SOC134

Introduction to Sociology

Unit Information and Learning Guide

Semester 1, 2020

This information should be read in conjunction with the online learning materials that can be
found on the unit website.

UNIT COORDINATOR
Dr Barbara Evers
Email: [email protected]

© Published by Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, 2020.

This publication is copyright. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act no part of it may in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other means be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or transmitted without the prior
written permission of the publisher.

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Contents

Information about the unit 4

Contact details 6
How to study this unit 7
Resources for the unit 8
Lecture schedule 9
Assessment 10
Tips on how to create a poster with examples 14
Tips on writing a ‘Sociology essay’ 17
Learning guide (including weekly required readings) 18
Guide to presentation of assignments, including referencing 22
Assessment Criteria/Marking Grid: Poster 24
Marking Grid: Essay 25
Assessment Criteria/Marking Grid: Oral Presentation 26

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Information about the unit

Welcome to SOC134: Introduction to Sociology

Unit description

Welcome to SOC134: Introduction to Sociology. This unit is designed to spark your interest
in the social. Students often say sociology really opens their eyes to how the world works,
and I hope you will find this approach to understanding the world stimulating and exciting,
and start to apply some of this knowledge to everyday life. It is a useful complement to
degrees in Psychology, History, Politics, Religious Studies, Asian Studies, Security Studies,
Media Studies, English, Philosophy, Economics, Sustainability, Legal Studies, and of course
is vital for Sociology and Community Development degrees. I look forward to an exciting
semester with you.

The unit asks you to consider the following questions:

 To what extent are we products of our social environments?

 How do gender, class, ethnicity, ideology etc., influence how we think and act?
 What is power, how is it used, by whom, and for what ends?
 What methods can we use to study society?

Together we will examine (Australian) society, using research and insights from sociological
theories on the nature of social institutions, power and inequality, and consider the possibility
of social change. The unit is designed to challenge your assumptions and provide you with
tools to help you think about the relationship between the individual and society in a global
age.

Please read this Unit Guide carefully. It contains important information about assessments
and weekly lecture and reading timetables. You will also need to consult some of the extra
materials and links on the Unit Website.

Aims of the unit

The broad aim of this unit is to (1) introduce you to the richness of the discipline of sociology
and (2) help you develop an appreciation of the range of theoretical perspectives within
sociology in relation to current debates.

Learning outcomes for the unit

On successful completion of the unit you should be able to demonstrate a broad

understanding of the way sociologists approach the study of the relationships between
individuals and their social contexts. This unit will also:

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 1. stimulate your imagination and encourage you to think about the relationships
between individuals, societies and the globe;
2. introduce you to some tools of sociological analysis;
3. introduce you to some of the thinkers who have influenced the discipline;
4. encourage you to recognise the relevance of sociology to everyday questions about
contemporary issues in the social world.

You will also have gained practical experience that is intended to:

5. enhance your research, reading and library skills as means to stimulate and
support your sociological understanding;
6. enhance your communication skills, especially your oral and writing skills;
7. enhance your capacity to be a self-directed learner and thinker and to study and
work independently;
8. demonstrate the importance of tolerance and mutual respect in team discussions
(online and in tutorials)

Graduate attributes developed in the unit

This unit will contribute to the development of the following Graduate Attributes:

 Communication
 Critical and creative thinking
 Social interaction
 Independent and lifelong learning
 Ethics
 Social justice
 Global perspective

What you need to know

Generic information that students need to know is available on the What you need to know
web page.

The information includes:

 Links to the University’s Assessment Policy

 The Student Code of Conduct
 Links to information about:
Examinations; Non-discriminatory language; Student appeals; Student complaints;
Conscientious objection; Rights and responsibilities of students and staff
 Determination of grades from components/marks
 information for equity students

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Contact details
Unit Coordinator and Tutor
Dr Barbara Evers
[email protected]

Student consultation time: Tuesdays 13:00 – 14:00. Please email me to set up a time to
meet or phone me (08 9360 7356) during these hours.

Room: Education & Humanities building 450.3.053.

Administrative contact details

Please phone (9360 6973) in the College of Arts, Business, Law and Social Sciences

Student Advisors

Student Advisors (SAs) are located throughout the University, so this means you have your
very own contact person who can assist with your questions and issues directly, and who
can refer you to the appropriate person or service you need to help you get through those
first bumps in the road of your learning journey.

