SociologyMainsPreparation

SorryguysforthedelayinwritingthispostandthoughIwouldtrymybestto
answerthevariousquestionsputforwardbycseaspirantsregarding
sociologyremember,Iamonlyhuman....Ididnotmakenotesonevery
topic...nordidIcovereverysubtopicingreatdetail...butwhatImadesure
wasthat:
1.BeforereadinganynotesorchaalucopypastebooksIshouldbethorough
withtheoriginalbooks(mentionedlater)
2.ThinkersandTheories(sayTheoriesofsocialchange,ofpoweretc.)should
bedoneingreatdetailwithelaboratenotes,restofthetopicscanbedonevia
asinglebook(youcouldpullout/photocopyrelevantchaptersandputthem
alongwithyournotessothateverythingisinoneplacewhenyourevise)or
merepointerscando(sayfortopicslikeChildLabour).
Warning:Nonotesshouldbemadebeforeathirdreadingofthe
chapter/book/sourcematerialespeciallyforthosewhowere,tilltheydecided
toplungeintocsepreparationcompletelyalientothesubjectandits
nuances.
3.Thesenotes/pointersweretobemadeintheformatof:

FirstPageTheSyllabuswiththenewlyaddedtopics(infoforthenewbeeies,
thesyllabuschangedfrom2008Mains)highlighted(youcanexpect
increasedimportancetobeallottedtothenewertopicsintheexam)and
sourcesreferredtoforthevarioussubtopicswrittenalongwithamentionof
whetheryouhavewrittennotesonitornot.
Thiswillhelpyouincrossreferringthesourcebookswhenyoufeelthatthere
issomethingmissinginyournoteswhenyoureviseafteralongtime,ortoask
doubts/searchfornewmaterial'cosyouwouldknowwhatyoudon'tknow
...veryimportantsincethiswouldguideyouinselectingwhichquestionsto
answerinthefinalexamhour(nooneisallowedtoask...isthereachoicein
thequestionpaperorevenworse...howwillitguideoneinquestion
selection!)
SecondPageAlloldquestionsincludingthe1980'sones(accordingto
syllabusofcourse!)...ifyounoticesomeofthereallyoldquestionspertainto
thenewlyaddedtopics...bringingthechangesmadetoafullcircle!:)
Also,itsimportanttoknowwhichsubtopiccanbeinterlinkedwithwhichother
subtopic,whichsubtopicrequiresmoreelaboratereadingandnotemaking
andwhichtopicsyoucantaffordtomiss(somequestionshavebeen
repeatedlyaskedindirectlyordirectly...)
Allofthiscanonlybegatheredbyathoroughanalysisofthequestions

asked(preferablyonyourown)inthepreviousyearssopayattentiontothe
secondpagetoo!
ThirdPageNowyournotemakingstarts...theelaboratenotesandeven
pointersshouldfollowthisformat:
a.Theory/ConceptWhosaid,WhatwassaidandinWhichcontextwasitsaid

b.CriticismEverytheoretician/perspectivehasacritiquewhichpointsoutthe
lacunaeinthesameandatthesametimetakesitforward...oneshouldbe
veryclearwiththisaspect.

c.Application
Inpaper1:Emphasiseoncasestudiesusa,uk('cosmanystudiesare
availablefromthere!)oranyotherforeigncountryifyouhavearelevant
casestudy...but,atthesametimedonotforgettoconnectittoIndian
examples.

Inpaper2:EmphasisshouldbeplacedonIndianSociologistsand
applicationtoIndiancontext,thoughheretooworksofimportant
sociologists(frompaper1)canbeapplied.

