SOCIOLOGY PAPER 1 AND 2

Strategy and notes

Sociology ! While the marks are yet to come, I am very sure that it is Sociology that has played the biggest role in me getting this rank. I had scored around 270 marks in Sociology last year. And that too, after poorly written 20 markers on non-positivistic methodology and Mills in Paper 1, and mention of very few thinkers in Paper 2. After the Mains last year, I had spent almost three months studying only Sociology. I completed whatever topics I had not been able to cover properly, did value addition to whatever notes I had already made, and also wrote six tests of the Vision Test Series. Hence, I had everything ready, and after the Prelims this year, I just had to read and revise the same several times.

Coming to the beginning, before finalizing Sociology as my Optional, I had gone through its Syllabus and the Question Papers of the past ten years. These two activities provided a rough idea of what to focus on while studying.

I first read the two Class 11 NCERTs – Introducing Sociology and Understanding Society, and the two Class 12 NCERTs – Indian Society and Social Change and Development in India once, and highlighted the important points in them. Later, I added only these highlighted points to my notes.

Then I once read the entire ESO 13 and MSO 04 Blocks of IGNOU Sociology. This was just a quick basic reading and I did not highlight any points or make any notes from this first reading.

Then I started selectively reading Sociology – Themes and Perspectives by Haralambos and Holborn. This book is also known as the ‘Blue Haralambos’. The book only looks huge, but it is actually written in a very simple language. In the first reading, I only highlighted the important points. And in the second reading, I made notes from this book. These notes were my base material for Paper 1.

Following are the page numbers that I read from the Blue Haralambos (8th Edition):

Introduction: sociological perspectives – full

Chapter 1: Stratification, class and inequality – pages 21-24, 30-34, 47-56, 80-82, 87-93

Chapter 2: Sex and gender – pages 95-101, 104-121, 130-138

Chapter 3: ‘Race’, ethnicity and nationality – pages 155-160, 174-187, 193-197, 206-210

Chapter 4: Poverty, social exclusion and the welfare state – pages 231-236, 246-247, 259-264, 269-276

Chapter 6: Crime and deviance – pages 347-352, 361-367

Chapter 7: Religion – pages 431-437, 444-462, 473-475, 487-488, 491-499, 504-507

Chapter 8: Families, households and personal life – pages 509-525, 544-545, 566-569

Chapter 9: Power, politics and the state – pages 579-590, 593-603, 608-620

Chapter 10: Education – pages 663-671, 702-704

Chapter 14: Methodology – full

Chapter 15: Sociological theory – pages 953-998, 1013-1015

Here, I would suggest first reading the Introduction, then the selected pages from Chapter 15, then the entire Chapter 14, and then the remaining Chapters.

Once the notes-making from the Blue Haralambos was done, I did one reading of Fundamentals of Sociology by Vikash Ranjan Sir (5th Edition). From this book, I read all the Chapters except Chapter 4 (Sociological Thinkers). The language of the book is very simple, and I made notes in this first reading itself. This book is helpful for Chapters 6, 9 and 10, which are not covered much in the Blue Haralambos. And it also helped in adding some more content and Thinkers for the remaining Chapters.

Once I had my notes ready from the above two books, I read the Class Notebooks of Upendra Gaur Sir. These had been written by a friend’s friend, from Sir’s batch for Mains 2016. They were very good and covered most of the topics of Paper 1. Even some topics of Paper 2 had been covered in them, but I did not read those. I have not read Sir’s written notes that are available on Telegram, so I cannot comment on their quality. I did not make any notes from these Notebooks, as they were anyways written in the notes-format only.

Then I again read the entire ESO 13 Block of IGNOU Sociology. I did not make any notes from them, and instead only highlighted the important points.

I did not read Ritzer because Upendra Sir’s Class Notebooks covered Chapter 4 (Sociological Thinkers) in great detail. Plus, even my notes from the Blue Haralambos had covered Marx, Durkheim and Weber quite well. And the remaining gaps had been filled by ESO 13.

I started with Paper 2 only after completing all the above actions.

For Paper 2, I first read Applied Sociology – Indian Society: Structure and Change by Vikash Ranjan Sir (5th Edition). The language of the book is very simple, and I made notes in this first reading itself. For topics that were too huge to make notes, I just noted down the page numbers from this book, and then read only those pages multiple times.