School of Arts Student Adviser office:

Education and Humanities Building Room 450.3.040

Telephone: 9360 2025

[email protected]

[email protected]

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How to study this unit
Contact time

This unit has a one hour lecture each week and one hour tutorial each week. Attendance at
lectures is expected, but not compulsory as they can also be viewed/ listened to online.

Time commitment

You are expected to spend a total of 10 hours per week on this unit, including the non-
teaching weeks. This should be spent viewing lectures, engaging with the reading materials,
preparing for and participating in your weekly tutorials, and preparing for and completing
each of the assessment tasks.

Attendance requirements
Attendance/ participation requirements:

 Participation in the tutorial forms part of the overall assessment for the unit
 Participation may be in class, or online for external students
 Your tutorial participation mark is based on your level of preparation, evidence of
reading, participation in tutorial discussions, and for internal students engagement
with the presentations
 The last tutorial (of week 14) will take place in the lecture of that week (Tuesday 26 th
of May – ECL3 9:30-10:30) – there will be no other tutorials besides that one in week
14.
 You must contribute to at least 9 of the tutorials to meet the requirements of
this unit.

Small group and interactive teaching and learning activities

Small group and/or interactive learning and teaching are part of the regular activities of this
unit. External students will be required to participate in online tutorials and group
discussions.

Unit changes in response to student feedback

Murdoch units are continually improved as a result of the feedback from previous Murdoch
students, so your feedback is very important. You will be able to see when the online survey
is available in your student portal (during the last four weeks of the semester), and you will
also be notified by email of its availability.

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Resources for this unit
To undertake study in this unit, you will need:

Required Text

Van Krieken, Robert, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Greg Martin, and Karl
Maton. 2017. Sociology. 6th ed. Melbourne: Pearson Australia.

http://www.pearson.com.au/9781486023479

This is an Australian text that applies sociological theory to social phenomena such as
power, health, education, work, family, sexuality, gender, crime, religion, ethnicity and
migration, and media.

You can buy this book from the Murdoch bookshop but it is also possible to buy it online, in
book form or as an e-text, and there is also a version from the publisher that allows you to
borrow it for the semester (all at a different price point).

Older versions of this textbook are allowed, but it is your responsibility to make sure that you
are aware of what is in the latest edition.

If you are doing a major or minor in sociology, you may also wish to purchase the following
text which is useful for most sociology units. However, it is not a required text.

Ritzer, George, and Jeffrey Stepnisky. 2014. Sociological Theory. 9th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill.

This text is a comprehensive summary of significant sociology theory over the last 200 years.
It provides an insight into why sociology developed as a discipline and where it is currently
headed.

Wider Reading

Supplementary readings will be provided on the Unit Website. You may also wish to
purchase a dictionary of sociology for quick reference.

Sociology in Today’s World (Furze et al. 2008) is a useful supplement to van Krieken et al.
with a number of relevant contemporary Australian examples. It is available in hard copy and
as an electronic resource in the library.

An easy introduction to topical aspects of sociology and the place of the individual in society
is to be found in Sociology: Place, Time and Division (Beilharz and Hogan 2006), also
available in the library.

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Lecture schedule

Week Module Topic Required Assessment

reading from due
van Krieken
1. What is Sociology? The rise of celebrity Chapter 1
25/2 society

2. Globalisation The individual, society Chapter 2

and the world
3/3

3. Popular Culture and the How connected are Chapter 3 ASSIGNMENT

Media we? 1: POSTER
10/3
(Friday 13th
March
11.55pm)

4. Family life What is the role of the Chapter 4 Oral

family?
17/3 Presentations
start in class
5. BREAK
24/3
6. Leisure, sport, tourism Why are sport and Chapter 6
and work leisure so central to
31/3
contemporary society?
How are issues of race
and gender played out
in Australian sport?
7. Class and inequality Is Australia a classless Chapter 7 (and
society? Chapter 8)
7/4
8. BREAK
14/4
9. Gender and sexuality Do we ‘perform’ or ‘do’ Chapter 9
21/4 gender?

10. Health What makes you sick? Chapter 10

28/4
11. Religion Is religion relevant in Chapter 11
late modernity?
5/5
12. Power How does power work? Chapter 12
12/5
13. Crime and deviance Is there a connection Chapter 13
between crime,
19/5
deviance and social
control?
14. Summing up What has this unit been ASSIGNMENT
about, and where to 2: ESSAY
26/5
from here? (Friday 29th
May 11.55pm)

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Assessment
Assessment for this unit is conducted in accordance with the Assessment Policy.