Hence,studying,notemakingandthenanswerwriting(inthesame
chronologicalorderforveryobviousreasons!)shouldbedonekeepingin
mindthatpaper1andpaper2arenotexclusiveofeachotherbutareinfact
interlinkedandattimesevendrawsustenancefromeachother.
4.Thenoteswouldbemadepreferablyinthesameformatastheanswer
sheetsgivenintheupscmainsexamieA4blanksheetswithspaceleftat
bothsides(insteadofwastingtimemakingmarginswithscaleandpenciljust
foldthepaperonbothsidestogivetheimpressionofamargin)andpunched
tobeputintowellorganisedfolders.
5.Thisorganisationofnotesmaysoundlikeaveryverychildlikesuggestion
butithasgreatbearingonyourrevision...rememberyouarenotwritingnotes
topublishthemforthebenefitofmankind(whichisnotabadideabutnot
yourprimarygoal!)buttoapplythemintheexamination,sopleaserevise
reviserevise(thisisnotatypoerror:)badjoke...still)
6.Iwouldshareresourceslikeadvice/coachingmaterial/yourownnoteswith
anotherseriousstudent...itsapersonalbeliefthatpettycompetitivenesspulls
youdownaswell.
7.Internetresources(somebookshaveafewpagesputoutforreading
online)andlibrary(DSchool,ArtsFacultyDelhiUniversity)resources(through
astudent)wouldbeusedappropriately.
Note:Ifyougetholdofanamazingbookforaverysmallsubtopicanddon't
havetimetogothroughitjustreadtheIntroduction+Preface...itusually

encapsulatesthewholeargument
Thiswasthe"howtoread"bit...nowletscomedownnowtothe"whatto
read"part:
The"Howtostart"dilemnaplaguesmostofthecseaspirantsespthosewho
didnothaveahumanitiesbackground....Thesolutionissimple
StartwithNCERTXIandXII(oldandneweditionsboth)
Thenfor:
Paper1Refer(inaccordancewiththesyllabus...iftimepermitsyoucould
readthewholebookaswell...ifnothingelseitmayhelpyouintheessayor
lateronintheinterviewstage):
AnthonyGiddensSociology(Ibelievethe5theditionisavailablein
Indiainapaperbackformat...expensivebookbutitsusefulness
justifiesitsexpense)
MacIonisSociology(broughttoIndiabyPearsonspublications)
Thesebooksgiveabasicunderstandingandatthesametimeananalysisof
morecontemporarytopics.
NowyoucouldgoontothebasicbookforThinkerswhichis:
FrancisAbrahamandJohnHenryMorganSociologicalThought
YoushouldalsoelaborateuponThinkersbyreferringtoRitzerselectively(a
must)
SomeofmyfriendspickeduptitbitsfromLewisCoserandsomereferredto
RaymondArontoo(optional)
ForPaper2StartwithIGNOUBAcoursematerialandsticktoit!Takecare
tomentionthecasestudiesconsideredintheIGNOUbookletsinyour
examination.

Youshouldalsoread:

M.N.SrinivasSocialChangeinIndia
YogendraSinghModernisationofIndianTradition
HandbookofIndianSociologyeditedbyVeenaDas(selectivereadingofthe
book)
J.C.Verma(aNBTpublicationonTribals)fortheportiononproblemsfaced
bytribals...

IfoundbookslikeMadanandMazumdarSocialAnthropologyandHorton
andHuntrelevantforprelimsonly
ThoughonecouldpickupmeaningoftermslikecultureetcfromtheHorton
andHuntbooktounderstanditsusageandmaybe,applyitintheEssay
paper(ifitsodemands)
Nowthequestionariseshowtosupplementthisbasicmaterial?
Inpaper2thetheoryportionshouldbeconnectedto/updatedbyegsdrawn
fromreallife/recentcasestudiescoveredinmagazineslikeYojanaand
EconomicandPoliticalWeekly.Youcouldbecomeanonlinememberof
thesemagazinesandavailthebenefitofbrowsingthroughtheirarchives.
Iwastoolazytodothisandconsequentlysuffered(thankfullynottoobadly!)
inpaper2.
Inpaper1thereisanexcellentreferencebookbythenameofHaralombos
andHalborn,itsdetailed,comprehensiveandcontemporary....unfortunately,
readingitisatimeconsumingexercisesodoitonlyasalastresortand/orto
addvaluetoselectivetopics(toavoidmeanderingawayfromrelevanttopics
alwayskeepthesyllabusbyyourside)
Thesearethebooks/resourceswhichIfoundrelevant..ifIlateronrecall
more(notthatyouwouldwantmeto,onceyouseethecontentofsomeof
thesebooks!)Iwouldaddontothispost...
HopefullyallofyouwouldcometoenjoySociologyasmuchasIdid(andalso
getgoodmarks...veryimp!)