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THE STUDY OF SOCIETY

UNIVERSITY of GUYANA

Faculty of Social Sciences

Department of Sociology
Turkeyen Campus
Greater Georgetown

Course Outline

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Number: SOC: 1100 Title of the Course: The Study of Society

Semester: One Credits: Three (3)

Academic Year: 2020-2021 Lecture Room: UG Online MOODLE
PLATFORM
Course Organization: This course will be delivered via online instruction, discussion
assessments with supporting power point presentations, other interactive media and assigned
reading materials/instructions.

INSTRUCTOR’S INFORMATION

Name: Andrew Hicks Rank: Lecturer

E-mail Address: andrew_hicks2001@yahoo.com
Office Room: FoSS
Office Hours Online :Tuesdays’, 13:00 - 15:00 hrs.
Contact No: 592-651-7506
Preferred Method of Contact: E-mail: andrew.hicks@uog.edu.gy

TUTORIAL TUTORS:
Mrs. ELAINE CONSTANTINE, Mr. DESMOND LEITCH, Ms. REBECCA PERSAUD
Mr. MOHAN SAMWARU
Introduction

This is a foundational course in sociology. It is a level one undergraduate course,

designed to introduce students to the basic concepts, theories, and methods used in the study of
society. It provides students with an opportunity to critically examine the social world and
evaluate their experiences within this reality. It is envisaged that students will be able to derive a
clear understanding of the dynamic patterns of human behaviour and the institutional
organization of society, at large. Specifically, students will be exposed to content on the
sociological method, the sociological perspectives and the sociological imagination; while
exploring, how these analyses go beyond their personal experiences and views of the social
world, to engender an understanding of social order and social change within society.
This course is part of the social sciences and it provides students with the foundational
knowledge and basic analytical skills, required for advanced studies in sociology, social work,
psychology, criminology, management, education, the humanities, development theory,
population studies, and other related disciplines.
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It provides students with a face-to-face encounter of a variety of contemporary issues and

challenges in the real world by raising several interesting, and sometimes sensitive debates for
discussion.
At times, some members of the learning community may have personal, and sometimes
discomforting experiences or biases with some of the content raised during lectures and tutorials
but any manifestation of such, is quite normal. Therefore, by highlighting this possibility, all
students are encouraged to approach this course with an open mind so that they can develop the
traits of an objective and reflective, critical thinker within a diverse learning environment,
characterized of mutual respect and tolerance for diversity.

GOALS/AIMS
The aims of this course are to provide students with the foundation knowledge of
sociology as a science of human behaviuor; and improve their understanding of the dynamics of
social behaviour and, the diverse organization of people and the social systems they create so
that each student may better appreciate why people and the social structures within which they
live, manifest and mitigates the different ways that they do.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course students should be able to apply theory to improve their
understanding of society. Specifically, students should be able to:
1. Think sociologically and apply the sociological perspective, theories, and methods to
analyze societal issues.
2. Comprehend the character and purpose of key sociological concepts, inherent in their
own culture, as well as other cultures with which they come in contact.
3. Recognize and understand the specific roles of various institutions and groups, as
well as the social context that impact human behaviour and culture.
4. Translate their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the various institutional
sets into appropriate adaptive behaviors, that ultimately, resolve into an enriched and
engaging livelihood.

COURSE CONTENTS

The contents of this course cover sociology as a science, the social context and elements
of human behaviour and culture, social inequalities, social conflicts, the institutional structure of
society, and the manifestations of change in contemporary societies.

TEACHING STRATEGIES
This course will be delivered using the following strategies: lectures and tutorials, large
and small discussion sessions, group projects, problem solving, role-playing, peer interaction,
case study discussion, debates and other relevant simulation activities.

RESOURCES
Students are responsible for completing all reading assignments. The readings for this
course are:

Essential/Required Journal and Textbooks

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
Or
American Sociological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the American Sociological
Association. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association
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Anderson, M. and Taylor H. F. (2009). Sociology the essentials (6th ed.). United
States of America: Thomson and Wadsworth.
Ritzer, George (2015), Introduction to Sociology (3rd Edition.). USA, Sage Publications Inc.
Ballantine, Jeanne H., Roberts, Keith A. (2015), Korgen, Kathleen O., Our Social World,
Introduction to Sociology (5th Edition), USA, Sage Publications Inc.
Haralambos, M., Holborn, M., & Heald, R. (2004). Sociology themes and perspectives (6th ed.).
London: HarperCollins Publishers Limited.

Recommended Textbooks

Henslin, J. M. (2010). Sociology a down-to-earth approach (10th ed.). United

States of America: Allyn & Bacon.
Macionis, J & Plummer, K. (2008). Sociology a global introduction (4th ed.).
Italy: Pearson Education Limited.
Thio, A. (2009). Sociology a brief introduction (7th ed.). United States of
America: Pearson Education, Inc.
Additional reading materials may be provided as the course progress.