Schedule of assessment items

You will be assessed on the basis of:

Assessment item Aligned Learning Outcomes Value Due

Assignment 1: Poster 1, 4, 5, 6 20% Week 3
(Friday 13th
March
11.55pm)
Assignment 2: Essay 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 35% Week 14
(Friday 29th
May
11.55pm)
Assignment 3: Oral 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 30% Commence
Presentation in week 4

Tutorial/discussion group 1, 2, 4, 8 15% Ongoing

participation

Things to Note:

Extensions will only be granted for medical reasons or in the case of extreme difficulty – not
poor time management. Any student needing an extension on any of their assessment tasks
should contact their tutor. You MUST do this as soon as you find yourself experiencing
difficulty. Deferred assessment for the final completion of the unit is a more formal process
and needs to be negotiated through the University channels. Please check the Murdoch
University Handbook for details.

Students will lose 5% for each day late, unless an extension has been granted.

It is essential that you keep a copy of your assignments in case a paper gets lost or stolen.
See the Unit Web Page for information about use of appropriate language and plagiarism.
Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in a penalty.

The required citation style for this unit is Chicago. The library provides a citation guide
for Chicago referencing style that can be found at
http://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/Chicago/home

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Assessment details

Assignment 1 - Poster (20%) - due week 3 (Friday 13th March, 11.55pm)

You will be required to create a conference poster where you visualise what you think
Sociology is about. The idea is that an outsider would get a general idea about the discipline
of Sociology.
Please refer to the first chapter ‘What is Sociology’ of your required text (van Krieken et al.
2017), and in addition you can use other sociology texts as well. Additional information will
be given by your tutor. Please refer to pages 14-16 in this Unit Guide for more input on how
to create an effective poster, and some examples.

Please note: while you are free to create your poster using any software program, you must
save your final version as a PDF, Word document or single PowerPoint slide.

Assessment criteria: clarity of presentation, quality of research, engaging visuals,

referencing

Assignment 2 – Essay (35%) – due week 14 (Friday 29th May, 11.55pm)

Please write an essay of 1500 words on one of the following topics, drawing on relevant
sociological theory and/or research. Your essay should involve careful scholarship, with
proper referencing, based on wide reading. The key Van Krieken et al. text needs to be
one of your references. Do not use ‘off the top of the head’ formulations in place of material
gathered from your reading.

1. To what extent is it accurate to say that individuals are products of their social
circumstances?
2. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of globalisation?
3. What can you say about the function that sport/leisure has in our society?
4. How has our idea of ‘the family’ changed over time?
5. How does inequality impact upon health and illness?
6. Discuss the importance of gender OR class to our understandings of either:
a) family; b) work; or c) education.
7. Discuss the relationship between social order, social control and deviance. You
may wish to demonstrate this by focusing your discussion on one particular form of
behaviour labelled deviant, for example, crime, suicide, alcoholism, wearing the
hijab, obesity or prostitution.
8. What are the positive and negative social influences of social media? Is social
media merely about ego and posturing, or are there other social benefits?

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Assessment criteria: A marking grid/guideline is available on LMS as well as at the end of
this Unit Guide. Marks will be awarded for both the essay (structure and content) and for
correct referencing within the essay. This includes correct paragraphing, sentence structure,
grammar and spelling. You will also be marked on the validity and quality of your sources
and evidence of your engagement with these sources. The required referencing style is
Chicago, including in-text referencing.

Tips on how to write a sociology essay are on page 16 of this unit guide.

Please submit your essay as a Word document (any other format will not be accepted).

Assignment 3 – Oral Presentation (30%) – commence in week 4 (internal)

INTERNAL STUDENTS will give a 5 minute Oral Presentation with PowerPoint slides on the
topic of that week (you can focus on any aspect of that week’s topic). Your presentation has
to be on a different subject than your chosen essay question. PowerPoint files should be no
more than 12 slides and less than 10mb in size to be attached to the assignment tool in LMS.
Please submit your PowerPoint slides to LMS during the week of your Oral Presentation. In
week 1 and 2 your tutor will timetable the Oral Presentations.