Then, I read Mohapatra Sir’s Class Notebooks which I had ordered from Pankaj Copiers. These were seven Notebooks from Sir’s batch that had started in December 2016. And they were excellent. I had initially planned to read only Paper 2 from these Notebooks. But once I started reading them, I realized that, for many topics, Sir had covered Paper 1 and Paper 2 in an integrated manner. Hence, I read everything except the two Notebooks that covered Chapter 4 (Sociological Thinkers) of Paper 1. I made notes in the first reading itself. For topics that were too huge to make notes, I just noted down the page numbers from the Notebooks, and then read only those pages multiple times. I also added to my Paper 1 notes from these Notebooks. I have not read Sir’s written notes that are available on Telegram, so I cannot comment on their quality.

Then, I once read the Vision Test Series Model Answers for Paper 2, from the years 2014 to 2017. I added any new content or Thinkers that I could find in them, to my notes.

Then I quickly read the entire MSO 04 Block of IGNOU Sociology again, and added any new content or Thinkers that I could find in it, to my notes.

And then I read Tusharanshu Sharma Sir’s notes for Paper 2. I did not make any notes from them, and instead only highlighted the important points.

Most of the above was done from June 2017 to January 2018, alongside the GS preparation. Then from February, I had started focusing more on the Prelims, and did not study much for Sociology.

After the 2018 Prelims:

My own notes, Upendra Gaur Sir’s Class Notebooks and the highlighted points from ESO 13 were what I read and revised several times for Paper 1 and

My own notes and highlighted points from Tusharanshu Sharma Sir’s notes were what I read and revised several times for Paper 2

Also, for some topics in both the Papers, I referred to my own Class Notebook.

Along with all these, I also wrote the Test Series.

This is all that I had done for Mains 2018.

I had joined the online combined Lectures and Test Series Course for Sociology by Praveen Kishore Sir. I have already written a detailed review of it in my previous post – 

Unlike PSIR, there is no one amazing Teacher available for Sociology. Hence, no matter which Coaching Institute you join, you will have to refer to multiple notes and books. However, honest advice – if you are planning to join offline classes, I would suggest Upendra Gaur Sir. Not sure if Sir plans to start online classes, but if he does, that would be really helpful. Else, for the online mode, you can consider joining Shankar IAS (Rajitha Shivashankar Ma’am).

If possible, do please join a Test Series, preferably after you finish at least one reading of the entire portion. Do try to finish at least some tests before the Prelims, and then after Prelims you can write the remaining tests. I found all three – Praveen Kishore Sir, Vision and Shankar very good with regard to the quality of questions and evaluation. However, the most important thing is to work on the inputs and the suggestions received.

The day Mains 2018 got over, I was sure of narrowly missing or narrowly clearing the cutoff (when the result came, it was the former). So, after taking some days off, I geared up for the 2019 attempt.

As stated in the beginning, now I spent almost three months studying only Sociology. Here I will elaborate what I did in those three months.

First, I quickly read my own notes again.

Then, I read Essential Sociology by Nitin Sangwan Sir. The language of the book is very simple, and in this first reading itself, I added any new content or Thinkers that I could find in it, to my notes.

Then I quickly did some very selective reading of those IGNOU Blocks which I had not read before. This is what I read:

Paper 1 – https://reliableandvalid.com/2017/07/22/upsc-sociology-paper-1-ignou-topic-wise-notes/

Paper 2 – https://reliableandvalid.com/2016/06/05/upsc-sociology-paper-2-ignou-topic-wise-notes/

The language of IGNOU is very simple, and in this first reading itself, I added any new content or Thinkers that I could find in it, to my notes.

Then I read Tusharanshu Sharma Sir’s notes for Paper 1. In this first reading itself, I added any new content or Thinkers that I could find in them, to my notes.

And then I went through all the past rank holders’ Sociology Test Series Papers that I could find. You can download them from:

Vision – http://www.visionias.in/resources/toppers_answers.php

Lukmaan – here I went through the papers of both, the past rank holders, as well as the Test Series toppers – https://lukmaanias.com/topper-best-copy/ and https://lukmaanias.com/current-series-best-copy/

Triumph – https://www.triumphias.com/pages-toppers-answer-sheet.php

GS Score – https://iasscore.in/toppers-copy

I added any new content or Thinkers that I could find in these papers, to my notes.

