Social Sciences Foundation

 Mass Media and Globalisation

Gain an understanding of both the debate between ownership and control of the media and media effects. Perform an in-depth analysis of the issues around the various competing interest groups who have differing levels of control over the output of the media. This includes the owner, the editors and journalists and the audience. Analyse the power of the content of the media over the behaviour of the audience and the various sociological theories related to this issue. Perform a detailed analysis of the three main processes of globalisation: political, economic and cultural. You'll evaluate the benefits and potentially negative impacts of globalisation in both developing and western societies.

• Introduction to the Mass Media
• Ownership and Control of the Media
• Media Effects
• Representations of Ethnicity and Gender in the Media
• Introduction to Globalisation
• Economic Globalisation
• Cultural Globalisation and Political Globalisation

Psychological Approaches and Biological Rhythms

Approaches to Psychology, Research Methods and Ethics: Gain an understanding of different approaches to psychology, its research methods and ethics; study theoretical ways of approaching psychology, as well as practical ways of conducting investigations in psychology; learn to plan, produce and evaluate research methods; design your own research study and how to conduct them; learn ways to collect, analyse and present data. Look at the British Code of Ethics in psychology when doing research. Learning includes various ethical considerations in the types of research.

Approaches to Psychology

• Four Main Approaches to Psychology - Key Features and Assumptions
• Cognitive
• Psychodynamic
• Behavioural
• Biological

Research Methods

• How Psychological Research is Conducted
• Experimental Methods
• Groups
• Operationalisation of Variables
• Hypotheses
• Designs
• Non-Experimental Methods
• Sampling and Sampling Methods
• Participant and Situational Variables
• Ethics
• Validity
• Descriptive Statistics

Ethics

• Ethical Issues
• Ways of Dealing with Ethical Issues
• Ethics in Real Life Investigations

Research Methods and Families and Households

This will introduce you to the various research techniques used by sociologists. You'll be able to check and analyse both quantitative and qualitative data. You'll assess their utility for studying a sociological issues and different groups of people. This gives you an in-depth understanding of the role of the family in contemporary society. You'll study the changes to the nature of family life. These include childhood, home roles and the size and structure of families and households. You'll study recent developments in society and the impact on the family.

Research Methods

• Introduction to Research Methods
• Quantitative and Qualitative data
• Factors Affecting the Researcher’s Choice of Method
• Evaluating Sociological Methods
• Social Surveys, Interviews, Participant Observation, Secondary Data

Families and Households

• The Role of the Family in Society
• The Family and Social Change
• Factors Contributing to Family
• Divorce and Marital Breakdown

Academic English Skills with IELTS

Academic English Skills provides thorough training in the language and related academic skills which will enable international students to best achieve their academic potential at University. Key skills include:

• Reading effectively and critically
• Making notes in lectures and presentations
• Delivering presentations and participating in academic seminars
• Researching, planning and writing academic essays
• Students are also supported in developing the accuracy and range in written and spoken language required to express themselves effectively and appropriately, with clarity and confidence.