EXTERNAL STUDENTS will submit an Oral Presentation as a PowerPoint presentation and

audio-visual file (or combined) via YouTube equivalent to a maximum of a 5 minute
presentation. Your presentation can be submitted at any time during the semester up to the
end of week 12. Your presentation has to be on a different subject than your chosen essay
question.
PowerPoint files should be no more than 12 slides and less than 10mb in size to be attached
to the assignment tool in LMS (it is your responsibility to upload a viewable format).
Instructions on how to create, upload and submit your audio-visual file will be available on
LMS in the Assessments section.

Assessment criteria: A marking grid/guideline is available on LMS as well as at the end of

this Unit Guide. Marks will be awarded for clarity of topic, quality of research, effectiveness
of delivery, engagement with materials.

Tutorial Engagement and Participation (15%) - ongoing

Tutorials are an important part of the university learning process. It is in tutorials that you get
a chance to discuss the material you encounter throughout the unit, and to check whether
you understand it. To make tutorial participation (which includes listening as well as
speaking) as effective as possible, it is essential that you undertake each week’s readings
and come to class prepared to share your ideas with, and learn from, others.

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In this unit the requirement for participation in tutorials is contributing to at least 9 of the
tutorials, where contribution includes:

• Evidence of completion of the reading materials

• Asking appropriate questions during the tutorial
• Asking questions and responding to questions during Oral Presentations
• Raising, expanding on or explaining points
• Participating in group exercises/discussions
• Respecting others at all times

Failure to contribute to at least 9 of the tutorials without evidence of extenuating

circumstances for your absence can mean failing the tutorial component of the unit.

External students: Online Discussion - (15%)

Every week there will be a discussion question for you to engage with. You will be assessed
on your contribution, where contribution includes:

• Evidence of completion of the reading materials

• Participation in the online discussion
• Asking questions and responding to questions where appropriate
• Raising, expanding on or explaining points
• Respecting others at all times

You must contribute to at least 9 of the online tutorial discussions to meet the requirements
of this unit.

Determination of the final grade

See the current Assessment Policy regarding grades.

http://www.murdoch.edu.au/index/policies/index?Filter=Assessment

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Tips for a Better Poster:
[https://hssgecc.wordpress.com/resources-2/tips-tricks-wisdom-and-a-few-links-for-creating-
a-poster]

Not sure how to make a poster? Here is some advice:

 Be colourful. Black, white and grey will not get you noticed. Colour is key. It will
attract someone’s attention from afar. It will get people to stop and view your poster.
Colour can convey a message.

 Use images. No one wants to look at a wall of text. Keep the text as effective as
possible, and be prepared to elaborate orally on the pictures or diagrams your poster
includes.

 Keep it simple. Avoid mixing different fonts or using too many different colour
schemes—clean and simple is always best.

 Seek advice. Try one of the many online resources, such as Colin Purrington’s
Designing Conference Posters site (see http://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design)

 You’re already an expert. If you’ve ever created a slide show with PowerPoint,
Keynote, or OpenOffice’s Impress, then you already know everything you need to
know to make a poster.

GUIDELINES for poster sessions from the European Sociological Association:

http://esa12thconference.eu/poster-session

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Examples of posters

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Writing an essay for Sociology
You need to begin at least two weeks (if not more; time management is very important)
before the due date to give yourself time to go through the processes and reflection required.
It is a good strategy to pick your essay topic as soon as possible, so that you can already
start by thinking about your topic and collecting relevant materials.

 Write the topic/question on the top of a page, and start physically and mentally to
engage with it.

 Underline the key words and think about what each means - even if they are common
everyday words.

 Try rewriting the question in your own words, keeping strictly to the meaning of the
question.

 Make sure that you include the key text for this unit (Van Krieken et al.). This is just
one of the sources you will use. The minimum amount of references is 6, it is
important that these are valid academic sources (peer reviewed). Of course you can
add other sources as well, just make sure that there is a good balance between
websources (.com/.org etc.) and peer reviewed sources. The quality of your sources
is an important aspect of your essay writing process.

 Refer back to your lecture notes, prescribed weekly reading, and suggested
reading on the topic area as a starting point. Make notes or concept maps of what
ideas or issues you could explore. These will expand or change as you develop your
ideas and read more specifically.

