Module review for SC1101E: Introduction to Sociology

Taken AY2014/2015 Semester 1


SC1101E: Introduction to Sociology

When I first started out, I really didn’t enjoy Soci at all, and I didn’t keep up with my readings or the textbook. I honestly had no idea what was going on, and it showed in my assignment, which I didn’t do too well in (I did it in one night). Afterwards, for the midterm test, I decided to work harder by reading the textbook and the readings, and my results jumped by two whole grades – a testament to the power of the textbook, and actually trying to understand what you’re studying. In fact, the more I studied Soci, the more I had a grudging appreciation for it, because it really does make sense when applied to the world around us, and it wasn’t as nonsensical and ‘fluffy’ as I initially thought it was.

Most of the time I don’t go for Soci lectures, but I do the webcast afterwards. I feel that the webcast really helps much more than going for lecture, because I can take things slow and pause to scribble down something the lecturer said. Of course, if you’re someone who doesn’t like to listen to a video recording for 1 h and 35 min straight, or you’re easily distracted, then chances are you will be better off in the lecture, and you can still use the webcast to catch on specific slides of content you missed out.

The readings (to me) are absolutely useless, at the least the ones for the first few weeks, although I read them to try and catch up for the midterms. After that, however, I just didn’t bother to keep up with them because they were quite random and the amount of time I took to extract anything useful was disproportionate to the time I spent reading the whole thing. Seniors tell me that you do need to read the Soci readings in order to get your examples, but I feel that the textbook has sufficient examples (in fact, maybe a tad too many) for you already. If you’re really passionate about Soci, or you enjoy doing the readings (although I really didn’t like them at all), then you’ll probably look at the readings, but if you’re not that interested, then I think it’s alright to skip out on it.

Assessment: There’s normally an assignment (15%), a midterm (25%) and finals (50%), as well as class participation (10%). I really regretted not speaking up in class more, because it appears that the teachers actually do know who you are, roughly, and they do keep watch to see who’s been talking (sense) and who’s been keeping quiet. For the assignment, you should probably go with the basic theories (Marx, Durkheim, Weber and Merton) – I tried Parks’ Ecological Theory based on one day’s worth of rushing and it didn’t end up well. For the midterms and finals, they have a tendency of combining two or even three topics, so it is best not to spot too much. Usually, power features heavily in both exams, and deviance always comes out for finals (whether or not the question is doable, however, depends on your year). I find that culture is my pet topic, but I still studied everything for the finals except Aging/Elderly, and did Class and Stratification as quickly as I could. Whether it’s easy to score in, I think once you get the hang of the Soci style, it’s much easier to churn out a decent essay. Basically, come up with some broad points that answer the question, GP-style, but then follow up with these thesis statements by using theories to analyse the phenomenon that you have raised, so that you’ll avoid sinking into the trap of writing a wholly GP-ish essay.

Workload: Generally, it’s not actually that bad. You definitely have to be very sure about what’s going on during the lectures, particularly the theories, and you really should follow the textbook. But I won’t say that Soci is a particularly heavy mod, especially not in comparison to others. As for whether I’d take Soci again, I probably would say yes, but I’ll also have started earlier and made sure that I knew what was going on in the first few lectures so that I wouldn’t have been so lost for the essay assignment.

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Module review for SC1101E: Making Sense of Society

Taken AY2014/2015 Semester 1


SC1101E: Making Sense of Society

This module consists of many topics— being sociology, it naturally covers all aspects of society and is very broad and general, which is why some people consider it GP, sociologically explained. There were two lecturers; one of them made better slides and explained issues in greater depth, while the other was more relaxed, focused less on the details and gave more room for you to explore and form your own interpretations. Both of them were clear, so no complains there.

The module might start off dry and boring, given that the first 2 lectures were devoted to introducing various sociologists and understanding the art of conducting sociological experiments and collecting reliable data. The content became more interesting thereafter, with topics such as gender, family, culture, deviance, to name a few.