For some very few topics of Paper 2, where I still felt that I did not have enough content, I referred to the printed notes of Praveen Kishore Sir. In this first reading itself, I added any new content or Thinkers that I could find in them, to my notes.

Once all this was done, I wrote the Vision Test Series. My marks and the feedback that I got showed that I was most certainly on the way to 300+ marks in Sociology.

Then, after the 2019 Prelims:

My own notes, Upendra Gaur Sir’s Class Notebooks and the highlighted points from ESO 13 were what I read and revised several times for Paper 1 and

My own notes and highlighted points from Tusharanshu Sharma Sir’s notes were what I read and revised several times for Paper 2

Also, for some topics in both the Papers, I referred to my own Class Notebook.

While this is same as what I had done for Mains 2018, my own notes were much more detailed by now.

Some additional things that I read once, just before Mains 2019, were:

Sociology Value Added Notes by IAS Baba

Triumph IAS Compilation of Sociological Articles from EPW, Yojana and Kurukshetra – https://www.triumphias.com/pages-epw-yojana-kurushetra.php

Some of the current affairs related articles shared on the Website – https://reliableandvalid.com/. They also have a paid programme, which I had not joined, so I cannot comment on it. But the free content available on this Website was good too.

These three sources gave some very good examples and case studies from the current affairs, especially for Paper 2.

And I also wrote the Shankar IAS Test Series.

Besides all these, my Class Notebook from the Society and Social Justice Lectures by Smriti Shah Ma’am, and the Vision VAMs for Society and Social Justice were also useful for the Sociology Optional preparation. Also, from my ‘The Hindu’ reading, I had tried to make a list of examples and case studies that could be used in Sociology, especially in Paper 2.

Now coming to Answer Writing.

First, please ensure that, in your notes, you have content of at least 400 words, for every topic that has been mentioned in the Syllabus. All the sources I have mentioned above are almost enough for this. For Chapter 4 (Sociological Thinkers) of Paper 1, apart from the concept given by the Thinkers and its criticism, also have content ready on the current relevance and current examples of those concepts. And if possible, also have content ready on the current relevance and current examples of concepts given by Thinkers from the other Chapters, of both Paper 1 and Paper 2, as well.

Also, please have content ready for everything that has been asked in the Question Papers of at least the past ten years (except for those topics which are no more a part of the Syllabus). For very few questions, whose answer content I did not have in my notes, I referred to the solved previous years’ Sociology papers by Chronicle Publications. The answers in this book are not that good, and hence please use it minimally.

As mentioned above, in these two attempts, I wrote three different Test Series for Sociology. The feedback I got for my answers was very helpful, and I worked on whatever improvements they suggested. If possible, do please join a Test Series, preferably after you finish your own notes-making. However, the most important thing is to work on the inputs and the suggestions received.

The key to good marks in Sociology is to write the answers ‘sociologically’.

Firstly, try and quote as many Thinkers as possible. My target was to quote at least four Thinkers in a 20 marker, and at least two Thinkers in a 10 marker. But please quote only those Thinkers which are relevant to the question that has been asked.

If Thinkers are not available, especially in Paper 2, wherever possible, try and quote facts, statistics, government schemes and their outcomes, government reports and their recommendations, committee recommendations, details of judgements and other such data. The Social Issues Vision Mains 365 document, and the Government Schemes Vision PT 365 document, are what I referred to, for this type of data.

You can also use examples and case studies from the current affairs, wherever possible, in both Paper 1 as well as Paper 2. For these, besides my own notes from the newspaper, I referred to the three sources already mentioned above.

Make Paper 1 your strength because it is largely static, questions do get repeated, and there are enough Thinkers available for almost all the topics.

You can quote some Paper 1 Thinkers in Paper 2 as well, but please do not overdo it. Likewise, Indian Thinkers from Paper 2 can be quoted in Paper 1 too, but again sparingly.

In the exam, try and select those questions which are based on the static portion, so that you already have enough content and Thinkers to write.

For static questions, generally this standard framework fits really well:

Explaining the sociological concept, its criticism, its current relevance and current examples or case studies related to that concept.

