http://mrunal.org/2012/07/strategy-sociology.

html

mrunal.org

[Strategy & Studyplan] Sociology Mains Paper 1

& 2 for UPSC IAS Exam Recommend Booklist

Study-Plans
RBI (Prelims)RBI
(Written)KAS
(Kashmir)ACIOCAT
(IIM)CPF (Asst.
Commandant)SPIPA
(Gujarat Only)

CSAT (IAS
Prelims)

1. Sociology Paper 1 by Kshitij

Tyagi (AIR 148/2011)
Sociology Paper I:
Topicwise Booklist
Whats the Difference
between Old and New
Haralambos?
How much time does it
take to finish the Sociology
Syllabus?
Conclusion
2. Sociology Paper II by Tanvi
Sundriyal (AIR 6/ CSE 2009)
Paper I and II : Emphasis ?
How to start Sociology
Preparation?
how to supplement this
basic material ?

Sociology Paper 1 by
Kshitij Tyagi (AIR
148/2011)
Kshitij Tyagi got 293/600 in Sociology
papers in 2011s UPSC (Mains) exam. Im
merely copy pasting his study planhere:
For initiation into the subject, NCERTs
and Haralambos are good enough. I also
watched a few videos of IGNOU
uploaded on the net for some of the
topics.
I began with the old edition of
Haralambos. It is a fantastic book
for understanding the subject and
its scope. I did not read the book
from cover to cover and confined

myself strictly to the syllabus. This

initiated me into the realm of
sociology. I then moved on to
IGNOUs BA notes which are an
extremely useful compilation of
sociological knowledge.
I also scanned through a few
chapters of Giddens to get a hang
of the subject. Before Prelims, I
had made some notes for the first
3 chapters of paper 1 and had
read some of the thinkers. I had by
then acclimatized myself with the
subject and also understood that
the old edition of Haralambos was
necessary but insufficient.
After prelims, I started filling the
gaps and expanding my notes.I
began referring to the new
updated version of Haralambos,
internet, etc. (The topic-wise
sources are given below). Though
my notes were pretty extensive, I
remained alive to the problems
associated with inclusion of every
topic in the notes. Therefore, at
certain places, I left flags - page
nos. or references in my notes so
that the topics best read whole
from the book could be referred in
a logical and sequential manner
during revision (For example,
Talcott Parsons pattern variables
to be read from new
Haralambos, pg.xxx).
The end result was that by the
end of my preparation, I had a
bunch of notes that could be
revised in a single day It
consisted of my notes of around
200 pages, old and new
Haralambos (for referred pages),
and a couple of booklets of
IGNOU BA (out of many).
I must have revised this bunch 45 times. I must also emphasize the
importance of keeping a copy of
previous 10 years questions
handy, along with the syllabus. I
made sure that there wasnt a
question asked in previous 10

years that I couldnt answer.

Sociology Paper I:
Topicwise Booklist
1. Sociology The Discipline:IGNOU BA, old NCERT, old
Haralambos, internet
2. Sociology as Science:old &
new Haralambos
3. Research Methods and Analysis:
New Haralambos, dictionary of
sociology by WP Scott / oxford
dictionary of sociology
4. Sociological Thinkers:Old &
New Haralambos, some
comparative analyses and
remaining topics from IGNOU BA
(only what is not covered by
Haralambos)
5. Stratification and Mobility: Old
Haralambos, IGNOU BA
6. Works and Economic Life: IGNOU
BA, Giddens, internet.
7. Politics and Society: Old
Haralambos, Giddens, IGNOU BA
8. Religion and Society: Old
Haralambos, IGNOU BA, internet
9. Systems of Kinship: IGNOU BA,
dictionaries, (minor portions from
Giddens and Haralambos)
10. Social Change in Modern Society:
IGNOU BA, previous years
questions, internet
Mrunal Edit:
1. To download IGNOU notes on
Sociology (PDF format): click me
2. To purchase the printed
(hardcopy) of IGNOU notes on
Sociology (Hindi and English): click
me

Whats the Difference

between Old and New
Haralambos?
The old Haralambos was a
smaller version (Haralambos and
Heald I suppose orange cover,
published by oxford). The new
version is a 1000 page tome
(Haralambos and Holborn if I
remember correctly) I had its
photocopy bought from Jawahar
Book Depot.
The new version has many
contemporary case studies and
extra topics which are of relevance
to the exam. But some topics are
best read from the old version
since you do not have much time
by your side if you want to finish it
off in two odd months.

