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Sociology (SOCI)

Sociology (SOCI)
Faculty of Arts and Science

Sociology 1000

Introduction to Sociology
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Human social behaviour, the processes and patterns of group interaction and group influence on individual behaviour. Areas of sociological concern such as social organization, social stratification, ethnic relations and family interaction introduce some of the major concepts, theories and procedures of sociological inquiry.

Sociology 2010

Canadian Society
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
The changing structure of Canadian Society and its current social features.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 1000 or a previous course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 2020

Social Problems
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Processes by which social conditions come to be defined as problems, the consequences of these social problems for society and the nature of social reaction.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 1000 or a previous course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 2100

Research Methodology
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Introduction to the philosophy of social scientific investigation; concepts and methods of qualitative and quantitative research.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 1000 or a previous course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 2130

Social Statistics
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-2-0
The nature of social data, probability, sampling, co-variation, basic descriptive and inferential techniques, computer analysis.
Prerequisite(s):
 Sociology 1000
Recommended Background:
 One of Pure Mathematics 30, Mathematics 30, Mathematics 0500, or [Applied Mathematics 30 and at least 75 percent standing in Athabasca University’s Mathematics 101]
Substantially Similar:
 Psychology 2030

Sociology 2200

Classical Sociological Theory
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Sociological theory of the 19th and early 20th Century with special reference to Marx, Weber and Durkheim.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 1000 or a previous course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 2210

Contemporary Sociological Theory
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Sociological theory from the early 20th Century to the present.
Prerequisite(s):
 Sociology 2200

Sociology 2410

Sociology of Gender
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Social construction of gender. Comparative and historical perspectives on family and occupational roles. Position of women in contemporary Canadian society.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 1000 or a previous course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 2440

Sociology of Work
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Examines trends, structures, and social relations related to work and labour. Topics may include industrialization, restructuring, globalization, unemployment, technological change, occupations, and worker-management relations.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 1000 or a previous course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 2500

Deviance, Conformity and Social Control
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Normative processes by which individuals and groups become labelled as deviant, and the consequences of such social definitions; social factors that influence conformity and individual variation.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 1000 or a previous course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 2600

The Individual and Society
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Symbolic interaction and role theories are used to understand the interrelationships between the individual and society; the central importance of symbols in the development of human forms of social relations.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 1000 or a previous course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 2700/Health Sciences 2700

Health and Society
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Sociological perspectives on health and wellness within Canadian and global contexts. The relationship between social organization and health; social constructions and meanings of health; social epidemiology; health beliefs and behaviour; and the experience of illness.
Prerequisite(s):
 Sociology 1000
Equivalent:
 Sociology 2850 (Sociology of Health and Wellness) (prior to 2004/2005)

Sociology 3050

Minority Group Relations
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Majority-minority relationships relative to prejudice, discrimination, assimilation, power and prestige; social structural patterns within minority groups.
Prerequisite(s):
 One 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology
Recommended Background:
 Sociology 2010;
Sociology 2020

Sociology 3110

Survey Research
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Interviews and questionnaires in data collection, quantitative data analysis, statistical analysis using computer techniques.
Prerequisite(s):
 Sociology 2100

Sociology 3120

Qualitative Research Methods
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Techniques in qualitative data collection and analysis; interviews, participant observation and unobtrusive methods.

Sociology 3310

Sociology of Families
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Functions of the family as a social institution. Developmental stages in family life. The changing nature of family and its relationships with society. Changing role relationship involved in family interactions, marital stability, adjustment and breakdown.
Prerequisite(s):
 One 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 3330

Sociology of Religion
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Religion as a cultural and social phenomenon; religious experience and its institutional expression.
Prerequisite(s):
 One 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology or Religious Studies

Sociology 3340

Medical Sociology
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Socio-cultural factors related to health and illness; models of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in such areas as mental illness and suicide.
Prerequisite(s):
 One 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology
Recommended Background:
 Sociology 2010;
Sociology 2020

