how to prepare sociology optional for ias exam

7/28/2019 How to Prepare Sociology Optional for IAS Exam

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Sociology has ever been popular optional subject in Civil Services (Prelims

and mains) Examination and during previous years its popularity

has even increased substantially with the tremendous performance

shown by scores of candidates.

Nonetheless some deserving candidates fail To perform better to make their names

appear in the list. This does not happen due to their lack of knowledge or understanding

of the subject but primarily it is so because they lack proper guidance to tackle the subjectin a right direction.

Here my endeavour shall be to make the subject intelligible, easier and tricky so that even

an average candidate may have the honour to reach the prestigious score of 350.

Sociology: A safer optional subject

No special knowledge or academic background is required for the preparation of

Sociology as an optional subject. Numerous evidences show that candidates without anyspecial skill in Sociology have obtained high scores. The basic requirement of high

scoring is actually the understanding of different elements of Sociology in right direction

and making their use in a well-arranged and well-organised way. In other words, it can besaid that Sociology is made up of different elements and all the elements are inter-related

with each other in one or other way. How do we take up or understand these inter-

relations, all depends on our personal ability. We develop this ability with the help ofstandard books and notes but sharpen it only under appropriate guidance, because books

and notes are equally available to everyone, however, extraction of needful material from

them varies from person to person. Here an appropriate guidance makes it easier even toan average student. A real guidance, through some novel approaches, makes any subject

so much acceptable that a curiosity of reading and understanding the subject is easily

born in us and that further paves the way for securing high marks.

Sociology 1st paper is commonly known as Thinkers paper. There are six thinkersnamely Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, R.K. Merton and

Mead mentioned herein. So, the candidates are required to focus heavily on thinkers and

that almost completes the 1st paper. In this context, I wrote a book on thinkers in Hindi

entitled with () earlier; the English version of whichis on the verge of its completion. It will solve most of thinker's related problems.

Thinkers part is scaled as nearly 10 percent of the total syllabus of first paper but fromthe examination point of view, its corresponding weightage is almost 70 percent. In this

way 90 percent of the syllabus covers only 30 percent of questions. Therefore, your focus

on the syllabus should be in the same ratio ie, 70:30 and not 10:90.

It can be summarized in the following formula:


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T : O :: 70 : 30

Here, T stands for Thinkers part

O stands for other parts

and f stands for focus.

Still the very question how to write better answer remains unanswered. I will not leavethis burden on your head. So, apart from giving you sufficient and appropriate notes, I

will discuss each and every question on the related topic in the class-room (the question

so far asked and expected to be asked) and provide you their better answers.

To make you expert in answer-writing I will discuss some new approaches which you arerequired to insert in your answers. That, while giving you an extra edge in comparison to

others, will created a right impression before the examiner which, in turn, will fetch you

good marks.

The aforesaid approaches I will discuss in the coming sections.

Gifted advantages of Sociology:

1. In General studies (1st paper): Questions varying from 20 marks to 50 marks areasked from social problems, do not require any special effort to deal with. The

preparation of sociology will complete this portion.

The topics covered in this section are: Demography and Human Resources and related

issues. Behavioural and social issues and social welfare problems, such as child labour,

gender equality, adult literacy, rehabilitation of the handicapped and other deprivedsegments on the society, drug abuse, public health, corruption in public life, communal

harmony etc.

2. In Essay paper: There are two to four topics directly based on social problems, whichwould be arranged in a very systematic and logical manner. Sociology students always

remain in comfort zone in making a better presentation and obtaining good marks.

3. In Interview: Most of the current-based and situation-based questions have direct link

with social problems. A Sociology student has already been groomed for such questions.He has built-in platform to tackle social problems. His updated knowledge makes him a

perfect interviewee and interviewers seek no boundation in awarding him marks.

Role of Case studies in Sociology

Sociology 2nd paper is basically a practical paper. Its facts are required to be proved with

the help of solid reasons. The reasons are found in the form of case studies, which make

our answers authentically powerful, if used appropriately. Altogether our analysismatching with these case studies put the answer at its perfection.


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Case studies and analysis are greatly inter-related. Both are complementary to each other.

Ones existence is incomplete and worthless with others absence.

Some Myths about case studies:

1. Addition of many more case studies pleases the examiner and he gives plenty ofmarks.

Truth: This kind of thinking is completely baseless and wrong. Case studies are no doubt

very essential but be careful, each case study has the ability to render a big truth and that

requires sufficient analysis. There are two facts in this context.

(a) When we write the answer in limited words and time constraint, we can not take the

support of too many studies also because most parts of our answer are covered by

analysis. Therefore, some studies and their analysis make the answer complete.

(b) If within word-limitation we focus mostly on case studies, we do not get time andwords to analyse them, then our answer will appear as incomplete and unorganized.