How much time does

it take to finish the
Sociology Syllabus?
Limit yourself to the sources I've
mentioned, and revise them
repeatedly/make notes. It is possible to
do it in less than 4 months. All the best.

Conclusion
The key (to any successful strategy) is
to pick and chose as per one's own
convenience, keeping in mind the
individual capabilities and constraints.
The bottomline is that the syllabus has
to be kept in mind and no stone is to be
left unturned while covering it.
[Mr.Kshitij Tyagi did not mention a
specific strategy for Paper II but pointed
that he had followed the one given by
Tanvi Sundriyal]

Sociology Paper II by
Tanvi Sundriyal (AIR
6/ CSE 2009)

6/ CSE 2009)
Introduction
1. Before reading any notes or
chaalu copy paste books I should
be thorough with the original
books (mentioned later)
2. Thinkers and Theories(say
Theories of social change,of
power etc.) should be done in
great detail with elaborate
notes,rest of the topics can be
done via a single book(you could
pull out/photocopy relevant
chapters and put them alongwith
your notes so that everything is in
one place when you revise) or
mere pointers can do (say for
topics like Child Labour).
3. Warning: No notes should be
made before a third reading of the
chapter/book/source material
especially for those who were, till
they decided to plunge into cse
preparation completely alien to the
subject and its nuances.
4. These notes/pointers were to be
made in the format of:
First Page-The Syllabus with the newly
added topics (info for the newbeeies,
the syllabus changed from 2008 Mains)
highlighted (you can expect increased
importance to be allotted to the newer
topics in the exam)and sources referred
to for the various sub-topics written
alongwith a mention of whether you
have written notes on it or not.
This will help you in cross referring the
source books when you feel that there
is something missing in your notes when
you revise after a long time,or to ask
doubts/search for new material 'cos you
would know what you don't know
very important since this would guide
you in selecting which questions to
answer in the final exam hour ( no one is
allowed to askis there a choice in the
question paper or even worsehow will
it guide one in question selection!)

Second Page-All old questions including

the 1980's ones(according to syllabus
of course!)if you notice some of the
really old questions pertain to the newly
added topicsbringing the changes
made to a full circle!
Also, its important to know which
sub topic can be interlinked with which
other sub topic , which sub-topic
requires more elaborate reading and
note-making and which topics you cant
afford to miss(some questions have
been repeatedly asked indirectly or
directly)
All of this can only be gathered by a
thorough analysis of the questions
asked (preferably on your own) in the
previous years so pay attention to the
second page too !
Third Page- Now your note making
startsthe elaborate notes and even
pointers should follow this format :
a.Theory/Concept-Who said,What was
said and in Which context was it said
b.Criticism-Every
theoretician/perspective has a critique
which points out the lacunae in the
same and at the same time takes it
forwardone should be very clear with
this aspect.
c.Application-

Paper I and II :
Emphasis ?
1. In paper 1: Emphasise on case
studies usa,uk('cos many studies
are available from there!) or any
other foreign country if you have a
relevant case study but , at the
same time do not forget to
connect it to Indian examples.
2. In paper 2 : Emphasis should be
placed on Indian Sociologists and
application to Indian context,
though here too works of
important sociologists(from paper
1) can be applied .