Sociology 3360

Political Sociology
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Sociological and institutional underpinnings of politics. Theories of political action. Intersection of politics with factors such as class, gender, and ethnicity. Social movements, nationalism, the role of states versus markets, and the power of international corporations.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 2010, Sociology 2200, or one 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Political Science
Equivalent:
 Sociology 3850 (Political Sociology) (prior to 2004/2005)

Sociology 3390

Sociology of Mass Communication
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
The social impact of mass communications (newspapers, radio, film, television, etc.) as well as the social forces and institutions that affect the mass communications media; social organizations of the mass communications media.
Prerequisite(s):
 One 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology

Sociology 3450

Women and Work
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
The gendered organization of paid and unpaid work and its consequences for women; the evolution of gender segregation and stratification in the workplace; and the impact of factors such as government policy, technological change, and globalization on women’s work.
Equivalent:
 Sociology 3850 (Sociology of Women and Work) (prior to 2004/2005)

Sociology 3460

Body and Society
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
The social aspects of bodily expression and repression. Selected theories of the body in socio-historical and cultural contexts. Social institutions and relations concerning reproductive, aging, ill, disabled, gendered, young, and marginalized bodies.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of Sociology 2210 or Sociology 2410
Equivalent:
 Sociology 3850 (Sociology of the Body) (prior to 2004/2005)

Sociology 3510

Crime and Delinquency
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Criminal behaviour, its incidence and distribution in Canada, law enforcement and judicial processes.
Prerequisite(s):
 Sociology 2500

Sociology 3740

Digital Culture and Society
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Social impact and significance of web-based communication media. Critical examination of the implications of cyberspace for sociological concepts and constructs such as culture, community, identity, agency, democracy and education.
Prerequisite(s):
 One of a 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology or [Sociology 1000 and third-year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours)]
Equivalent:
 Sociology 3850 (Sociology of Cyberspace) (prior to 2002/2003)

Sociology 3770

The Sociology of Youth
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
An examination of structures and processes impacting youth in society. Topics may include socialization, the maturation process, youth culture, and adolescence in historical and comparative perspective.
Prerequisite(s):
 One 2000-level course (3.0 credit hours) in Sociology
Equivalent:
 Sociology 3850 (The Sociology of Youth) (prior to 2002/2003)

Sociology 3850

Topics in Sociology
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Topics to be announced.
Prerequisite(s):
 Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Sociology 4200

Seminar in Classical Sociological Theory
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Examination and critique of selected works in classical sociological theory.
Prerequisite(s):
 Sociology 2200

Sociology 4210

Seminar in Contemporary Sociological Theory
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Examination and critique of selected works in contemporary sociological theory.
Prerequisite(s):
 Sociology 2210

Sociology 4850

Topics Seminar in Sociology
Credit hours: 3.0
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Topics to be announced.
Prerequisite(s):
 Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Sociology 4995

Undergraduate Thesis
Credit hours: 6.0
Contact hours per week: Variable
This is a research-oriented course in which students will conduct fieldwork, text or library-based research, submit a report in the form of an undergraduate thesis which will be made publicly available, and report orally on the work. In consultation with their Thesis Supervisor, students will define a research problem and formulate a research plan.
Prerequisite(s):
 Fourth-year standing (a minimum of 90.0 credit hours);
A cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher;
A minimum GPA of 3.50 in the last 20 courses (60.0 credit hours);
Sociology 2100;
Sociology 2130;
Sociology 2200;
Sociology 2210;
One of Sociology 3110 or Sociology 3120;
Three additional courses (9.0 credit hours) in Sociology
Note:
 Contact hours will vary. Students should be aware that this course involves regular contact with the Thesis Supervisor as well as considerable independent work.
See Part 7 - Arts and Science, Sections 5.c. (p. 98), 6.c. (p. 100), and 7.c. (p. 101).