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Valid Reasons To Study Sociology For UPSC Optional Paper

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Valid Reasons To Study Sociology For UPSC Optional Paper

While you are preparing for the UPSC Mains, the optional subject is vital in enhancing your marks and taking you to the next level – the interview round or personality test. All IAS aspirants are asked to choose one subject for the optional paper from a list of 48 subjects presented to them. Out of the total marks, 500 marks are allotted for this optional paper. Therefore, choosing the wrong optional subject means you will have to compromise with your marks. Also, the chance of you getting the ticket to the next round reduces. 


Why choose sociology as an optional subject in UPSC?

If you study the last few years, you will notice that students have taken sociology as their optional subject. In fact, over the years, sociology has become one of the most popular and safe optional subjects for various reasons. As far as getting marks are concerned, one can easily score above 300 out of 500 in sociology, provided one studies hard.


Another great benefit of choosing sociology is a lot of portions of the sociology syllabus overlap with the syllabus of the general studies. Therefore, studying for one will automatically prepare you for the other. Moreover, for better preparation, IAS aspirants can apply for various sociology test series that different IAS coaching centers conduct in Delhi.


UPSC is such an exam for whom you need to prepare right from the beginning. If you think you will start preparing for the interview round after cracking the UPSC Mains, you are sure to get late. Taking up sociology can help you immensely. Since sociology as a subject owes its origin to society, studying essential components of society can help you answer well in the personality test round.


UPSC Sociology exam pattern

The UPSC sociology optional syllabus is concise and can be easily covered within 3 to 4 months. What makes sociology one of the most popular subjects is no background knowledge is required to study sociology. In the UPSC Mains exams, there are two papers for each and every optional subject you choose. Both the papers consist of 250 marks each, thereby summing up to 500 marks.


Before you move on to the advanced level of learning sociology, you need to have proper knowledge of the basics, which can be achieved from the following books:


a.     NCERT Class XI – Sociology: Understanding sociology

b.     NCERT Class XII – Indian society

c.     NCERT Class XII – Social change and development in India


For the advanced level, one can follow these books as listed below:

Books & Authors

a. Sociology themes and perspectives - Michael Haralambos and Martin Holborn

b. Society in India: Concepts, theories, and recent trends - Ram Ahuja

c. Social problems in India- Ram Ahuja

d. Sociology - Anthony Giddens

e. Sociological theory -George Ritzer

f. Modernization of Indian Tradition- Yogendra Singh

g. Sociological thought - Francis Abraham, John Henry Morgan

h. Social change in modern India- M.N. Srinivas

i. Caste its twentieth-century avatar - M.N. Srinivas

j. Persistence and change in tribal India- M.V. Rao

k. Social background of Indian nationalism - A.R. Desai

 

For studying the current affairs in sociology, all aspirants can refer to Yojana and the Kurukshetra magazines.


Advantages of studying sociology as a UPSC optional subject


Given below are the potential benefits of studying sociology as your optional UPSC paper:


1.     Chance to score more

If you look at the previous trends, you will find out that most IAS aspirants who topped with excellent marks had sociology as their optional subject. Therefore, it might happen that if you take up sociology and study well, you can also easily score more than 300 out of 500 marks. Also, if required, you can follow the strategies of the toppers.


2.     Concise syllabus

As mentioned earlier in this blog, the syllabus of optional sociology subjects is concise compared to other optional subjects offered by the UPSC. Due to its short syllabus, candidates can cover the sociology syllabus within 3 – 4 months. So, if you study regularly and allot at least 2 hours for sociology each day, you are sure to finish the syllabus soon. Also, the earlier you complete the syllabus, the earlier can you test your knowledge by appearing in different sociology test series.


3.     Availability of plenty of study materials

One of the significant problems that most UPSC candidates face is the lack of adequate study materials for the optional subjects. With sociology as the optional subject, you don’t have to worry about the availability of standard study materials. They are available in abundance on the internet. Besides, you can refer to the books that have been listed above in this article. Also, you can join some study centers or IAS coaching classes in Delhi to get standard study materials for sociology.


4.     No requirement of background knowledge

One of the most significant benefits of choosing sociology as the optional subject is that it does not ask candidates prior knowledge. This means, even if you belong to a science background, you can easily cope up with sociology and its syllabus. Moreover, since the subject focuses more on everyday issues like family, society, community, religion, etc., understanding sociology is nothing backbreaking.


5.     Overlapping portions

A significant portion of the sociology syllabus overlaps with the general studies paper. Thus, you can quickly obtain almost 40 to 50 marks in the general studies paper 1 from the knowledge you acquire by studying and completing the sociology syllabus. Similarly, for general studies paper 2, specific issues present in the sociology syllabus are social welfare, issues related to the backward sections of the society, NGOs, issues related to hunger, poverty, etc.

Again, in general studies paper 3, issues like Naxalism, Maoism, land reforms in India, privatization and industrialization are all covered in the sociology syllabus. A few topics of general studies paper 4, like family, religion, society, reformers, etc., are included in the sociology syllabus. Therefore, studying for one will prepare you for the other.


Conclusion

Now that you know what the sociology UPSC syllabus consists of and why you should choose sociology and discard the rest, start preparing for the optional subject today. The earlier you start, the quicker do you finish the syllabus. 

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