative approaches to education.

The module provides an opportunity for you to build upon and apply the key intellectual, transferable and practical skills gained at Levels 4 and 5 of the programme in order to design an appropriate research project for your Psychology dissertation. Throughout the module a series of lectures, seminars and workshops will further develop your research design skills in experimental, quasi-experimental, surveys and/or qualitative research methods. In addition, you will develop a critical understanding of ethical challenges associated with carrying out psychological research leading to the development of a research project that adheres to the British Psychological Society’s Code of Ethics and Conduct (2018) and BGU's Research Ethics Committee standards.

This module develops knowledge and understanding of the BPS core domain of Cognitive Psychology which you will have been introduced to at level 4 in Researching Psychology I. Throughout this module, there will be discussion and critical evaluation of a range of different cognitive psychological constructs (e.g., processing resources, attention, memory, language) as a toolkit for theorising mental functioning. You will critically engage with core constructs in cognitive psychology, associated methodologies and key perspectives (for example cognitive neuropsychology, neuroscience, fundamentals of the experimental method). Throughout the module, the use of computerised experimental paradigms will be explored, which underpin theories. For example, you will have the opportunity to engage with classical experimental paradigms or paradigms with a cognitive basis such learning, memory and problem-solving computerised tasks, within workshop sessions. The module aims to showcase the breadth of approaches to understand cognitive processes whilst critically engaging you with relevant associated methodologies. You will have opportunities to engage in a variety of cognitive experiments to facilitate your understanding of key topics and experimental approaches.

This module focuses upon the BPS Core domain Biopsychology, covering aspects of the biological basis of behaviours, emotions and mental health. The module aims to provide an overview of how the sub-disciplines within biopsychology (e.g., neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience) approach psychological research questions. The module will support development of an in-depth understanding of neural conductance and major brain structures/systems to particular neurotransmitter systems as explanations of how the brain affects behaviour. The module aims to develop your understanding of the anatomical and physiological processes that underpin psychological experience whilst exploring the methodologies used to examine contemporary issues in biopsychology. To achieve these aims, the module will enable you to critically examine how contemporary biopsychological models are developed and evaluate these as explanations for behaviour using key examples (e.g., emotions, memory and learning, drugs and addiction and mental health disorders). This module promotes the application of multiple perspectives (including knowledge gained of other domains in previous years) to critique biopsychological theory and to critically appraise information, using evidenced based reasoning.

The Dissertation requires you to work independently in producing a substantial piece of research that demonstrates mastery of academic knowledge and research skills commensurate with Level 6. You will draw on your existing repertoire of experience garnered over the course of the degree in the development of a report akin to a journal style article, representative of the discipline. You will initiate your research protocol as defined in the first semester module, Research Project Design, and subsequently manage participant recruitment, data collection, and data analysis in accordance with the BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct. The Dissertation should aspire to produce published articles in the discipline (corresponding to the subject topic). The design of the study should successfully address the research question such that data collection and data analysis provide meaningful insight into the identified gap in the literature. You are expected to thoroughly scrutinise the findings in relation to relevant theoretical and methodological issues and in doing so, produce a meaningful contribution to the literature.

This module introduces you to the study of surveillance society. The module draws on key sociological concepts such as crime, inequality, social class, gender, race, ethnicity, the body, and globalisation, to offer an analysis of the ways in which forms of surveillance pervade individuals' everyday lives and how they are utilised by agents of control. This includes: a) various forms of contemporary surveillance in a globalised world; b) the relationship between surveillance and power; c) the ways in which surveillance functions as a form of 'social sorting', and d) the ways in which public and private organisations 'watch' certain populations and/or individuals. The module will build on introductory modules at Level 4 and intermediary modules at Level 5.

By looking at the relationship between justice, social control and punishment, this module seeks to critically explore how societies respond to crime. We will explore key concepts in criminology and criminal justice, and attempt to understand what punishment is, whether it works, how and what consequences it has for those who experience it and for societies. We will focus on key debates in prison sociology and criminology to question whether imprisonment—both as a crime control measure and as an institution of rehabilitation—is successful.

We will investigate why the prison is a core feature of liberal democracies, while it is also a source of much controversy and debate. Particularly as prison populations in England and elsewhere remain unprecedentedly high, and as technologies of punishment, regulation and control extend well beyond the physical boundaries of prison walls and are consistently affecting those who are most disadvantaged in society, the stakes of these debates are high.

This module will introduce you to the sociological analysis of prisons and penal policy within a contemporary setting. It will examine and focus on:

•An investigation of the growing 'crisis' of imprisonment.

•An examination of the reasons for the growth of imprisonment in both the UK and America.

•The imprisonment of women and ethnic minority groups/ asylum seekers and refugees / economic migrants.

•An exploration of issues impacting on the experience of imprisonment.

•A consideration on the future of imprisonment.

Each of these areas will be examined through key case studies in the field of prison sociology, enabling you to conceptually, theoretically and empirically challenge, question or critique the rationales of punishment in a global context and explores its consequences. The module aims to situate the modern prison within its broader social, historical, political and economic context, and it will end by exploring key social and legal issues arising from punishment by evaluating challenges of prison reform; and exploring alternatives to incarceration but also alternative perspectives in ‘doing justice’.

The Sociology of Personal Life is a theory created by Carol Smart recognising how families and households have moved away from traditional ideology and headed towards a more intimate and meaningful experience for individuals. We will use it to explore questions around what sociology can tell us about our personal lives, our families, pets and our intimate relationships. The Sociology of Personal life is strongly influenced by Interactionist ideas and contrasts with structural theories. Sociologists from this perspective believe that to understand families, we must start from the point of view of the individuals concerned and the meanings they give to their relationships. Consequently, this module prioritises the bonds between people, the importance of memory and cultural heritage, the significance of emotions (both positive and negative), how family secrets work and change over time, and the underestimated importance of things such as shared possessions or homes in the maintenance and memory of relationships. By focusing on people’s meanings, the sociology of the personal life focuses our attention on a range of other personal or intimate relationships that are important to people, even though they may not be conventionally defined as family. These include all kinds of relationships that individuals see as significant and give them a sense of identity, relatedness and belonging, such as pets, close friends, fictive kin, ‘chosen families’ for LGBT couples and individuals, and relationships with dead people who live on in memories and rituals.