Course

Introduction to Sociology

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Sociology
Course Code
SOCI 1125
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15 Weeks
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Online
Hybrid
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
This course provides a general introduction to the subject matter of sociology and to the various theoretical and methodological approaches sociologists adopt in studying it. In particular, it aims to develop students’ ability to employ a sociological imagination – that is, to look at features of everyday life in the way that a sociologist does. The course investigates the relations of the individual to society, and the processes by which groups and institutions change in response to a dynamic social structure. The areas of stability, change, inequality and power are examined within the context of current social, political and economic conditions. The course attempts to stimulate thought and discussion on contemporary social issues.
Course Content
  1. Introduction: The Foundations of Sociology
  • The historical development of sociology
  • Sociology as a science
  • Developing a sociological imagination
  • Theoretical Perspectives
  • Sociological research methods
    • Developing sociological questions
    • Understanding the theory-data relationship
    • Quantitative and qualitative research methods
    • Interpreting sociological data
  • Culture and social interaction
  • Socialization
    • Stages and Processes of Socialization
    • Agents of socialization: family, peers, school, media
  • Elements of social structure
  • Social Stratification and Inequality
    • Class and caste
    • Social mobility
    • Classes in Canada
    • Poverty in Canada
    • Global poverty
  • Sex, gender, and sexualities
  • Race and ethnicity
  • Social Institutions (select one or more from the following)
    • Families; education; politics; religion; health and medicine; environment and sustainability; crime and criminal justice
    • Theoretical perspectives on institutions
    • Social organization of institutions
  • Modernization and Global Social Change
    • Sociological approaches to modernization
    • Collective behaviour and social movements
    • Global social change
    • Global inequality

     

    Learning Activities

    The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:  lectures, seminar presentations, audio-visual materials, small group discussions and workshops, research projects and term papers.

    Means of Assessment

    Evaluation will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific criteria during the first week of classes. 

    An example of a possible evaluation scheme would be:

    Midterm

     30%

    Essay/Written Assignment

     25%

    Essay/Outline

      5%

    Final Exam

     30%

    Participation

     10%

    Total

    100%

    Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans.

    Learning Outcomes

    At the conclusion of the course, the successful student will be able to:

    1. Define the basic concepts of sociology and communicate these effectively.
    2. Identify several key historical processes and figures in the development of the discipline and discuss their contributions to the field.
    3. Demonstrate the ability to apply a sociological imagination to the analysis of features of everyday life.
    4. Be able to identify characteristics of the sociological perspective and to distinguish this from that of other scientific perspectives.
    5. Identify and compare the dominant sociological theoretical perspectives.
    6. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the relationship between theory and research in sociology.
    7. Demonstrate the ability to interpret sociological data presented in the form of simple tables and graphs.
    8. Identify the primary stages and agents of socialization.
    9. Describe the characteristics of stratification systems, with particular emphasis on social class.
    10. Discuss the ways in which social inequality is produced through social factors, especially class, age, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity.
    11. Identify some of the primary changes in social and economic organization which have taken place historically, with specific emphasis as well on recent years.
    12. Describe the development of social institutions in Canadian society, with particular emphasis on at least one of the following: the family, education, crime and criminal justice, religion, politics, environment and sustainability, and/or health and medicine.
    13. Identify some of the key features of contemporary demographic change, and describe how they differ from traditional demographic characteristics.
    14. Discuss the characteristics of the processes of social change and modernization in Canada and on a global basis.

     

    Textbook Materials

     Textbooks will be updated periodically. An example of a typcial textbook that may be used for this course is:

    • Schaefer, R. and J. Grekul (most recent edition). Sociology: A Brief Introduction. Toronto: McGraw-Hill.

     

    Requisites

    Prerequisites

    No prerequisite courses.

    Corequisites

    No corequisite courses.

    Equivalencies

    No equivalent courses.

