Applied Sociology Curriculum

What is Applied Sociology?

In the US, it's called 'clinical sociology'.  Applied sociology is the application of sociological ideas, concepts, theories and models to address everyday problems or situations.  These may arise in the workplace, in homes, in communities or in organisations.

Applied Sociology in the UK

In the UK you don’t come across people working in industry, business, the civil service or other workplaces outside academia or independent research organisations who have ‘sociologist’ in their job title. Sociologists seem to all reside in universities, unlike psychologists and economists, who have colonised all kinds of settings.

And yet most sociologists believe our subject is essential for understanding the world around us. Or to resolve contemporary problems, from gender violence to climate change. We have the concepts (like ‘cultural capital’ or ‘moral panic’) and the theories (social mobility, socialisation). But where are the practical sociology jobs? Why do so few of those ideas in the sociology journals get applied on a daily basis?

The Curriculum

As a first step towards establishing applied sociology in the UK we have launched a curriculum, which we offer free to UK universities to adapt as part of their undergraduate sociology programme.

Please click here to go to the curriculum web site to find out more.