BA Social Sciences

About this course

The social sciences offer a rigorous and wide-ranging approach to understanding human behaviour, social structures, and the forces that shape societies. Drawing on disciplines including sociology, psychology, politics, economics, and social policy, this field asks fundamental questions about how people live together, how institutions and inequalities are formed and reproduced, and how change comes about. Studying the social sciences develops your ability to examine the world critically, to weigh evidence from different methodological traditions, and to think carefully about the relationship between individual experience and broader social patterns. As a part-time programme at the University of the West of Scotland, this degree is designed to fit around existing commitments, making it accessible to students who are balancing work, family, or other responsibilities alongside their studies. You will be introduced to the core concepts and debates of the social sciences, developing skills in research methods both quantitative and qualitative, in sociological and political analysis, and in writing and argumentation that are valued across a wide variety of professions and sectors. You will study topics such as social inequality, identity, power, culture, globalisation, and the workings of institutions from families and communities to states and markets. The programme encourages you to connect theoretical frameworks to contemporary social issues and to develop a reflexive understanding of your own position within social structures. Small group discussion, independent reading, and written analysis all feature prominently, helping you to think and communicate with precision and confidence. Graduates in social sciences go on to work in fields as varied as social work and community development, public administration and policy, education, journalism, the voluntary sector, research, and healthcare management. The analytical, communication, and research skills you develop are genuinely transferable, and many graduates choose to continue to postgraduate study in specialist areas such as criminology, public policy, or applied social research.

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