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Sociology GCSEs 2022

I need to start revising for sociology for GCSEs in May but I'm not sure where to begin with all that content. Could anyone recommend some effective and organised ways to revise sociology? It's something I struggle to revise for.
I’m not sure exactly what you’d call my preferred method to revise sociology but I’ll share it anyways - maybe someone else has a name for it. Because the studies are such a crucial part of the course, I found making sure I knew a solid variety of them the hardest (you don’t have to know every single last one!)

What I did was made a giant cheat sheet full of every study I wanted to learn written in a condensed form firstly, then a second sheet with only the headings - so the sociologists names, e.g. Parsons, Zaretsky etc.
So I’d read through a certain section on the cheat sheet, so maybe all the studies in relation to the functionalist perspective on the family and try and commit those to memory, not focusing on word-for-word perfection, just the general basis. Then on the other sheet I’d try and replicate what I’ve just read, again, not focusing on word-to-word perfection just the general idea of their study. And then with another colour I’d go back and add in anything missing. And basically just repeat that with different sections on a regular basis, building up to being able to do the whole thing.

I did do a mixture of paper and digital copies, and I found that it’s probably better done digitally depending on how often you want to revisit.
I hope that kind of makes sense? Let me know if it doesn’t and I’ll try and explain better haha

Even now for A-Level I still revise the subject that way because it works amazingly for me ahah. Other techniques could be mindmaps/flashcards etc. or even talking it through to another person/ a teddy.
It’s just a case of finding what works for you.
Reply 2
Original post by butterfliesss
I’m not sure exactly what you’d call my preferred method to revise sociology but I’ll share it anyways - maybe someone else has a name for it. Because the studies are such a crucial part of the course, I found making sure I knew a solid variety of them the hardest (you don’t have to know every single last one!)

What I did was made a giant cheat sheet full of every study I wanted to learn written in a condensed form firstly, then a second sheet with only the headings - so the sociologists names, e.g. Parsons, Zaretsky etc.
So I’d read through a certain section on the cheat sheet, so maybe all the studies in relation to the functionalist perspective on the family and try and commit those to memory, not focusing on word-for-word perfection, just the general basis. Then on the other sheet I’d try and replicate what I’ve just read, again, not focusing on word-to-word perfection just the general idea of their study. And then with another colour I’d go back and add in anything missing. And basically just repeat that with different sections on a regular basis, building up to being able to do the whole thing.

I did do a mixture of paper and digital copies, and I found that it’s probably better done digitally depending on how often you want to revisit.
I hope that kind of makes sense? Let me know if it doesn’t and I’ll try and explain better haha

Even now for A-Level I still revise the subject that way because it works amazingly for me ahah. Other techniques could be mindmaps/flashcards etc. or even talking it through to another person/ a teddy.
It’s just a case of finding what works for you.

Nope it all makes sense! I know what method you're talking about, I use it for the sciences and some other subjects - I just wasn't sure if it would work for sociology in anything besides the studies/theorists given there's a lot of content. I think it's the content besides the studies and theorists that I'm worried about, really. But thanks for the advice!
Original post by TeaOnRice
Nope it all makes sense! I know what method you're talking about, I use it for the sciences and some other subjects - I just wasn't sure if it would work for sociology in anything besides the studies/theorists given there's a lot of content. I think it's the content besides the studies and theorists that I'm worried about, really. But thanks for the advice!

Oh I’m glad! Wasn’t sure my explanation was the greatest haha.

I can’t remember what I did besides that, even though it was only last year ahah. The way everything was graded and the GCSEs awarded made things awkward. I’ll see if I can find any old revision though, and see what else I did for you.

I’d probably suggest essay planning for the bigger questions. Not writing necessarily, but if you wanted to do that it would never go amiss haha, but just planning your points because they’ll generally include a bit of everything. You don’t even necessarily have to use past paper questions, just think of a topic and construct a question based on that yourself if you wanted, especially if there’s a particular area of the spec you find more challenging.
Reply 4
Original post by butterfliesss
Oh I’m glad! Wasn’t sure my explanation was the greatest haha.

I can’t remember what I did besides that, even though it was only last year ahah. The way everything was graded and the GCSEs awarded made things awkward. I’ll see if I can find any old revision though, and see what else I did for you.

I’d probably suggest essay planning for the bigger questions. Not writing necessarily, but if you wanted to do that it would never go amiss haha, but just planning your points because they’ll generally include a bit of everything. You don’t even necessarily have to use past paper questions, just think of a topic and construct a question based on that yourself if you wanted, especially if there’s a particular area of the spec you find more challenging.

Kind of late but I appreciate the extra advice :smile:

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