Sorry for the delay!
When did I start revising? As soon as the teacher had finished the course, so some time around now/beginning of March. I didn't start hardcore revision until mid-April if I remember rightly.
How did I revise? I split the course into the syllabus points (you can find them on the specification on the exam board website), then made mind maps and revision cards for each point. Another way some of my friends did it was go through the teachers PowerPoints and make notes on them. I just find cards work better for me because they are so small and portable. I also did past paper but those were mainly in class and then the teacher marked them.
What do I think helped most? There are several things that I think contributed, one of which being an awesome teacher, another being the Haralambos blue textbook (
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haralambos-Holborn-Sociology-Perspectives-Handbook/dp/0007310722) for AS and A2 - very helpful for cutting through the Sociological blathering and getting to the basic points, that's not to say it's the be all and end all of the course! But, it did help me grasp the basics to build off of and it had dozens of easily relatable sociologist to throw in. Another bit of advice would be don't neglect the shorter mark questions! It can be tempting to just rush the little questions so you can start the big one but DON'T! If you get nearly all the marks in the little questions then you already have a pass grade, that makes the big question less vital to ace - we all know those last few marks are nigh on impossible to get and most people can get half pretty easily, that's should roughly work out to a B... (If my memory is serving me correctly.)
Some more general advice I'd give:
- Remember a few basic theories or quotes, e.g. Murdock and Parsons and try to throw them in.
- Argue different approaches against each other (e.g. Marxist vs. Feminist vs. Functionalist)
- Be critical of different approaches, highlighting strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you're talking about the 4 functions of the family, find different examples that do and don't fit, suggesting strengths and weaknesses.
Sorry this got a bit long, hope I helped and please feel free to contact me either through this post or on PM.
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