2. The nature of case studies is not as important as their number.

Truth: The nature of studies is very important. Along with some old studies you must try

to give some new studies. That effort is highly appreciated. The reason behind is that

most of the studies have been conducted in 60s and 70s. The 21st century society has metwith a drastic change vis--vis the decade of 60s and 70s. The level of change has gone to

such an extent that if both the societies are brought face to face, it would be quite difficult

to tell that they have a difference of only 30-40 years.

So it is advisable here to manoeuvre some new studies for which appropriate journals and

magazines are recommended. Moreover, one thing needs to be disclosed here that

examiners feel bored finding same case studies in everyones answer-sheets, they want

some new version and your effort in this direction may create miracle.

We will see in the following examples what mistakes are generally done by candidates in

the use of case studies.

Example (1): Explain the traditional power structure in rural India. Discuss the factors

that have contributed to its changing pattern in recent years.

General Answer: The abolition of privileges and economic rights of the intermediarieslike the Zamindars and feudal has though not succeeded in introducing an egalitarian

class-structure in villages, yet it has made a great social psychological impact on ex-

tenant groups and motivates them now for competition with traditional power groups foraccess to positions of power and social status. Village leadership has now increasingly

become more conciliatory and pragmatic in orientation. With the traditional bases of


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power for the older village elite having been removed, the leadership, which is now

emerging, has to reconcile with factions and opposite interest groups to stay in power.

In order to be effective, leaders now have to be pragmatic; exercise contract throughinformal relations and integrate bureaucratic innovations.

Comment: A very impressive introduction but still there is no mention of decentralistion

process and empowerment of women. This addition will make it highly impressive.

Now candidates give plenty of studies to prove it.

Orenstein reports that informal leaders are more effective in the village he studied (avillage in Bombay) than formal leaders.

Alan Beals found the village leadership in Namhalli (Mysore) faction-ridden and

villagers prone to rely on a leader who had the capacity of successful action. Factional

basis leadership also seems to be the case in the village of Morsalli in Banglore districtstudied by William Mc Cormack.

R. Bachenheimer finds in the Andhra village Padu, that leadership is in the hand of

economically dominant families within each caste and wealth plus high caste status

determine leadership.

Edward and L.G. harper find the continuity of traditional form of leadership in village

Totagadde in Karnataka.

According to Oscar Lewis traditional dominant Jats hold leadership in Rampur village in

North India. He observes four characteristics of Jat leadership:

(a) the tendency to minimize the status difference between the leader and the led withinthe caste,

(b) resistance to delegate the authority to leaders permanently without consultation with

the appropriate faction,(c) Complete absence of youth leadership,

(d) Lack of direct note of women in leadership.

This pattern may not be typical of all northern villages.

According to a survey conducted by Planning Commission, the structure of ruralleadership seems still dominated by rich and upper caste groups but there is a tendency

towards recruitment of younger members to the leadership role in villages and a majority

of leaders are literate.

Change in economic field also led to a change in leadership. It was proved by F.G. Baileyin his study of Bisipara village. Bailey found that Boad and Ganjam distillers left their

traditional work and village and went to the town for better employment. They improved


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their economic strength and after returning back to their village, showed interest in

leadership.

Andre Beteille, in Sripuram village, found that there has been a change in the powerstructure of village without the traditional land-owning groups having lost their land to

any substantial extent. He observes that today political power, whether in the village oroutside it, is not as closely tied to ownership of land as it was in past. New bases of

power have emerged which are, to some extent, independent of both caste and class.Perhaps most important among these is the strength of numerical power.

The findings of Beteille shows an instance of regional variation. In this context, an

evaluation of twelve villages of India from different regions by B.S. Cohn is veryconclusive. In six villages land control also compensates for lack of numerical

dominance.

Conclusion: Generally speaking, there has been a break in the centripetal world view of

castes and classes in most villages in India. A great level of change has come as a resultof politicization of villages through the contemporary political reforms. It has also been

motivated by community development schemes which now cover almost all the villages

in India.

Comment: Case studies have been very beautifully presented and simultaneously there isno proper analysis. The complete answer is full of studies but is not looking focused,

because the facts have not been analysed appropriately. Sometimes it seems as if some

contradictory statements have been given. So, do tell and discuss the right causesresponsible for the faction (if you are so talking about) in villages and also how they are

supporting to change the power-structure.

Improvement:

1. Give greater emphasis on 73rd Amendment Act.

2. Discuss the reservations given to SC/ST, women and backward class.3. How did it bring changes in power-structure, corroborate with a few studies(one or

two)

4. Discuss different programmes for the upliftment of poor sections and womenempowerment/emphasis on female participation in politics/impact of womens

Reservation Bill.

