Sociology with Psychology

This is a Connected Degree

Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

Overview

Prepare to lead the world into a more positive future.

Human thought and behaviour shapes our society, which in turn shapes our experience as global citizens. Take a sociological and social psychological approach to the most pressing social issues of our time, from global economic inequality and the migrant crisis to world hunger, climate change and gender equality - and see how our actions interact with and influence social justice and wellbeing in the world.

While developing your sociological imagination, you'll also study social psychological concepts such as prosocial behaviour, intergroup dynamics and social influence. On this BSc (Hons) Sociology with Psychology degree, you'll conduct your own research into societal issues that matter most to you, developing the skills to influence positive change such as critical thinking, leading on research projects, analysing data and communicating proposals for change effectively.

Course highlights

• Learn from leading academics actively researching solutions to social inequalities and exploring the social structures that shape our lives, including researchers from our Sociology and Social Theory Research Group

• Tailor your studies to topics that match your ambitions from a diverse range of specialist modules, including social justice, gender and sexuality, race and racism and global inequality

• Use social psychological theory to address one of three 'unsolvable issues' (homelessness, domestic violence or unemployment), simulating projects you'll work on in future health-related careers

• Hear from industry specialists on topics such as racism, asylum and gender-based violence – recent guest speakers have come from Friends Without Borders and Portsmouth Abuse and Rape Counselling Services (PARCS)

• Discover how to present your knowledge and research to a wider audience, through the production of a video or podcast on an optional module

• Learn to use industry-leading software, such as SPSS statistical analysis software and NVivo qualitative data analysis software, to transform your research into actionable findings

• The psychological approach on this course is designed to enhance your understanding of sociology beyond sociological theory – it doesn't offer British Psychological Society accreditation (BPS) but strongly prepares you for further study or training related to the psychological and social sciences.

Careers and opportunities

After the course you could also continue your studies to a PhD or other postgraduate qualification, following in the footsteps of your lecturers.

What sectors can you work in with a sociology with psychology degree?

Many of our sociology graduates go into people-focused roles, or in roles that allow them to do research, shape social policies or bring about social change.

Areas you could go into include:

• teaching and lecturing (with additional training or further study)

• research and policy

• health and social care

• advertising, marketing and media

• local government

• careers advice, human resources and recruitment

• charity work and community development

What jobs can you do with a sociology with psychology degree?

Roles you could go onto include:

• peer support and young persons service manager

• youth worker

• school teacher or college lecturer

• research executive

• fundraising and project manager

• hr adviser

• social worker

• evidence and evaluation manager

Our Careers and Employability team will support you for up to 5 years after you leave the University.

Year 1
Core modules in this year include:

• Developing your Sociological Imagination (40 credits)
• Psychology for the Social Sciences (20 credits)
• Research Design and Analysis (20 credits)
• Social and Cultural Psychology (20 credits)
• Theorising Social Life (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 2
Core modules in this year include:

• Critical Psychology (20 credits)
• Discursive Psychology (20 credits)
• Doing Sociological Research (20 credits)
• Modernity and Globalisation (20 credits)

Optional modules:

• Consumer Society: Critical Themes and Issues (L5) (20 credits)
• Digital Cultures: Exploring the Digital in the Humanities and Social Sciences (20 credits)
• Emotions and Social Life (20 credits)
• Empire and Its Afterlives in Britain, Europe, and Africa (20 credits)
• Engaged Citizenship in Humanities and Social Sciences (20 credits)
• Equality Or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice (20 credits)
• Family, Career and Generation (L5) (20 credits)
• Gender and Sexuality (20 credits)
• Global Security (20 credits)
• Health, Wellbeing, and Happiness (L5) (20 credits)
• Intercultural Perspectives On Communication (20 credits)
• Marketing & Communication (20 credits)
• Modernity and Globalisation (20 credits)
• Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday (L5) (20 credits)
• News, Discourse, and Media (20 credits)
• Principles of Economic Crime Investigation (20 credits)
• Professional Experience L5 (20 credits)
• Puritans to Postmodernists: American Literature (20 credits)
• Race and Racism (L5) (20 credits)
• Risk and Society (20 credits)
• Social Power, Elites and Dissent (L5) (20 credits)
• Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity (L5) (20 credits)
• The Sociology of Education (20 credits)
• Transitional Justice & Human Rights (20 credits)
• Understanding Personal Life (L5) (20 credits)
• Wildlife Crime: Threats and Response (20 credits)

Placement year (optional)
Have the opportunity to do a work placement year after your second or third year on this Connected Degree - we're the only UK university to offer flexible sandwich placements for undergraduates.

Year 3
Core modules in this year include:

• Community Psychology (20 credits)
• Creative Research Methods in Psychology (20 credits)

Optional modules in this year currently include:

• Consumer Society:Critical Themes and Issues (L6) (20 credits)
• Dissertation (Sociology) (40 credits)
• Emotions and Social Life (L6) (20 credits)
• Equality Or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice (20 credits)
• Family, Career and Generation (L6) (20 credits)
• Gender and Sexuality (20 credits)
• Health, Wellbeing and Happiness (20 credits)
• Introduction to Teaching (20 credits)
• Major Project (40 credits)
• Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday (20 credits)
• Professional Development: Recruiters and Candidates (20 credits)
• Professional Experience L6 (20 credits)
• Race and Racism (L6) (20 credits)
• Social Power, Elites and Dissent (L6) (20 credits)
• Sociology of Culture: Taste, Value and Celebrity (L6) (20 credits)
• The Sociology of Education (L6) (20 credits)
• Understanding Personal Life (L6) (20 credits)

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

You'll be assessed through:

• written essays
• group and individual projects
• seminar participation
• examinations
• a 10,000-word dissertation
  You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.

You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:

• Year 1 students: 25% by written exams and 75% by coursework
• Year 2 students: 33% by written exams, 9% by practical exams and 58% by coursework
• Year 3 students: 17% by written exams and 83% by coursework