Why do people take the mick out of Sociology and Media Studies!?

[JonJParr 10]

Media Studies - is that instruction on how to use a video / DVD player?

[StarSparkle 10]

Originally posted by JonJParr

Media Studies - is that instruction on how to use a video / DVD player?

 

No - that would be something useful to know! (Only joking, before the Media Studies people start!)

 

StarSparkle

[noseyrosie 10]

**** off the lot of you.

 

Seriously.

 

I'm about to start Sociology at Birmingham University with AAAB at A-level and I'd thank you all to stop taking the **** out of something that I love to study so much!

 

I am really passionate about the subject, and can't quite see how a subject that is basically a culimination of history, politics, social policy, the study of ethnic diversity, and more, and all of the sub-topics within can be classed as easy.

 

I am not going to study it because it is easy (which I don't believe it to be), but because I think it's a fantastic subject. Maybe you should all take your heads out of your arses and realise that education is about learning, not about impressing people with a maths degree that you found boring as hell.

[back2basics 10]

Originally posted by xafier

 

 

If I have a briefcase with £50,000 in it and I decide to multiply my £50,000 by nothing... by mathematical theory shouldn't it disapear?

 

[/b]

 

:confused:

 

This is why you doubt maths?

 

How would you multiply a physical object by zero?

[noseyrosie 10]

Originally posted by noseyrosie

**** off the lot of you.

 

Seriously.

 

I'm about to start Sociology at Birmingham University with AAAB at A-level and I'd thank you all to stop taking the **** out of something that I love to study so much!

 

I am really passionate about the subject, and can't quite see how a subject that is basically a culimination of history, politics, social policy, the study of ethnic diversity, and more, and all of the sub-topics within can be classed as easy.

 

I am not going to study it because it is easy (which I don't believe it to be), but because I think it's a fantastic subject. Maybe you should all take your heads out of your arses and realise that education is about learning and inspiration, not about impressing people with a maths degree that you found boring as hell.

[nightrider 13]

Originally posted by noseyrosie

**** off the lot of you.

 

Seriously.

 

I'm about to start Sociology at Birmingham University with AAAB at A-level and I'd thank you all to stop taking the **** out of something that I love to study so much!

 

I am really passionate about the subject, and can't quite see how a subject that is basically a culimination of history, politics, social policy, the study of ethnic diversity, and more, and all of the sub-topics within can be classed as easy.

 

I am not going to study it because it is easy (which I don't believe it to be), but because I think it's a fantastic subject. Maybe you should all take your heads out of your arses and realise that education is about learning, not about impressing people with a maths degree that you found boring as hell.

 

Yes it is about learning. Doesnt change any issues that some degrees are harder than others. To say otherwise is absurd. All degrees contain different content. It is inevitable that some will be harder than others and this difference may be large or small depending on which subjects you compare.

[noseyrosie 10]

Originally posted by nightrider

Yes it is about learning. Doesnt change any issues that some degrees are harder than others. To say otherwise is absurd. All degrees contain different content. It is inevitable that some will be harder than others and this difference may be large or small depending on which subjects you compare.

 

I don't agree actually, I believe that yes, with more discussion/opinion/essay based courses you can doss around , but if, as we agree, the degree is about learning, they haven't fulfilled the purpose of it anyway. On the other hand, someone like myself will go away and read more in depth texts and theories, therefore being challenged more.

[nightrider 13]

Originally posted by noseyrosie

I don't agree actually, I believe that yes, with more discussion/opinion/essay based courses you can doss around , but if, as we agree, the degree is about learning, they haven't fulfilled the purpose of it anyway. On the other hand, someone like myself will go away and read more in depth texts and theories, therefore being challenged more.

 

It isnt really part of the degree if you dont need to do that to get the degree. I would argue the difficulty of a degree rests on the compulsory content you need to understand/learn to get a good mark.

 

In my degree I can think of many far more advanced topics in the area I could learn in my own time, but they wouldnt help an awful lot in getting a degree that doesnt examine them. So it doesnt have relevance to the difficulty of a particular degree, unless you need to voluntarily learn additional things (that are not taught or you are not told to learn yourself) to get say a 1st.

