Sociology study guides

A complete guide to the SQA Higher Sociology assignment, the independent research report that forms part of the course award. Covers choosing a sociological topic and research question, gathering and using primary and secondary sources, applying perspectives, evaluating sources, structuring the report, and how it is assessed.

A deep-dive SQA Higher Sociology guide to the Culture and Identity area. Covers culture, norms and values and the nature versus nurture debate, socialisation and its agents, the social construction of identity, and how social class, gender and ethnicity shape identity in modern society.

A deep-dive SQA Higher Sociology guide to the Human Society area. Covers the five sociological perspectives examined at Higher (functionalism, Marxism, feminism, interactionism and postmodernism), the difference between structural and social action approaches, and the contrast between sociological and common-sense explanations of human behaviour.

A deep-dive SQA Higher Sociology guide to Research Methods. Covers the research process, primary and secondary and quantitative and qualitative data, sampling techniques, survey methods (questionnaires and interviews), observation and experiments, and how to judge research using reliability, validity, representativeness and ethics.

A deep-dive SQA Higher Sociology guide to the Social Issues area. Covers the sociological explanations of crime and deviance, patterns of crime and victimisation and the reliability of crime statistics, the evidence and causes of social inequality, and how society responds to crime and inequality through the justice system and the welfare state.