5. After giving all studies in a paragraph, discuss mainly about empowerment, democratic

decentralization, mass participation in administration, awareness among people, etc.6. More than a decade have gone after the implementation of Panchayati Raj, we have

enormous studies on it, place a few of them rightly.

7. Give the views of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen.8. Give the opinion of World Bank in the very age of Globalisation in this context.

Generally candidates do not mention about Panchayati Raj because they think there is no

substantial impact of it on masses.


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Your View point: Do tell that the level of changes is not upto the mark, why?

Corroborate it by studies, but keep telling that the change is taking place-though

dimensions are varying, like, there is caste-based faction, Dalit consciousness hasincreased Reason? The influence of Dalit leaders at rural level (Politicisation of power

in the name of Dalit Class) etc.

After such analysis, give a powerful conclusion.

Example (2): Joint family is dissociating into nuclear family. Analyse the statement.

General Answer: Definition of joint family- Its characteristics/Definition of nuclearfamily-its characteristics/Nuclear Families in two different sovietise (In western countries

and in Indias poor Dalit class)-externally both look alike but internally they are quite

different. Nuclear family has been defined on the basis of western countrys structure andso that is the real nuclear family. In western countries, nuclear family is a part of their

system while that of in India is due to economic crunch situation.

Now, in India, it is no more limited upto lower caste poor people but has been

institutionalized universally. Many sociologists have analysed it and0 have admitted notonly its disintegration but also attempted to give the factors responsible for this

disintegration. In this regard, they told one more important thing that in western countries

that separation was both physical and mental while in India it was only physical. Peoplein India are always mentally joint. This is the finding of I.P Desai which was later on

approved by K.M. Kapadia.

Comment: Introduction of the answer is excellent but there is one thing lacking here.

The analysis of physical and mental separation should be socio-psychological ie, there

should be stress on socialization process. Discuss briefly the socialization-pattern of boththe countries and its impact on the child being socialized as to why at one place he

becomes emotionless while at the other place he is emotionally attached to his familymembers.

Now candidates describe so many case studies like the analysis and conclusion of I.P

Desai/ the analysis and conclusion of K.M. Kapadia / the opinion poll conducted by

Indian Institute of Public opinion conclusion/ study of Delhis Agrawal families byM.S. Gore Conclusion/ the study, analysis and conclusion of P.M. Kolenda, apart from

it, three main causes for integration divorce and remarriage, payment of bride wealth

and dowry and uxori laterality vs. virilaterality study and analysis of Banglore by Aileen

Ross, etc.

Then candidates write the conclusion that the outcome of all these studies is that the joint

family is disintegrating into nuclear family. Though the direction of change is unlike

western countries but still the smaller form of family is universal phenomena.

Improvement:


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1. The aim of most of the sociologists is to find the percentage of jointness and nuclearity

in the concerned society. Their studies and conclusions are mostly alike. So try to give

them in one or two paragraphs.2. Among all these studies, the study of Ross is very important. Because she has focused

on those issues which are useful for even todays families and in which the issue of

childrens freedom is most important.3. Discuss the impact of different Acts or laws related to family or marriage ie, the impact

in thinking process, behaviour, freedom of children and also its negative impact.

4. Impact of Globalisation, Privatisation and liberalization on society, also the impact ofPanchayati Raj, etc.

5. The impact of communication system and media on society and so on family system

Awareness level of people has tremendously raised, it paved the way to understand and

analyse the world and in this way a complete change in their world-view.6. Empowerment emancipated women their decision making capacity increased they

can no more carry the traditional Purdah system consequences of all these in the form

of a big generation-gap and that leads to change in family-system.

7. Lastly give an emphatic conclusion.

Discussion on the Tail-Words of the questions

Every tail-word has a specific meaning and its understanding is quite essential for a

candidate to make his answer perfect. Here I am describing some important tail-words to

resolve your problem related with the understanding of the question.

Explain: To simplify the given statement. To write about the statement (may be

based on theory) in such a way that its meaning becomes clear and unequivocal.

Describe: It means general writing about the subject, is, giving straight forward

discussion on different aspects of the given subject. In a simple language it can besaid that whatever your know about the subject, write it systematically. No specialapproach is needed.

Discuss: Like Describe

Elaborate: To describe elaborately.

Analyse: First break the statement in different parts, then describe them

separately and then give a systhesis.

Examine: Highlight different aspects of the given subject and then throw light onrelevancy and fruitfullnes of each aspect.

Criticise : Here both positive and negative aspects should be taken into account

but still the emphasis should be on negative aspect.

Review: Like criticise


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Evaluate: Writing a conclusion after discussing different aspects of the statement.

Here, conclusion has special importance.

Elucidate: Describing with appropriate examples.

Critically Evaluate: Criticism in the approach of evaluation.

Critically Review: Criticism in the approach of review i.e., after giving criticism

of the theory, criticise the critiques.

