Duration
45h Th, 15h Pr
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The aim of the Complementary Questions in Sociology (CTS) course is to familiarize students with the analysis of a social fact. To do so, students will build on the contributions of the Introduction to Social Science Methodology and Sociology courses.
The learning activities planned in the QCS course will lead students to take another look at the social world and, more specifically, at everyday situations, to critically examine the way in which this world is spoken of or presented. This learning implies a methodical distrust of common sense propositions, ready-made ideas or ideological positions.
This part of the training will start with exercises based on reports of observations of situations in daily life, an analysis of a social phenomenon (ways of being at the beach) and documents presenting a statistical overview of this social phenomenon, to allow each person to appropriate the notion of "epistemological rupture". The reflection will focus on the first act of the scientific approach identified in the Manual of Research in Social Sciences by Luc Van Campenhoudt and Raymond Quivy (with the collaboration of Jacques Marquet) published by Dunod in 2011 (4th edition). It will not be a matter of going into the steps of social science research (this was done in the Initiation to Social Science Methodology course), but of learning to draw the consequences of the fact that "when we approach the study of any subject, our mind is not blank ; it is loaded with a heap of images, beliefs, aspirations, more or less unconscious explanatory schemes, memories of pleasant or painful experiences, both cultural and personal, that preform our approach to that subject" (Van Campenhoudt et al. , 2011 : 18).
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The course aims to develop the following abilities:
- observe the spatial organization of a given context (for this academic year 2023-2024, a domestic habitat and its evolution over three generations) ;
- write an account of the facts observed that tends towards objectivity (no value judgments, no prescriptive statements, etc.) and that respects the chronology of the facts observed ;
- to establish a link between the spatial organization of the domestic habitat and the course of exchanges between people, and to formulate verifiable propositions in this respect ;
- identify the rules that, in the observed context, organize the exchanges between people, and formulate verifiable propositions in this regard ;
- identify the moments of disagreement or conflict that occur between people in the observed context, and formulate verifiable propositions in this regard;
identify in written records (observation reports written by students in previous years; press articles; readers' comments on press forums; etc.), what falls under the heading of "epistemological rupture", and explain in what way the selected assertions raise questions; - extract relevant information from data in a document containing statistical information.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Good command of the French language.
Ability to research information (Internet, library, etc.).
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course sessions will be based on the resolution of questions or problems related to the ways of being and doing at the beach. The students will have at their disposal a written support including the statement of the problems, the theoretical elements useful for their resolution, and complementary bibliographical references.
A specific course material is dedicated to the analysis of statistical documents.
In addition to the problems discussed during the course, several individual assignments will form the basis of a formative evaluation. These assignments must be completed within the time frame announced during the course.
Investigative work on the chosen field will be organized: it will form the basis of the individual analysis report (see evaluation methods).
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Additional information:
Collective resolution of problem situations.
The presence of the students is necessary, taking into account the approach implemented. Distance learning is possible based on the course material and documents that will be transmitted during the sessions.
Recommended or required readings
An updated syllabus is available to students. The versions from previous years are no longer valid.
Individual work will be done outside of the course sessions. They will be handed in within the announced deadlines.
Each of these assignments will be subject to a general feedback: this feedback will be sent to the students via MyULg. The feedbacks will contain precious indications for the final evaluation: the mistakes made by the students in the answers to the question asked will be presented, commented and exploited. New questions will be formulated that can be used for the final evaluation.
In the framework of the Complementary Questions in Sociology course, it will not be a matter of systematically presenting a theoretical paradigm. Rather, it will be a matter of mobilizing a series of tools that make it possible to establish the necessary distance to consider social exchanges "differently.
The learning approach is based on some of the propositions drawn from the following works :
BAJOIT, Guy, 2003, Le changement social. Approche sociologique des sociétés occidentales contemporaines, Armand Colin, Cursus.
DURKHEIM, Emile, 1893, De la division du travail social, Paris, PUF, 1967, 8ème édition.
GIDDENS, Anthony, 1987, La constitution de la société, Paris, PUF.
GOFFMAN, Erving, 1974, Les rites d'interaction, Paris, Les Editions de Minuit.
KAUFMANN, Jean-Claude, 1998, Corps de femmes, regards d'hommes. Sociologie des seins nus, Nathan, Pocket.
MEAD, George Herbert Mead, 1963, L'esprit, le soi et la société, Paris, PUF (traduit de l'anglais par Cazeneuve J., Kaelin E. et Thibault G.) - version originale : Mind, Self and Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1934.
SCHUTZ, Alfred, 1962, Collected Papers Collected Papers. Tome 1. The Problem of Social Reality, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff
SCHUTZ, Alfred, 1964, Collected Papers. Tome 2. Studies in Social Theory, The Hague, Martinus Nijhof.
SCHUTZ, Alfred, 1987, Le chercheur et le quotidien, Paris, Méridiens Klincksieck, Sociétés.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam ( open-ended questions )
Written work / report
Additional information:
Each student's performance will be evaluated on the basis of a grade of 300 pts distributed as follows.
Out of 60 pts: having written the assignments requested during the course sessions (an observation report for 10 pts; an analysis of a statistical table for 10 pts; eight formative evaluations for 5 pts for each evaluation completed).
For these assignments, the content will not be subject to summative evaluation. Points will be earned by the student who completes the assignments and submits them within the announced deadlines and following the announced instructions.
Out of 120 pts: to have written a report analyzing the observations made on the imposed object.
The presentation of this report will have to include a diagram of the spatial organization of the observed domestic habitats by situating them in their immediate environment (either on the basis of an observation in a real situation, or from archival documents), the description of the structural effects induced by this spatial organization, the description of the rules or codes of conduct specific to the observed context, the references of a scientific article dedicated to the chosen theme, the formulation of lines of thought or hypotheses on the concerns that have inspired or are inspiring the spatial organization of this context and the regulation of the activities and human exchanges that take place there (by mobilizing the observations and perspectives opened up in the chosen scientific article).
If the report does not contain one of these elements, it will receive a grade of zero.
Out of 120 pts: a written test. Based on brief accounts of everyday situations, the aim will be to "problematize", i.e. to raise a coherent set of questions, to propose hypotheses on what, in each of the situations presented, seems to be a "problem".
Examples of questions asked on the exam are included in the syllabus. Some of them will be used during the course sessions.
The quality of the sociological contributions of the analysis report and the written examination will be evaluated by considering the following criteria (in descending order of importance): accuracy and precision of the sociological content (the concepts used will be correctly understood and defined) ; the integration of the different notions used in a global analysis (the evaluation will be more favorable if the student has proceeded to an articulation of the different notions, rather than to a succession of observations without apparent link); the finesse and originality of the analysis presented.
The written exam will include four questions in the January and August-September sessions.
Work placement(s)
No internship, but practical observation exercises.
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Students must have the written material (either in hard copy or electronic format) during class sessions.
Contacts
Jean-François Guillaume, Professeur. 04/366.35.03 Jean-Francois.Guillaume@uliege.be Office 1.90 (Building B31, Faculté de Droit, Sart Tilman).