ASSIGNMENT: TUTORIAL PAPER

Description of Assignment
This assignment is to be submitted on the due date. Late submissions will be penalized
appropriately, and include the deduction of one mark for each day or part thereof. Students who
fail to undertake their oral presentations on the scheduled date, without the prior approval of the
tutor/lecturer, or without excusable and reasonable evidence, will be subjected to a penalty of
two marks being deducted from the final mark of the subsequent presentation. The final paper for
this assignment is to be submitted to the tutorial tutor, with whom you are registered for tutorial
attendance according to the general advisory provided by the lecturer. No student is allowed to
register with more than one tutor; and s/he must adhere to the specific schedule of weekly
tutorials (for which s/he is registered), unless otherwise approved by the lecturer or tutor.
Additional information and guidance will be provided by the respective Tutors.

This assignment must confirm to the following guidelines; The student or group of tutorial
students (not exceeding five members) must:
• Select a topic from the list of tutorial topics; be guided by the schedule of presentations
for the semester
• Perform an oral presentation on the selected topic during the designated tutorial session,
and submit a printed final paper, not later than seven calendar days following the oral
presentation. The printed submission must bear evidence of all relevant correction/s
based on the attending peer comments/evaluations and the tutor/lecturer’s observations.
• The final paper must be an EDPM output on white letter size paper, six (6) to eight (8)
pages (1500-2000 words) in length, excluding reference page(s) and the cover page
(bearing the name of the university, the title and date of the presentation; and the full
name/s and USI number/s of the presenter/s). This paper must also, be compliant with
the following instructions;
• 1.5 letter spacing, Times New Roman, 12 font.
• One-inch margin on either side.
• Pages must be numbered top or bottom right-hand corner preceded by a running head,
which must be on the left-hand side in all caps.
• Paragraphed
• Ensure that all printed tutorial paper have an introduction, a main section (with
appropriate heading(s) and subheadings if necessary), a conclusion, and the
corresponding list of references. All references cited in text must appear in the reference
list. References must appear in alphabetical order.
• All presentations and submissions, are expected to provide evidence the presenter/s
engagement in research; and demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and
application of relevant sociological theory, concepts and other academic materials used in
its production.
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• All written submissions must confirm to the APA/ASA, 2010 guidelines or higher.
• Only the following three websites are allowed in your citations; .org, .gov, and or .edu.
Use of any other website(s) must be done with the permission of the instructor/lecturer.

Additional guidelines may be provided during classroom sessions.

Grading of oral presentation and final essay:

Each presentation and accompanying essay will be assessed out of a combined total of
twenty (20) points (equivalent to 10% of the overall course marks). Please see below;
• Content (knowledge of subject area, including theoretical foundations) – 4 points.
• Originality and creativity (ability to demonstrate theoretical application) – 4 points.
• Analysis and synthesis (ability to show contrasting perspectives and present an
argument) – 6 points
• Presentation (oral/written engagement of audience, use of authority/evidence of
research, language and grammar) – 4 points.
• Bibliography/References (evidence of correct citation/annotation) – 2 points
• Overall, the oral and written components of this assignment, account for 10 points
each.

Course Content

• Week 1
• ► Introduction to course
• ► What is sociology?
• ► The sociological perspective and social imagination
• ► Classical and contemporary theories in sociology; a basic overview
• Week 2
• ► Sociology as science: the sociological method
• ► Basic methods and approaches to measurement, in social research

• Week 3
• ► Culture and the social structure:
• ► Elements and types of culture
• ► Culture and social theory
• ► Cross-cultural variations in Guyana and the Caribbean

• Week 4
• ► Social institutions and society: definition, theory and organization
• ► The Family and society
• ► Religion and society

• Week 5
• ► Social institutions (cont’d)
• ► Education and society
• ► The economic and political organization of society
• ► Power and elitism

• Week 6
• ► Socialization and the development self: concepts and definition
• ► Theoretical approaches to the study of socialization; functionalist,
interactionist and conflict theories
• ► Identity conflicts and social disorganization

• Week 7
• ► Understanding sex, gender and society
• ► Gender roles, identities and controversies
• ► The public vs the private domain: gender and violence
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• Week 8
• ► MID-SEMESTER ASSESSMENT

• Week 9
• ► Groups and organizations
• ► Formal and informal groups
• ► Group taxonomy (primary, secondary and reference groups)
• ► The dynamics of group behaviour

• Week 10
• ► People and society: race and ethnicity
• ► Social cleavages, ethnic minorities and society
• ► Pluralism and ethnocentrism; an examination of the contemporary Guyanese
society

• Week 11
• ► Industrialism and the sociology of work
• ► Social stratification and structural inequality
• ► Systems of stratification: the open society and the closed society
• ► Social change and society

• Week 12
• ► Social organization and the bureaucracy
• ► Max Weber theory of the bureaucracy
• ► Social legitimacy and bureaucratic conflict

• Week 13
• ► Deviance, crime and social control
• ► Collective action and social movements
• Week 14
• ►REVISION

• Week 15
• ► FINAL EXAMINATION

Assessment Grading Scheme

Mid-semester Test 30% A = 75 - 100

Tutorial Presentation & Paper 10% B = 65 - 74
Total Coursework 40% C = 55 - 64
Final Examination 60% D = 45 - 54
Total 100% F = Below 45