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
Online
Hybrid
Lecture
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
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
  2. Sociological research methods
    • Developing sociological questions
    • Understanding the theory-data relationship
    • Quantitative and qualitative research methods
    • Interpreting sociological data
  3. Culture and social interaction
  4. Socialization
    • Stages and Processes of Socialization
    • Agents of socialization: family, peers, school, media
  5. Elements of social structure
  6. Social Stratification and Inequality
    • Class and caste
    • Social mobility
    • Classes in Canada
    • Poverty in Canada
    • Global poverty
  7. Sex, gender, and sexualities
  8. Race and ethnicity
  9. 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
  10. 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. 

Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.

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)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU SOCI 101 (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO SOCI_O 111 (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) DOUG SOCI 1125 (3) & DOUG SOCI 2235 (3) = UBCO SOCI_O 111 (3) & UBCO SOCI_O 121 (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) DOUG SOCI 1125 (3) & DOUG SOCI 2235 (3) = UBCV SOCI_V 100 (6)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV SOCI_V 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 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
33
Remaining seats:
2
On waitlist
1
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N4215
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
15:20
CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
32
Remaining seats:
3
On waitlist
3
Building
Coquitlam - Bldg. C
Room
C1007
Times:
Start Time
9:30
-
End Time
12:20
CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
35
Remaining seats:
0
On waitlist
0
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N4306
Times:
Start Time
11:30
-
End Time
14:20
CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
35
Remaining seats:
0
On waitlist
1
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N3302
Times:
Start Time
9:30
-
End Time
12:20
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N4309
Times:
Start Time
9:30
-
End Time
12:20
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N3302
Times:
Start Time
9:30
-
End Time
12:20