Nutshell Studies: Khan (2011)
The concept of cultural capital has assumed increasing significance in the Sociology of Education in recent times and Khan’s ethnographic study of St. Pauls, one of America’s most-prestigious boarding schools, is a useful and interesting way to introduce students to both the concept and how to apply it to understand an important dimension of social […]
Paper vs. Screen: The Medium Isn’t The Message
Although study-after-study has shown students find it much easier to understand text when it’s presented in a paper-based printed format rather than a screen-based digital format, the use of something like digital textbooks has grown exponentially over the past decade or so. Proponents of screen-based technology have tended to argue digital learning is not only […]
Rethinking the Hidden Curriculum?
The concept of a hidden curriculum is one that seems to belong to a bygone educational age – one in which we could be genuinely critical of hidden educational processes. In today’s educational system the hidden curriculum is not only no-longer hidden, it seems to have managed to force itself squarely to the front and […]
Understanding How Digital Environments Influence Behaviour
By Austin Page These days, the digital world has become a second home for so many students. The average U.S. teen spends over 4 hours a day on their phones, nearly a quarter of their waking hours. That average is poised to go higher each year, as more and more innovations and let’s face it, […]
Welcome To The Biarchy…
As is their wont, A-level Sociology examiners occasionally like to ask questions about “feminist perspectives” and if you’re at all on the ball you’ll realise you probably need to discuss a range of approaches – usually, but not exclusively, radical, Marxist and liberal – depending on the complexity of the question and the length of […]
Nutshell Studies: Felson and Cohen (1979)
Routine Activities Theory has arguably been one of the most influential crime theories of recent times and this Nutshell Study provides a simple overview for time-starved students who would nevertheless like to understand the basics of the theory. If you fancy looking at RAT a little more critically we’ve got that angle covered for you […]
Nutshell Studies: Young (2007)
Students (and teachers) of Left Realism should find the latest nutshell study particularly useful for the way it extends Young’s Realist arguments in a couple of interesting ways: Firstly, the concept of subculture that features so prominently in the three-cornered approach to crime (the criminogenic triangle) is extended to include recent developments in online behaviours. […]
Nutshell Studies: Bourdieu (1977)
Another Nutshell Study to add to your growing collection (use the right-hand “Categories” menu to find any you’ve missed), this one digests the work of Pierre Bourdieu “Cultural Capital” (2007). As ever the Nutshell involves an everyday example to help you understand the basic idea followed by Insights into the concept, how it can be […]
Nutshell Studies: Archer et al. (2010)
The latest Nutshell Study digests the work of Archer, Hollingworth and Mendick: “Urban Youth and Schooling” (2010), so you don’t have to. Think of it as a handy way to expand your knowledge of a wide-range of sociological studies in as short a space of time as possible. Something that’s either a brilliant way to […]
Nutshell Studies: Merton and Strain Theory (1938)
The third Nutshell Study is Merton’s Strain Theory (1938 ), designed “to make it easier for students to get to grips with significant classic and contemporary sociological studies in a simple, straightforward, way that doesn’t involve a shed-load of frankly quite time-consuming reading”. Nutshell Studies give you a broad outline of a study – more […]
Nutshell Studies: Alexander (2010)
The second Nutshell Study does a quick’n’dirty hack-job on Michelle Alexander’s 2010 study “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” – the idea being, as with everything in this series, “to make it easier for students to get to grips with significant classic and contemporary sociological studies in a simple, straightforward, […]
Nutshell Studies: Francis et al. (2019)
The idea behind Nutshell Studies is to make it easier for students to get to grips with significant classic and contemporary sociological studies in a simple, straightforward, way that doesn’t involve a shed-load of time-consuming reading. Nutshell Studies are designed to give you the basic ideas in a handy bite-sized portion that provides a solid […]
WHAT: Psychology GCSE Core Studies
If you’re looking for a relatively simple way to introduce your GCSE students to key psychology studies then the WHAT technique (“a strong, yet simple, way to help your students analyse and understand any research study”) should fit the bill nicely. And if, for whatever reason, you’re not up-to-speed with the idea, the following link […]
WHAT. More?
In a recent post I outlined the WHAT technique, a “strong, yet simple, way to analyse and evaluate any research study” by encouraging students to break any study down into 4 key areas: What were the aims of the study? How was the study carried-out? Answers: what were the key findings of the research? Takeaways: […]
WHAT About Social Research?
Encourage your students to engage with social research by using this simple template. It’s probably no great secret that for the majority of sociology and psychology students research methods is probably the area of their course they find both the least interesting and most difficult to understand. The two may or may not be connected. […]