Even for questions that are based on the current affairs, or questions that seem to be from the GS, make your answer ‘Sociological’. This is what you need to do for it:

First remember every topic mentioned in the Syllabus. Then, for the given question, analyze how the core issue that the question is asking, has an impact on, or is impacted by, the different topics of the Syllabus.

or

Analyze how the core issue that the question is asking, is interpreted as per some of the theories like the Structural-Functional Theory, the Conflict Theory, the Feminist Theory, the Symbolic Interactionist Theory.

These three frameworks can be used together as well, especially for the 20 markers.

Let me explain this with examples from Mains 2019 –

In both Paper 1 and Paper 2, apart from the compulsory Q1. and Q5., I attempted Q4., Q6. and Q8.

Paper 1 – Q. Discuss the issues of access and exclusion in higher education in India.

This seems like a question from Paper 2, but it was asked in Paper 1. So quickly recall the Syllabus topics of Paper 1. Some topics that fit in here are:

Alienation – the curriculum is based on middle-class values and is alienating for students from the other classes. Also, many courses are not available in regional languages, again causing alienation.

Suicide – discrimination in higher education institutions led to suicides by Rohith Vemula and Dr. Payal Tadvi.

Pattern Variables – education system is part of the AGIL framework.

Deviance – due to lack of access to higher education, some students may become deviant.

Social exclusion, poverty, class – lower participation of poor, Dalits, Tribals and Minorities in higher education.

Gender – lower participation of women in STEM courses.

Social mobility – higher education can be a source of social mobility. Lack of it perpetuates poverty.

Informal organizations – they see a large participation of those who could not access or were excluded from higher education.

Power elite – they use entrance exams or other such criteria to restrict the access to higher education for the masses. Also, increasing privatization of higher education.

Religion – students who have completed basic education from the Madarsas, may face difficulty in accessing higher education.

Education and social change – without an inclusive and accessible system of higher education, social change is not possible.

You can similarly think of points related to some other topics of the Syllabus. Not all the points are equally important, and the more important points should be written in the beginning. If required, points can also be written from the Syllabus topics of Paper 2.

Migration – migration towards urban areas is seen due to lack of access to higher education in the rural areas.

Social Movements – student movements arising from higher education institutes have played an important role in India.

Some data that can be quoted here are the Sukhadeo Thorat Committee, Xaxa Committee and the Ranganath Misra Commission.

Paper 1 – Q. What is affirmative action? Substantiate theoretical positions on affirmative actions with examples.

Affirmative action is a form of sponsored mobility as stated by RH Turner.

Here we need to analyze affirmative action as per some of the Sociological theories.

Structural-functionalism – affirmative action provides opportunities to the various deprived sections of the society. This helps avoid protests or a revolution, thus maintaining social equilibrium. Example – once the EWS reservation was announced, a dominant caste stopped the protests demanding reservation for their community.

Conflict – affirmative action only provides mobility to a limited number of people. Thus, it is like a safety valve used by the bourgeoisie. Due to some successful examples, it perpetuates the false belief that the system is an open system. It thus prevents true class consciousness from emerging. Example – rags-to-riches stories are over glorified using the ideological state apparatus, to give the proletariat a false hope that anyone can achieve the same.

Feminist – affirmative action only gives token representation to women. The true power is still wielded by men, and structural inequality remains. Example – Sarpanch pati.

Some data that can be quoted here are the Indra Sawhney judgement, the M. Nagaraj judgement and the Sinho Commission.

For additional points, quickly recall the Syllabus topics of Paper 1 and write on the topics that fit in here.

Paper 2 – Q. Highlight the main features of the ‘Inter-linking of Rivers’ project in India. What could be its probable advantages to Indian agriculture.

This was a 20 marker, and the points we know from GS can barely fill two pages. Thus, recalling the Syllabus topics of Paper 2, some topics that fit in here are:

Land tenure system – can lead to a rise in capitalistic farming and bullock cart capitalists, as land hitherto unutilized due to lack of water, can also be brought under cultivation.

Tribal communities – may lead to their displacement, alienation, loss of tribal way of life, ecological imperialism.

Agrarian class, caste system – large farmers, most of whom are from the dominant castes, are more likely to benefit.

Middle class, social mobility – farmers benefiting from assured water availability will rise to the middle class. Also, tourism, logistics and other such activities that will see a boost due to the inter-linking of rivers, will see a class of small entrepreneurs or petty bourgeoisie rising.