 Go back to your introductory sociology text and read the sections on your
particular topic (gender, class etc.). Using references cited in these texts and the
library catalogues, search out books and journal articles dealing specifically with
your topic.

 Always take notes on your reading, including short pithy statements that you may cite
in the essay. Note also your thoughts, criticisms, ideas, and questions in these notes
as they occur to you.

 Reflect on how you will argue in the discussion, and use a concept map or a linear
plan to work out the points or ideas you will include.

 Expect to write at least three drafts.

 WAIT (a week is good, but take at least a day) before doing your final edit. Read the
essay out loud just as it is written. See if you're convinced.

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Learning Guide
Information on how to study each topic, including introductory information, learning
activities/tasks, assignment criteria, resources required for the topic are also available on the
SOC134 LMS unit site.

I will put up current articles, news items, links to documentaries, etc. on the LMS site
throughout the semester.

Week 1: The rise of celebrity society

What is Society? What is Sociology?

This lecture introduces you to the unit and its structure. It also uses a number of examples to
explore how sociology approaches understanding the social world. We will look at major
social shifts that have followed the focus on celebrity in contemporary society. We will cover
key sociological concepts and debates, and I will introduce you to some of the broad
theoretical perspectives that help us understand what society is. You will be encouraged to
think about what you take for granted about the society in which you live, and how these
perceptions result from your own position in society. We will learn how to exercise our
sociological imaginations, and look at a current social movement to illustrate how we can do
that. At the end of this week you should have some idea of what the discipline of sociology
is, what it can do and how it differs from other social science disciplines. You will also begin
to see how understanding something sociologically differs from our common-sense
understandings of the world.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 1 ‘What is Sociology?’

Week 2: The individual, society and the world

The lecture focuses on some of the recent work in sociology that looks at processes of
globalisation including social, technological, economic and political globalisation. It also
looks at responses to globalisation including social movements that are themselves global in
scale, and the rise of global values. We ask whether globalisation is being resisted or
accepted, and whether it represents a homogenising of culture or allows for cultural
difference across societies. We also look at ways in which globalisation shapes the
individual and affects our daily lives. The lecture asks you to consider whether you think of
yourself as a globalised individual.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 2 ‘Globalisation’.

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Week 3: How connected are we?

This week we will look at how media and particularly mass media became such a big part of
our everyday lives. In the lecture we will look at sociological concepts that help us
understand media and communications, including Habermas' notion of the public sphere and
Durkheim's social facts. We will look at different forms of mediated interaction and
communication and the important role of social media as a form of social interaction in
contemporary society. We will consider the question of the operation of power and
knowledge within the contemporary public sphere given the ubiquity of mediated
communication and the rise of powerful social media platforms in recent decades, pointing to
the rise of fake news as an example.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 3 ‘The Media, Communications and the Network
Society’

Week 4: What is the role of the family?

This week we look more closely at the notion of the family. To do this we need to engage
with a series of questions such as: What is a family? What is the purpose of the family in
contemporary society? How does the family interact with other sections of society? To help
us begin to develop answers to these questions we look at major sociological perspectives
on the family that help us investigate more closely some of the assumptions that lie behind
the notion of the family, such as gender and the division of labour.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 4 ‘Family Life’

Week 5: Study Break (make sure you are up to date with your
reading)

Week 6: Why are sport and leisure so central to contemporary

society?

This lecture examines the reasons why the study of leisure and sport is central to sociology
and to contemporary social life. We explore the diverse sociological perspectives on sport
and the ability to think critically about these. We also look at ways in which race and gender
are played out in [Australian] sport. We are also introduced to the work of Bourdieu in
relation to leisure and his idea of ‘cultural capital’.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 6 ‘Leisure, Sport, Tourism and Work’

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Week 7: Is Australia a classless society?

This week we will consider questions around inequality and social division in contemporary
societies. We look at key sociological approaches to social stratification (Marx, Weber and
Bourdieu), and discuss a recent major sociological study of class based on the work of
Bourdieu. During the past few decades the nature of inequality has become more complex.
Old economic class structures, for example, are less relevant. Our identities have also
become less fixed, more fluid. We also consider fluidity in relation to ethnicity, particularly in
multicultural Australia. We consider the question: is ethnicity, like class, something that we
perform? Given this complexity, fragmentation, fluidity, we consider the question: who are
we? To which groups do we belong?

