Sociology

Hey! A* in Sociology here so I can do my best to help.

Do you know what areas specifically you are struggling on? For example, is it the explanation part of PEEL? Knowing this could be the key to boosting your grade as using the right applications and sociologists for each part will increase marks. Try to also remember:

A01: Knowledge
A02: Application
A03: Analysis/Evaluation

Point usually falls under A01, which means making your point clear and evident [whether that be with or without an item question]. Evidence falls under A02 which is application which means applying your point to some key theorists/sociologists/sociological perspectives to back up your A01 which was your point. Make sure to give good depth and clear understanding in A02 as this will help you give a very detailed analysis for your A03. Explanation and Link both all under A03 as this is where you state strengths of your arguments and who agreed with your point and then weaknesses of the argument stated by stating what or who disagreed with your point [aka your A01 Point]. This is where most of your marks will come from, examiners are looking for detailed analysis and evaluation to counter argue your point so they know you understand that there are limitations to each argument.

They want to see you properly assess what the outcomes of your point were and how they benefited whatever it may be but also how it also doesn't work or may not work in the future. This is especially common in questions [such as 20 and 30 markers] where item questions are chunkier and have more depth - they want you to break the item apart and analyse properly. Use the item questions to your advantage to pick out advantages and disadvantages. It also helps to annotate the item question properly to pick out what your key points will be as it will help you wrap your head around how to structure your arguments. Try not to just list out things that have been made clear in the case study already as you'll lose marks. Where you may say that functionalists prefer the nuclear family, state why postmodernists or new right may not and why they have this view point. It is also not enough for you to list out the sociological perspectives, but rather name specific people who have made clear their views on a specific topic [e.g., instead of saying Marxists believe that the working class are being exploited, state that Karl Marx specifically talked about the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie and which year this was said].

Another thing that a lot of people tend to flunk on is conclusions!!!! Conclusions, and I cannot stress this enough, are SOOO important. They are quite literally the last block of your essay. It gives the examiner a quick summary of what exactly your argument was for the past 6-7 paragraphs which is important as it's quite a lot for them to read. In your conclusion you should outline what your original point was in link with the question asked. I personally used AJIM [which is a business conclusion format but works perfectly for sociology as well] which stands for Answer, Justification, It depends on, and Most important reason. This method allowed to make solid conclusions on my arguments and got me into the top bands.

Hope this helps!