 

This can apply in any degree, so if it were true that voluntary work increases difficulty then you could do this in any degree and the relative difference in difficulty may not change by any large amount.

[Greenback 10]

Originally posted by nightrider

Yes it is about learning. Doesnt change any issues that some degrees are harder than others. To say otherwise is absurd. All degrees contain different content. It is inevitable that some will be harder than others and this difference may be large or small depending on which subjects you compare.

 

In my experience degree discplines vary so much in terms of skills required that to say which is "harder" is reductive and pretty meaningless. In addition, the way that degrees are taught means that part of the challenge lies in the process of learning itself, rather than simply jumping through exam-shaped hoops (which is what GCSEs and A-Levels seem to be all about, unfortunately).

[Guest]

Originally posted by noseyrosie

**** off the lot of you.

 

Seriously.

 

I'm about to start Sociology at Birmingham University with AAAB at A-level and I'd thank you all to stop taking the **** out of something that I love to study so much!

 

I am really passionate about the subject, and can't quite see how a subject that is basically a culimination of history, politics, social policy, the study of ethnic diversity, and more, and all of the sub-topics within can be classed as easy.

 

I am not going to study it because it is easy (which I don't believe it to be), but because I think it's a fantastic subject. Maybe you should all take your heads out of your arses and realise that education is about learning, not about impressing people with a maths degree that you found boring as hell.

 

 

there is absolutely nothing wrong with studying sociology. In fact, it was my favourite subject and I have a degree in social policy and politics.

 

I think the issue tends to be the easyness (and lets be fair, if you studied sociology at A level then a degree course is just an extension of that). Therefore, it is fairly simple for anyone with decent educational ability and intellegence to get a 2:2.

 

I must admit I did and do read loads around the subject and it is something that really interests me. However, I never really read much specificly around the assignments we got. Most people didn't bother.

 

with those A levels and from the way you come across on here you seem like the person who would succeed in wahtever subject you take. With Sociology (and it was officially the easiest subject at my tin pot excuse for a university) you will get people looking down their noses at it. Social Sciences are not held in very high esteem by people from scientific/mathematical backgrounds.

 

The funny thing about the whole degree thing is that it is wonderful for all these people I've worked with in the past who laugh at my degree as they have firsts in Law, English, Engineering etc but they were all doing the same job as me and generally paid less. Most people with degres wont pursue a job in that area anyway.

 

You are best off to do a degree that interests you and that you are good at. I've always thought that sociology is a great subject to study as it inspires you to read around politics and philosophy as well as history and social policy.

 

In my experience most of the things I've learnt in life have been from books and not from teachers or school.

 

I'd also argue that sociology makes you be able to question and argue points. It also teaches critical analysis and research methodology. Most people who have got good degrees in traditional subjects lack any of these skills in my experience and they are the most important skills in life.

 

Media studies on the other hand.......

[dee40 10]

If people didnt study media we would all be quite bored.What about tv and the cinema these are media.Everyone likes music either to listen to or to watch.The papers we read and the theatres we go to all parts of media.

[JoeP 11]

Originally posted by dee40

If people didnt study media we would all be quite bored.What about tv and the cinema these are media.Everyone likes music either to listen to or to watch.The papers we read and the theatres we go to all parts of media.

 

Citizen Kane was made by Orson Welles, a man who never studied Media Studies.

 

Reality TV shows in which Z List celebs vie to artificially inseminate pigs was probably put together by a bunch of folks with Media Studies degrees.

 

I don't think one needs a degree in MS to produce entertaining film or television. A writer doesn't need a degree to write a best selling or critically acclaimed novel.

 

The reason why people have a low opinion of Media Studies and associated degrees is probably the perceived lack of intellectual rigour. There is nothing wrong with studying such things, but I doubt the study involved is equivalent to that required for a degree such as Mathematics, physics, biology or the more quantitative social sciences.

 

Joe