Hence, studying , note making and then

answer writing (in the same
chronological order for very obvious
reasons!) should be done keeping in
mind that paper 1 and paper 2 are not
exclusive of each other but are in fact
interlinked and at times even draw
sustenance from each other.
The notes would be made
preferably in the same format as
the answer sheets given in the
upsc mains exam ie A4 blank
sheets with space left at both
sides(instead of wasting time
making margins with scale and
pencil just fold the paper on both
sides to give the impression of a
margin) and punched to be put
into well organised folders.
This organisation of notes may
sound like a very very childlike
suggestion but it has great bearing
on your revisionremember you
are not writing notes to publish
them for the benefit of mankind
(which is not a bad idea but not
your primary goal!) but to apply
them in the examination, so please
revise revise revise(this is not a
typo error
bad jokestill)
I would share resources like
advice/coaching material/your own
notes with another serious
studentits a personal belief that
petty competitiveness pulls you
down as well.
Internet resources (some books
have a few pages put out for
reading online) and library(D
School,Arts Faculty-Delhi
University) resources (through a
student) would be used
appropriately.
Note :If you get hold of an
amazing book for a very small subtopic and don't have time to go
through it just read the
Introduction+Prefaceit usually
encapsulates the whole argument

This was the "how to read" bit

now lets come down now to the
"what to read" part :
The "How to start" dilemna plagues
most of the cse aspirants esp those
who did not have a humanities
background.The solution is simple-

How to start Sociology

Preparation?
Start with NCERT XI and XII (old and
new editions both)
Then for :
Paper 1- Refer (in accordance with the
syllabusif time permits you could read
the whole book as wellif nothing else
it may help you in the essay or later on
in the interview stage):
Anthony Giddens-Sociology(I believe
the 5th edition is available in India in a
paperback formatexpensive book but
its usefulness justifies its expense)
MacIonis-Sociology(brought to India by
Pearsons publications)
These books give a basic understanding
and at the same time an analysis of
more contemporary topics.
Now you could go onto the basic book
for Thinkers which is:
Francis Abraham and John Henry
Morgan-Sociological Thought
You should also elaborate upon
Thinkers by referring to Ritzer
selectively(a must)
Some of my friends picked up tit-bits
from Lewis Coser and some referred to
Raymond Aron too(optional)
For Paper 2- Start with IGNOU BA
course material and stick to it! Take
care to mention the case studies
considered in the IGNOU booklets in
your examination.

You should also read:

1. M.N.Srinivas-Social Change in India
2. Yogendra Singh-Modernisation of
Indian Tradition
3. Handbook of Indian Sociologyedited by Veena Das (selective
reading of the book )
4. J.C.Verma (a NBT publication on
Tribals) for the portion on
problems faced by tribals
I found books like Madan and
Mazumdar- Social Anthropology and
Horton and Hunt relevant for prelims
only
Though one could pick up meaning of
terms like culture etc from the Horton
and Hunt book to understand its usage
and maybe, apply it in the Essay paper
(if it so demands)
Now the question arises

how to supplement
this basic material ?
1. In paper 2 the theory portion
should be connected to/updated
by egs drawn from real life /recent
case studies covered in magazines
like Yojana and Economic and
Political Weekly . You could
become an online member of
these magazines and avail the
benefit of browsing through their
archives.
2. I was too lazy to do this and
consequently suffered(thankfully
not too badly!) in paper 2.
3. In paper 1 there is an excellent
reference book by the name of
Haralombos and Halborn,its
detailed,comprehensive and
contemporary.unfortunately,
reading it is a time consuming
exercise so do it only as a last
resort and/or to add value to
selective topics(to avoid

meandering away from relevant

topics always keep the syllabus by
your side)
4. These are the books/resources
which I found relevant ..if I later on
recall more(not that you would
want me to, once you see the
content of some of these books!)
I would add on to this post
5. Hopefully all of you would come to
enjoy Sociology as much as I did
(and also get good marksvery
imp! )
July 19th, 2012 | Category: strategy
Copyright 2012 Mrunal- All Rights Reserved
Powered by WordPress& Atahualpa