If you are interested in studying towards a bachelor’s degree in sociology, it’s important to understand which sociology courses will be required to complete the program at any given institution. Although this field of study can be very broad, leading to a variety of career and graduate school opportunities, a sociology degree program has required coursework and then the leeway to choose courses that are of prime interest to you and your goals.
What Sociology Is All About
Simply put, sociology is the study of society. It’s a field of science that studies how people and groups behave across a broad spectrum of interactions. With this degree, you may opt to pursue a career in teaching, research, or business organizations. Studying diverse cultures may ready you for getting a Master’s Degree in social work. The field is wide open for a variety of job opportunities with a degree in sociology.
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Sociology Coursework
The sociology classes necessary to complete a degree in this field vary slightly among higher learning institutions. You will need to acquire 120 credits in total in order to qualify for any bachelor’s degree. The credit requirements for your specific major will vary, but in general, you’ll need to take approximately 30 credits in this major.
You till need to take an Introduction to Sociology course. This will serve as a prerequisite to nearly all other sociology courses you take. Sociology 100 or 101 will give you a broad survey of what the field is all about, including history or related theories.
A Research Methods course and Social Statistics course are often required also. Research Methods classes give you hands-on experiences in performing quantitative and qualitative methods of research in the field. After learning about the methodology, you will likely conduct a study and write a paper pertaining to your methods and results. This can be a highly interesting course, as you finally get to use the information you’ve been learning in real-world circumstances.
You’ll need the Statistics course in order to help you organize the data you’ve analyzed. While doing sociological research, you will have a hypothesis that needs to be tested. In statistical courses, you learn about sample descriptions, theory, and how to sample populations. Your data is entered into a computer’s statistical software package, where graphs, charts, and relationship information can be analyzed.
A course studying the systematic analysis of alternative theoretic perspectives may be required. Choices can include such topics as Social Theory, Current Sociological Theory, or Feminist Social Thought, to name just a few possible core courses that some colleges require.
Your upper level courses bring you into a more specific range of classes. Depending upon your interests, you may decide to take credits in Criminology, Medical Sociology, Migration, or Comparative Ethnic and Race Relations. There are usually many upper level courses from which to choose, including Independent Study. You may also be required to take a few required courses in a specific field of sociology, such as Consumer Behavior or American Society.
Having a degree in sociology can equip you with the knowledge necessary for a number of different career goals. Whether you choose to work in the business world, in government organizations, teaching, research, or social work, sociology courses will prepare you for the career path you ultimately choose.