Critically examine: First describe - Its positive + negative then criticise - Its

positive + negative. Now make a balance between the two.

Short Notes Type Questions

In both the papers, question number 1 and 5 are compulsory and are in the form of

short notes. For each such question, three out of four short notes are required to bewritten for which the word limit is 200. As a convenience, you have 13 minutes of timefor each short notes from which you can allot 1-1 min. for framing the answer. This is

the area which gives you the apportunity to score 75 percent of marks easily, for which

you need to be conscious at certain points, like :

1. Write your answer straight forward without any introduction.2. Your word-limit should not cross 220 mark.

3. Use an easy and free flow language to make your description easily understandable.

4. Try to ascertain the points on which more emphasis is given. Your answer should

revolve around that point. For example if you have to write short notes on value-freesociology, So first tell its meaning and then quote some sociologists who have tried to

establish sociology as value neutral. Now discuss some problems which restrict sociology

to be value free and the contradictions in the thoughts of sociologists at this concept likeMax Weber, a main proponent of value free sociology, has adopted subjective meaning

and verstehen approach similarly Emile Durkheim advocated to consider social facts as

things and simultaneously for collective conscience. Finally give a conclusion in formof a practical solution.

5. If the topic so requires, you may finish the short notes abruptly is, without giving any

conclusion. For example, short notes on Mode of production do not require any

conclusion and criticism.6. Your knowledge of strong vocabulary is always appreciated. Writing more in limited

words is an art and does not come suddenly. It requires a continuous effort and a right

feedback.7. In short notes, your accuracy and exactness and not your wide knowledge is

praised. Though knowledge of the subject is indispensable but the arrangement of

elements at right place is the measurement of exactness.

8. If required, you can mention one or two case studies briefly.


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Classroom Technique

Any topic which is to be studied, should not be studied straight-forword but rather should

be broken in different possible dimensions having any kind of connection with the topic

in answer writing, select related dimensions according to the nature of the question. This

technique will help you complete your answer. An illustration of this technique is givenas follows:

Kark Marx : Theory of class-struggle

1. Introduction

2. Definition of class

3. Different classes in different ages : Role of mode of production

(a) Meaning of MOP - Its two aspects : (i) Material (Forces of Production) (ii) Social

(Relations of Production)(b) Concept of substructure (Economic structure) and infrastructure/superstructure.(c) Changing form of MOP - A special characteristic.

(d) Change in MOP - Beginning of a new age (Primitive communism-Ancient-feudal -

Capitalistic)(e) In capitalism : 'Class-in-itself' changes into 'class-for-itself' : full consciousness

(f) Emergence of communism - A new MOP where change stops.

4. Beginning and development of capitalism-two different classes.

(i) Bourgeoisie (ii) Proletariat

5. Forced labourers : Sale-purchase of their labour power

6. Emergence of false-consciousness in Proletariat - Role of Religion

7. Surplus value & Profit - Maximisation

8. (a) Automation and Problem of unemployment among workers.

(b) Overproduction and end of Petty Bourgeoisie.

9. Alienation in Proletariat

(a) Meaning of Alienation

(b) Meaning - elaboration : (i) Economic aspect (ii) Social aspect(c) Dominance of Specializaion - Alienation at its zenith.

(d) Religious explanation of Alienation(e) Relevancy of Alienation

(f) Criticism

10. Polarisation of two classes - Due to some processes like Homogenisation,

Pauperization, Monopolisation.


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11. Change of 'class-in-itself' into 'class-for-itself'

(a) Meaning of 'class-in-itself'

(b) 'Class-in-itself' : Objective Reality(c) Position of labourers -from slaves of Ancient age till alienated Proletariat of

capitalistic age - 'class-in-itself'

(d) 'Class-for-itself' : Subjective perception(e) Polarisation of two classes and role of Petty Bourgeoisie responsible for change of

class-in-itself into class-for-itself - A situation of full consciousness of Proletariat

12. Historical Revolution

13. Establishment of Communism

14. Criticism: (a) Functionalist: (i) Parsons (ii) Davis & Moore (iii) M.M. Tumin (iv)Eva Rosenfeld (v) Michael Young

(b) Conflict theorists: (i) Max Weber (ii) Ralf Dahrendorf

15 Relevancy of Marx's theory

Recommended Books (For Mains)

1. Thinkers - Abraham Morgan

2. Sociology : Themes and Perspectives - Haralambos | Buy Online

3. IGNOU material

4. Modernization of Indian Tradition - Y. Singh | Buy Online

5. Social change and stratification - Y. Singh6. Social change in Modern India - M.N. Sriniwas | Buy Online

7. Social Background of Indian Nationalism - A. R. Desai | Buy Online

8. Household Dimensions of the Family - A. M. Shah

9. A Hand book of Sociology - Veena Das | Buy Online

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