How to write a sociological essay

Objectives To identify what the examiner is looking for in Sociology exams To identify what the examiner is looking for in Sociology exams To define the A01 and A02 parts of the mark scheme To define the A01 and A02 parts of the mark scheme

What the examiner is looking for: A01 A01 A02 A02

What do you think the examiner is looking for in an essay? In pairs, mind map your ideas. In pairs, mind map your ideas.

A01 Knowledge and Understanding “Parsons argues that the main functions of the family are to socialise children and to stabilise the adult personality”

A02 Analysis and Evaluation: 1. What’s good and what’s bad about the theory 2. Comparisons to other theories

Examples of A02 1. Functionalism is often seen as an out of date view and only examines the nuclear family. 2. A criticism of this view is that feminists argue that the Marxist view ignores the role of women within the family.

Identify A01 and A02: 1. Radical feminists argue that the family is characterised by patriarchy. 2. Most feminist writers ignore the diversity of family life. 3. Marxist agree with the functionalist approach of studying the large scale structure of society.

Task Based on the following questions, write 3 A01 and 3 A02 sentence that could be used in an essay: 1. Evaluate the functionalist view of the family 2. Evaluate the interactionist view of the family 3. Examine the effect of industrialisation on the family

Other things the examiner wants… Sociological terms Sociological terms Clear explanations Clear explanations Clear structure – paragraphs Clear structure – paragraphs Good use of language Good use of language

Language Task – write down 10 good words to use in an essay. Task – write down 10 good words to use in an essay.

Structure of the exam Short answer questions first: Identify, explain a term, briefly explain Then… Two 24 mark essay questions 60 marks in total.

To sum up… What is A01? What is A01? What is A02? What is A02? Examples Examples