Writing an A-Level Sociology Essay
Knowing how to do an A Level Sociology Essay
Assessment
With reference to the present syllabus, there are three main skills being assessed in your essays.
1. Knowledge and Understanding (9 marks)
2. Interpretation and Application (9 marks)
3. Evaluation (9 marks)
What Does This Mean?
What this means is that for writing an essay is that the content (studies, names of researcher, dates, figures, concepts, although important need to be organised coherently, applied to a variety of social situations and interpreted, and expressed in a critical fashion. You must be aware of the skills being highlighted in the question in order to use the appropriate skills in your essays. You should also practice writing essays regularly and develop a technique which addresses the skills required so that you can actually answer the question set. I hope that this handout should allow you to achieve this.
As an example, I shall focus on a question, which appeared in the Paper 2 of 1992. The question is as follows.....
Outline and evaluate the reasons why participant observation is frequently used by interactionist sociologists.
Stage One
Many students are too quick into diving into an answer. They have focused on certain key terms and ‘assumed’ what the essay requires from a quick look at the question. Instead, the question should be read a number of times.
Task One
With the title provided.
Analyze the question by underlining the key features in the essay title
Double underline the skills being assessed, e.g., describe and explain
Identify any terms or concepts contained in the question. These terms will need to be defined, i.e. concepts such as interactionists. Essay questions will also include terms, which highlight the skills being assessed, knowledge and understanding. E.g. (outline, explain the view, what do you understand, examine, describe, Interpretation and application, identify and illustrate, and Evaluation assess, criticise, how
Assessment
With reference to the present syllabus, there are three main skills being assessed in your essays.
1. Knowledge and Understanding (9 marks)
2. Interpretation and Application (9 marks)
3. Evaluation (9 marks)
What Does This Mean?
What this means is that for writing an essay is that the content (studies, names of researcher, dates, figures, concepts, although important need to be organised coherently, applied to a variety of social situations and interpreted, and expressed in a critical fashion. You must be aware of the skills being highlighted in the question in order to use the appropriate skills in your essays. You should also practice writing essays regularly and develop a technique which addresses the skills required so that you can actually answer the question set. I hope that this handout should allow you to achieve this.
As an example, I shall focus on a question, which appeared in the Paper 2 of 1992. The question is as follows.....
Outline and evaluate the reasons why participant observation is frequently used by interactionist sociologists.
Stage One
Many students are too quick into diving into an answer. They have focused on certain key terms and ‘assumed’ what the essay requires from a quick look at the question. Instead, the question should be read a number of times.
Task One
With the title provided.
Analyze the question by underlining the key features in the essay title
Double underline the skills being assessed, e.g., describe and explain
Identify any terms or concepts contained in the question. These terms will need to be defined, i.e. concepts such as interactionists. Essay questions will also include terms, which highlight the skills being assessed, knowledge and understanding. E.g. (outline, explain the view, what do you understand, examine, describe, Interpretation and application, identify and illustrate, and Evaluation assess, criticise, how