The Best Strategies to Prepare Sociology

The optional subject in the UPSC exam plays a vital role. The better you perform in the optional paper, the more marks you can secure as a whole. The optional paper carries 500 marks. Hence, choosing the optional paper correctly is essential. Amongst several subjects for the optional paper, candidates prefer choosing sociology for various reasons. For better knowledge, you can join the sociology optional online coaching.

There are several reasons why sociology as an optional subject has gained immense popularity, and many are joining the sociology online classes. Take a look at the reasons: 

 

1. Over the years, toppers who have taken up sociology as their optional subject have been shinning out with flying colors. 

2. Sociology is an excellent choice for scoring good marks in the optional paper. By studying regularly and writing decent answers, one can easily score more than 300 out of 500 marks. 

3. The relevance of the subject has a potential connection to societal norms. So, studying sociology can help you gather knowledge about your surroundings.

Therefore, once you can plan out the syllabus carefully, studying sociology and securing a good rank is no more a problem. Given below are some strategies that you can adopt to prepare sociology: 

1. Analyze the syllabus

Before you start preparing for sociology, thoroughly read the syllabus. Understand the topics that you need to study. If possible, know the syllabus by heart, as this will help you have a clear idea about what to study and what not to study. All IAS aspirants need to study according to the syllabus as this will help you cover up the syllabus fast. Therefore, you will get ample time to revise. 

2. For better preparation, refer to previous years' question papers 

Once you have gone through the syllabus, it is time to collect the previous years' question papers and go through them. These previous years' question papers give you a clear idea about the possible topics that can come in the exam. Since the syllabus of UPSC is massive, smart work is what candidates should do instead of hard work. Also, the question paper will give you a clear idea about the question pattern and the division of marks. 

3. Following reliable sources for the sociology syllabus 

You will come across various sources available on the internet. But not all sources are reliable. As an IAS aspirant, it is your responsibility to narrow down to sociology's authentic and reliable study materials. Some of the books that IAS aspirants follow are NCERTs, IGNOU books, Haralambos, etc. 

4. IGNOU books 

Almost the whole paper I and II are covered in the IGNOU books. Therefore, once you have completed the NCERT books, proceed to the IGNOU books then. Without covering the NCERTs, starting with the IGNOU books will be a little heavy on you. After studying the NCERT and IGNOU books, you can prepare notes. When writing notes, make sure you underline or highlight the keywords and make points. 

5. Answer writing skills 

Before you start writing answers for sociology, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. First of all, it is essential to link the different topics in papers 1 and 2 while writing answers. Check out the question papers and see which topics are frequently coming and practice those thoroughly. Further, one should pay attention to the word limit that has been mentioned in the question paper. Aspirants should come out of this notion that writing for pages will fetch more marks. 

Conclusion 

Therefore, following the tips mentioned above will surely help you in the optional sociology paper.