Essay: 1500 - 2000 words: Choose one of the following
How does sociological theory create ways to understand the social world? Discuss with reference to two sociological theories.
This essay gives you the opportunity of understanding the theoretical approaches to Sociology that sociological researchers apply.
Here are some additional resources for you if you are doing the theory essay:
The Sociology of Karl Marx [electronic resource]
http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/login?url=http://onlineres.swin.edu.au/1115449.pdf
The sociology of Max Webber [electronic resource]
http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/login?url=http://onlineres.swin.edu.au/1115450.pdf
The Sociology of Emile Durkheim [electronic resource]
http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/login?url=http://onlineres.swin.edu.au/1115451.pdf
The enlightenment and new ways of thinking [electronic resource]
http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/login?url=http://onlineres.swin.edu.au/1115453.pdf
Feminist theories [electronic resource]
http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/login?url=http://onlineres.swin.edu.au/1115456.pdf
Interpretive sociology: action theories [electronic resource]
http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/login?url=http://onlineres.swin.edu.au/1115457.pdf
Post modernity and postmodernism [electronic resource]
http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/login?url=http://onlineres.swin.edu.au/1115459.pdf
What social issue has been significant in Australia in the last twelve months? What social structures are at play in this issue?
This essay gives you an opportunity to look at a particular aspect of sociology in terms of current affairs and analyse the popular circumstance against the expectations that the lectures and readings have set up. There are many examples that you could pursue: the issue of gay marriage was a key political flashpoint in Australia in 2011/12/13. You could look at the social structures of family or gender. The teachers' dispute in Victoria, which is dragging on quite unexpectedly, could be examined in terms of the social structures of politics or education. The apparent plight of the Federal Labor government and the Prime Minister Julia Gillard could be examined in terms of the social structures of politics or gender. NB:You do not need to choose one of these examples; they are only illustrations of possible issues you might decide to examine.
Again, for both essays, we want you to use the three texts above plus at least two supplementary sources with the appropriate referencing.