The amount of content might seem heavy at first, but it’s not. The major sociological theories/perspectives used to explain each topic were generally the same, and should not be a problem as long as you understand them. Although empirical examples are a must when writing essays, I would say that there’s not much point memorizing them. What’s most important is that you can apply those theories to your personal observations, and perhaps invent your own examples.

The textbook (A Sociological Compass, by Brym and Lie) is rather informative, but contains of mostly American case studies (which I don’t know, might not be so applicable). However, the readings provided aren’t very useful. They seemed to cover the not-so-important (I could be wrong) stuff and I didn’t read most of them. That being said, the readings are still enjoyable, especially if you have a taste for intriguing and sometimes quirky/weird happenings around the world, like body rituals.

Assessment:
10%: tutorial attendance and participation (5% attendance, 5% participation)
15%: short assignment
25%: midterms
50%: finals

The tutorials consist of small group discussions, and questions are given out beforehand, so be sure to read up and attempt them if you want to contribute.
The short assignment required us to apply the ‘sociological imagination’ to a phenomenon we observe in our society. There was a word limit of 500 words, and shouldn’t be too difficult, as long as you can apply the basic theories.

For the midterms, we had to write 1 essay in an hour, and for the finals, 2 essays in 2 hours. There should be sufficient time for you to write a decent essay— just make sure to provide clear and concise explanations, and link your arguments to the theories, and most importantly, the question itself.

Workload:
The workload for this module is moderate. The short assignment shouldn’t take too much time, and all you have to do is study for the midterms and finals.

(Intended major: Political Science)

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Module review for SC2202: Sociology of Work

Taken AY2014/2015 Semester 2


SC2202: Sociology of Work

I took this mod for the sake of my timetable, and wasn’t expecting anything much. So while I wasn’t exactly disappointed, this mod was so-so at best. The content wasn’t particularly interesting or eye opening. Main themes include capitalist production, gender and labour migration – plenty of dry general knowledge stuff/ stuff I encountered in other mods, with a few sociological theories inserted here and there.

That being said, lectures were well-structured and everything was straightforward and easy to understand (no difficult theories or concepts whatsoever). The lecturer did a fine job of dissolving the main ideas in readings. The amount of information disseminated was also comparatively little, so it made studying for finals easier.

Assessment
10%: tutorial participation
20%: 2 IVLE blog posts
20%: 2000 word memo
50%: finals

The blog component was easy enough – just produce two 250 word IVLE forum posts on any topic of your choice, and reply to posts made by others. I think the downside is that it’s hard to score well, unless you can think of a novel topic vastly different from the rest.

However, the lecturer’s requirements for the 2000 word memo were vague, and left me feeling very confused. Rather than a specific essay question, we were given a few broad topics to choose from (e.g. labour migration), and were expected to “organize the readings around a central argument”. I wasn’t sure what the lecturer was looking for – “organizing” seemed to imply summarizing and explaining, like what you would do in an exam. Furthermore, there didn’t seem to be much room for me to challenge or add on to the arguments presented in readings (since they were more factual, and not really contestable). I guess we were supposed to come up with an entirely original argument, but I ended up producing a part-rehash of the readings, and didn’t do so great. I wish the lecturer had given out more explicit requirements. It would have been better if there were actually real questions, so we can construct an argument for/ against something, instead of creating a random one based on a super-broad theme.

The finals consisted of three sections: quotation interpretations, short answer questions and an essay. Questions were direct and relatively simple; just regurgitate the material. Quite a few people even left the exam hall early – I guess that meant it really was easy (and maybe not so healthy for the bell curve?). Based on the lecturer’s answer guide, however, I had the impression that her marking style was quite rigid. Be careful to include only the relevant content, and cover all possible aspects of the questions.

Workload
This module is light- moderate. The content and assignments were perfectly manageable, and the teaching style was not bad, even though I didn’t feel like I learned loads of new or interesting stuff. My main gripe is with the marking style/method of assessment, especially the memo.


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