MAKING SENSE OF EVERYDAY LIFE - 2025/6

Module Overview

Within this module we will begin to explore 20th century sociological thinkers and how they offer key micro perspectives that inform our understanding of everyday life (Cf. Scott 2009).  This involves exploring ideas of social order (Parsons and his critics) and rituals and routines (Chicago school, Strauss Goffman, ethnomethodology). We conclude the module with a discussion of the methodological implications of exploring sociologically the significance of everyday life.

Module provider

Sociology

Module Leader

EVERGETI Venetia (Sociology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:
 
1. Introduction to the importance of social order

2. Micro and Interactionist Sociological Paradigms such as: Chicago School, Symbolic Interactionism, Goffman, Strauss, Ethnomethodology

3. Methodological Implications of the micro study of everyday life

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

 

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate that they have developed an understanding of these core thinkers and can ‘think critically/reflect’ with this knowledge. The assessment is linked to the learning aims and outcomes of the module and it aims to encourage students to think critically – both about the traditional theories covered and contemporary societies and more specifically about the importance of studying the production of social order in everyday life and the agency of social actors.
 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

One 1,500 word essay which counts for 100% of the final mark and addresses all the learning outcomes. In particular:

The essay is an opportunity to reflect on the material and main theories and concepts we covered in our module. You need to show your own understanding and critical appraisal of the topic you choose to answer, while engaging with the relevant literature.

Students will be marked on the quality of their essay and their arguments and taking into consideration the following marking criteria:

• Report ACCURATELY on the material covered in the answer


• Choose RELEVANT information to include in their answer


• Ensure that students don’t limit their answer to a summary of what others have said – but instead writing an ARGUMENT


• Back up their claims with EVIDENCE, such as examples and ideas from existing literature


• Providing ANALYTICAL DEPTH by engaging with the literature and the theories/concepts

 
Formative assessment and feedback

Students are encouraged to submit a 1 page essay plan prior to the essay deadline.  They then receive one-to-one oral feedback on this plan. Feedback takes the form of suggestions of how to develop their essay and their critical engagement with the literature. Students also receive ongoing feedback throughout the semester through in-class discussions and interactive activities as well through the feedback and consultation office hours.

Module aims

• To introduce students to the 'problem of order' and to encourage them to consider this as a key issue in all societies
• To introduce students to key 20th century sociological theorists - and especially interactionist and micro-level sociological paradigms and their work on 'social order and social change'
• To encourage students to think critically about the significance of mundane everyday practices and what they reveal for the production of social order in specific social situations

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to: introduce students to core ideas from 20th century micro sociological theory and encourage them to think about how these help us to ‘think sociologically’ about our everyday lives.

The learning and teaching methods include:

Weekly lectures and seminars (where ideas are explored through more interactive group activities); guided learning activities on Surrey Learn and during the seminars, captured content and the provision of core readings and other material on SurreyLearn to support Independent Learning.  

At the end of each week, students are encouraged to reflect on their notes from lectures, seminars, readings, activities and notes about how they link. They are encouraged to ‘drop-in’ in the feedback and consultation office hours each week if things are unclear or if they would like to further discuss the material covered.

A key feature will be a case study approach, where each week we will be exploring specific research studies of everyday life, influenced by some of the concepts and theories covered. Key concepts, theories, themes, and sociological approaches to understanding mundane and ‘trivial’ parts of everyday life will be clearly set out in lectures and different approaches and relevant research selected in readings. Seminars will then allow these to be explored and facilitate the student’s own reflections on how these connect to their experiences, resourcefulness, understandings, and where relevant, future professional careers.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: SOC1038

Other information

The Department of Sociology is committed to developing students with strengths in digital capabilities, employability, global and cultural capabilities, resourcefulness and resilience and sustainability. This module aims to develop students’ understanding of a set of key set of concepts and theories that underpin sociological research in a number of areas which specifically explore everyday life and its significance in the production of social order. In particular, it supports students to develop in the following key areas.

 

Employability. The module aims to develop skills that are highly significant in a number of diverse professional settings, both in relation to critical thinking as well as developing an understanding social behaviors, and the role they play in the construction of meaning and social order.

 

Global and cultural capabilities. Students will learn about reflexivity and positionality in micro sociological perspectives and utilizing these in understanding diverse, social and cultural settings. Some of the research studies utilized in this module reflect on global and culturally diverse settings, allowing students to gain an insight of how the sociology of everyday life can help us understand and analyse diverse social orders.

 

Resourcefulness and resilience. Students are encouraged to see themselves as engaged in a process of continual development of their theoretical understanding and, through class discussions, to help one another to develop in their ability to explore ideas in a respectful, open and supportive environment.

 

Sustainability. Students will be equipped with the knowledge, tools and motivation needed to support and enact positive change in relation to issues of equality, diversity and social wellbeing in a range of contexts, especially pertaining in sustainable practices of doing social research. In addition, some topics covered in the module explicitly relate to people and environment relations.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.