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 7 ‘Class and Inequality’ and

Chapter 8 ‘Identities: Indigenous, National, Ethnic and Racial’

Week 8: Do we ‘perform’ or ‘do’ gender?

According to van Krieken and his co-authors, "[t]he examination of gender and sexuality has
moved from being a marginal concern to one of the most dynamic fields of sociological
theorising and research" (2017, 255). This week we will look at sociological approaches to
gender, including the symbolic interactionist idea of 'performing' gender and the
ethnomethodological idea of 'doing' gender. We will be introduced to Foucault's ideas in
relation to sexuality, and will consider the implications of rejecting categories or embracing
categories of sexuality. We will look at some non-cisnormative terms that are employed in
contemporary society in relation to gender, sex and sexuality.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 9 ‘Gender and Sexuality’

Week 9: Study Break

Week 10: What makes you sick?

Modern Western medicine is largely dominated by a biomedical approach to health, illness

and disease. This means these ‘conditions’ are seen largely in biological terms, with little
attention paid to other factors. By exploring a range of theoretical approaches, this lecture
explores how concepts such as health, illness and disease are determined by a multitude of
factors such as power relations, material conditions, the division of labour, gender, the
structure of society and other social factors.
Following this week’s work, rather than considering healthy, ill or diseased states as simply
natural or biological conditions, you will be able to see them as inherently social phenomena.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 10 ‘Health’

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Week 11: Is religion relevant in late modernity?

This week we focus on the relevance of religion in late modernity, and look to classical
sociological approaches to help us answer this question. Marx, Durkheim and Weber’s
perspectives on religion and ideology (shared belief systems) will be covered. We will also
look at contemporary forms of religious expression including fundamentalism and new
religions that celebrate individualism, recalling Durkheim’s work on the cult of the individual in
modern society. Please note that we are interested in developing a sociological
understanding of religion and ideology, rather than investigating the merits of these belief
systems in and of themselves.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 11 ‘Religion’

Week 12: Power to, or power over? How does power work?

No doubt the mere mention of the word power conjures up particular (nasty) images of
governments having power over their citizens, of people having power over one another and
of some people having more power than others. Traditionally, power is seen as a thing, as
something we can possess and wield over others. Today, though, we will see that it is far
more complex than that. We will look at the more orthodox ways of viewing power, gradually
working our way through some of the alternative perspectives available until we arrive at a
post-structuralist perspective that reveals just how messy this notion of power really is.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 12 ‘Power and the State’

Week 13: Is there a connection between crime, deviance and social

control?

This week we look at how certain acts or behaviours come to be seen as deviant, and some
become crimes, and the considerable overlap between the two. To help us do this we focus
on crime and deviance from both consensus and conflict perspectives. We look at the ways
in which both crime and deviance reflect social values, and serve particular functions in
society.

Reading: Van Krieken et al.: Chapter 13 ‘Crime and Deviance’

Week 14: Review

This last week we will revisit our initial thoughts on what Sociology encompasses. Just what
has this unit been about, and where to from here?

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Guide to the presentation of assignments

1. Submitting your assignments

All assignments must include the number/name of the assignment, the essay question, the
unit for which it is submitted, the student's name and the name of the tutor.

It is your responsibility to keep a copy of your assignments.

You have to submit your essay through the LMS site and only in a Word format. We cannot
accept any other format.

2. Using quotations

Use direct quotations thoughtfully. Putting the idea in your own words, with appropriate
acknowledgement, reduces unnecessary wordiness, shows that you understand the meaning
of the original text, and usually leads to a smoother writing style. Remember to cite the
original source of the idea (and to include page numbers in your citations and paraphrases),
even if it is in your own words. Be careful that your writing does not include unacknowledged
direct quotations or you may be guilty of plagiarism. When quoting directly, quote accurately.

Short quotations should be indicated by inverted commas, and included in your text.
Quotations exceeding two or three lines should be indented. Quotation marks are not used
for indented passages.

If you omit a phrase or some lines from a direct quotation, include an ellipsis (exactly three
full stops) to mark the omission. If you insert any explanatory word or comment in a direct
quotation, use square brackets to enclose the material you have added.

3. Referencing

It is very important to indicate the sources you have used in your written work. There are
established systems that you should use to indicate to the reader the precise source of a
quotation, significant idea, or other material used in your work.

In this unit the required citation system is Chicago:

(http://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/Chicago).

