Critical Reading and Writing for Sociologists (L4071)

15 credits, Level 4

Autumn teaching

This module is designed to give you a chance to practice and reflect on approaches to reading and writing that will give you an excellent foundation for the rest of your sociology degree. You will read a selection of contemporary sociological work engaging in critical discussion with your peers. You will focus in depth on one book in particular as well as a range of other texts, reflecting on writing styles, constructions of arguments, and evaluations of evidence. You will also encounter examples of critical thinking techniques.

For the written assessment for this module you will produce an essay based on the book. You will be given feedback on an outline of this review before making your final submission. In addition, you will be guided through a number of participatory tasks and activities which will contribute to the overall assessment for the module.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.