    Course Guidelines

    Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

    (Current)

    Course Transfers

    These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

    Institution Transfer Details for SOCI 1125
    Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX SOCI 100 (3)
    Athabasca University (AU) AU SOCI 287 (3)
    Camosun College (CAMO) CAMO SOC 100 (3)
    Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU SOC 100 (3)
    Coast Mountain College (CMTN) CMTN SOCI 101 (3)
    College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR SOCI 101 (3)
    Coquitlam College (COQU) COQU SOCI 101 (3)
    Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU SOCI 1125 (3)
    Langara College (LANG) LANG SOCI 1120 (3)
    North Island College (NIC) NIC SOC 110 (3)
    Okanagan College (OC) OC SOCI 111 (3)
    Simon Fraser University (SFU) DOUG SOCI 1125 (3) & DOUG SOCI 1155 (3) = SFU SA 150 (4) & SFU SA 1XX (2)
    Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU SA 150 (3)
    Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU SOCI 1110 (3)
    University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO SOCI 111 (3)
    University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) DOUG SOCI 1125 (3) & DOUG SOCI 2235 (3) = UBCO SOCI 111 (3) & UBCO SOCI 121 (3)
    University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) DOUG SOCI 1125 (3) & DOUG SOCI 2235 (3) = UBCV SOCI 100 (6)
    University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV SOCI 1st (3)
    University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) DOUG SOCI 1125 (3) & DOUG SOCI 2235 (3) = UBCV SOCI 100 (6)
    University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC SOSC 1XX (3)
    University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV SOC 101 (3)
    University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC SOCI 100A (1.5)
    Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC SOCI 1100 (3)
    Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU SOCI 111 (3)

    Course Offerings

    Summer 2023

    CRN
    Days
    Dates
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor
    Status
    CRN
    22024
    Tue
    Start Date
    -
    End Date
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor Last Name
    Christensen
    Instructor First Name
    Benjamin
    Course Status
    Waitlist
    Max
    Enrolled
    Remaining
    Waitlist
    Max Seats Count
    35
    Actual Seats Count
    35
    0
    Actual Wait Count
    2
    Days
    Building
    Room
    Time
    Tue
    Building
    New Westminster - South Bldg.
    Room
    S0660
    Start Time
    9:30
    -
    End Time
    12:20
    CRN
    Days
    Dates
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor
    Status
    CRN
    22095
    Wed
    Start Date
    -
    End Date
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor Last Name
    Christensen
    Instructor First Name
    Benjamin
    Course Status
    Waitlist
    Max
    Enrolled
    Remaining
    Waitlist
    Max Seats Count
    35
    Actual Seats Count
    35
    0
    Actual Wait Count
    5
    Days
    Building
    Room
    Time
    Wed
    Building
    New Westminster - South Bldg.
    Room
    S0660
    Start Time
    9:30
    -
    End Time
    12:20
    CRN
    Days
    Dates
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor
    Status
    CRN
    23786
    Fri
    Start Date
    -
    End Date
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor Last Name
    Tseng
    Instructor First Name
    Wei-Ting
    Course Status
    Waitlist
    Max
    Enrolled
    Remaining
    Waitlist
    Max Seats Count
    35
    Actual Seats Count
    35
    0
    Actual Wait Count
    2
    Days
    Building
    Room
    Time
    Fri
    Building
    Coquitlam - Bldg. D
    Room
    D2024
    Start Time
    9:30
    -
    End Time
    12:20
    CRN
    Days
    Dates
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor
    Status
    CRN
    23879
    Fri
    Start Date
    -
    End Date
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor Last Name
    Tseng
    Instructor First Name
    Wei-Ting
    Course Status
    Waitlist
    Max
    Enrolled
    Remaining
    Waitlist
    Max Seats Count
    35
    Actual Seats Count
    35
    0
    Actual Wait Count
    2
    Days
    Building
    Room
    Time
    Fri
    Building
    Coquitlam - Bldg. D
    Room
    D2024
    Start Time
    12:30
    -
    End Time
    15:20
    CRN
    Days
    Dates
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor
    Status
    CRN
    23936
    Start Date
    -
    End Date
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor Last Name
    Geleta
    Instructor First Name
    Esayas
    Course Status
    Waitlist
    Max
    Enrolled
    Remaining
    Waitlist
    Max Seats Count
    35
    Actual Seats Count
    34
    1
    Actual Wait Count
    40
    Days
    Building
    Room
    Time
    Building
    None
    Room
    None
    -
    CRN
    Days
    Dates
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor
    Status
    CRN
    23938
    Start Date
    -
    End Date
    Start Date
    End Date
    Instructor Last Name
    Geleta
    Instructor First Name
    Esayas
    Course Status
    Waitlist
    Max
    Enrolled
    Remaining
    Waitlist
    Max Seats Count
    35
    Actual Seats Count
    35
    0
    Actual Wait Count
    44
    Days
    Building
    Room
    Time
    Building
    None
    Room
    None
    -