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In-text referencing

(This material is adapted from Murdoch University Library, How to Cite References, Murdoch
University Library Publications, February 1996, pp. 7-8.)
http://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/content.php?pid=156934&sid=1329003

In Chicago style you should insert the author’s surname, the year and page number/s that
the relevant work was published in brackets within the text. The work you have used is then
more fully identified in a complete reference list at the end of your assignment.

You do not need to use the author’s initials unless you are using two authors with the same
surname. If you include the author’s surname within the text, then you need only specify the
year of publication and the page numbers in brackets. Unless you are using a book or article
as a whole, use page numbers, inserted after the date of publication, to indicate the precise
location of the information within the work you are citing.

Examples:

1. The theory was first propounded in 1971 (Elias 1971), but since then has been
refuted; Goudsblom (1983) is among those most energetic in their opposition.
Because you are referring to an entire text, page numbers are not necessary. This
is the only exception to the general rule that you need to add page numbers to
your in-text referencing!

2. This opinion is supported by Wickham and Goodie (2001, 26).

3. One view was that younger women dislike this kind of work “because it is too difficult”
(Smith 1978, 35-36).

List of References

A list of references (in Chicago style) must be attached to the end of your essay. It is a list of
all the sources you have cited in your essay.

In the reference list, the surname of the author or editor comes first and is followed by the
initials or first name (the author’s names are given as they appear on the publication you
have used). All authors are arranged alphabetically. Give full bibliographical information,
including place and date of publication. For journal articles and chapters in edited books,
give the page numbers of the whole article or chapter.
http://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/Chicago/entries

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 Assignment 1: Marking grid - POSTER 2020*

Student name:
Grade:
poor struggled okay good great

Producing a poster that makes clear what the discipline of Sociology involves

Producing a poster that is visually engaging

Using relevant/quality research in the poster (including the key text – you do not have
to use more than 2 sources but are welcome to use more if needed)
Using in-text references correctly

Using a correctly formatted reference list (if it is difficult to place it in the poster
itself, you can add it on another page)

* Note that the final mark is not merely an average of the ratings on this table.

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 Assignment 2: Marking grid SOC134 – Presentation 2020*

Student name: Grade:

poor struggled okay good great

Producing a structure that was logical, with an introduction telling the audience what
would happen, a main body and a conclusion
Creating an introduction that clearly stated the purpose of the presentation

Keeping to the point and making sure that what they said was relevant to the topic

Constructing a presentation that consisted of a piece of reasoning comprising a logical

argument with a sound conclusion supported by valid and relevant evidence
Conveying the impression of having prepared by reading widely around the particular
subject and referring to appropriate theories and concepts
Highlighting the key points in their presentation as they worked through it and
reemphasised those points in their conclusion
Appearing self-confident and assured; at ease with the material they were using and
demonstrating they understood the presentation content
Presented engaging slides with eye-catching and informative elements such as images,
tables, figures, and animations
Slide notes are clear, concise, grammatically correct, without spelling mistakes, and
neatly formatted
Correctly formatted reference list provided on final slide

* Note that the final mark is not merely an average of the ratings on this table.

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Writing fails to address the question Writing fully addresses the question

Writing rambles and lacks logical continuity Logically developed argument

Writing poorly structured, lacking introduction, cohesive Writing well-structured through introduction, body and
paragraphing and/or conclusion conclusion
Much material is not relevant Material relevant to topic

Superficial treatment of topic Topic dealt with in depth

Inadequate supporting evidence or examples Argument well supported by evidence and examples

Written expression and presentation

Clumsily written, verbose, repetitive Fluent and succinct piece of writing

Much incorrect punctuation and spelling; many ungrammatical Correct punctuation and spelling; grammatically correct
sentences sentences
No attention to paragraphing Correct use of paragraphs

Untidy and difficult to read Legible, well set out

Over/under length Reasonable length

Sources/Referencing

Inadequate number of sources/no evidence of use of sources Effective use of sources

Inadequate number and acknowledgement of sources Adequate acknowledgement of sources

Incorrect or inconsistent in-text referencing style Correct and consistent in-text referencing style

Errors and inconsistencies in reference list Reference list correctly presented

Marking grid: essay SOC134 2020*

Quality of writing and evidence poor excellent

Note that the final mark is not merely an average of the ratings on this table.

Student name: Grade:

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