Family and marriage – case study on ‘water wives’.

Religious communities – religious ceremonies, which were performed in the river or on the river banks, may face difficulty if the course of the river is diverted.

Rural development, poverty alleviation – self-explanatory.

Regionalism – inter-linking of rivers is a long duration project, and if the state governments change, issues may arise. Past example of the Cauvery water dispute.

Peasants and farmers movements – may decline.

Environmental movements – may rise.

Migration – migration towards urban areas may decline as opportunities may come up even in small towns and rural areas.

Environmental problems and sustainability – climate change in the future may raise a question on the feasibility of this project.

Also, using the Sociological theories:

Structural-functionalism – the project will contribute to maintenance of social equilibrium. This is because agriculture may become more remunerative and other employment opportunities may also rise, thus preventing any protests or a revolution.

Conflict – it will only perpetuate false class consciousness. All the benefits will be garnered by the influential land-owning class and the urban bourgeoisie. Also, it takes away the attention from the other structural issues like declining soil fertility, over-use of fertilizers and pesticides, poor skill training opportunities, lack of access to capital.

Please do not force-fit any points. Not all Syllabus topics or Sociological theories may apply to a particular question. Also, not all the points are equally important, and the more important points should be written in the beginning, and in case of space or time crunch, you can skip writing the less important points.

If needed, these standard frameworks from GS can also be used. But please use them sparingly, and that too only and only if the above three frameworks do not seem to work.

5 Ws and 1 H – Who, What, When, Where, Why and How – not all of them may be applicable, so choose only those that are relevant to the question

past, present and possible future

positives, negatives and possible improvements

structural issues, functional issues and their solutions

short-term, medium-term and long-term view

PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal) issues

SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)

Even for Sociology, I wrote all the answers in the Introduction – Body – Conclusion format. And I wrote all the answers in the point format. Many prefer using the paragraph format while writing the answers in the Optional papers. So please choose whichever method suits you the best.

In the Introduction, I mostly defined, using some Thinker, whatever the most important term of the question was. Or I just rephrased the question statement in a simpler manner.

The Body of the answer consisted of addressing each part of the question. For every part, I wrote one line, explaining what that part is about, and then wrote some 3-4 points addressing that part in detail. This format of one sentence, then 3-4 points, then again one sentence, then again 3-4 points and so on, makes the answer visually better than simply writing the whole answer in only points or only paragraphs.

If the question did not seem to have any parts, I divided the question into parts using either the Sociological frameworks or some of the GS frameworks that I have already mentioned above.

Please do not force-fit any of these formats in your answer. Instead, depending on the question, see which one fits the best and use the same. You can also combine two or more of these formats. And even if the question already has parts, you can still use these formats to further write a more detailed answer. There is no standard way of deciding which format fits which questions the best, and only by experimenting while writing the Test Series can you get a fair idea about it. But do please remember to add as much flavour of Sociology as possible, in whatever you write.

And I wrote a short and optimistic Conclusion, restricted to two or three sentences only. It was mostly related to the ‘way forward’ regarding the most important term of the question.

In the exam, in the beginning, I quickly read all the questions and selected which sets of questions I would be attempting. I tried to select those question sets where I knew the 20 markers really well. And as far as possible, I tried to select those questions which were based on the static portion. In the first 90 minutes, I answered all the 20 markers, and in the next 90 minutes, I answered all the 10 markers.

Thanks to big handwriting and good spacing, I also managed to fill all the pages. I even filled all the four pages for all the 20 markers. I am not sure if this translates into more marks, but filling all the pages does seem to give an impression that a lot of content has been written

For Sociology Notes

If you cannot find the PDFs of any of the above-mentioned material on the official websites of those institutes, you can almost certainly find them, free of cost, on the Websites – https://freeupscmaterials.org/ or https://upscpdf.com/ or the Telegram Channels –

 https://t.me/UpscMaterials or https://t.me/UPSC_PDF or https://t.me/sociology_optional

The approach I used is neither the most perfect nor the most exhaustive one to study for and write the Sociology Optional Papers of the UPSC CSE. Do please use your own discretion, and if necessary, do please refer to some other sources and strategies as well.

All the Best !

Notes and strategy by Neha boshle UPSC CSE 2018 AIR 15