upsc sociology optional

Preparing for the UPSC Sociology Optional Current Affairs

UPSC candidates preparing for the hardest competitive exam take much time to select their optional subjects. Some candidates like to stick to a subject that they have read in their academic life. However, other IAS applicants look for the most comprehensible and scoring subject. In that sense, Sociology is the right choice for these UPSC candidates.

One major advantage is that the UPSC sociology syllabus is very limited. You do not need much effort to read the subject. On the contrary, you may not find the relevant information in a few Sociology books. Thus, you have to buy a number of books for better preparation.

You Can read also: Know the Best Strategy to Prepare for Sociology optional in 4 months

Current affairs for the optional Sociology paper

As you go through the details of Sociology optional syllabus for UPSC, you will learn about the topics and subtopics in the subject. You may easily go through those topics from your books. However, the unpredictable part of the subject is the current affairs. You do not know how to prepare. No one can tell you the topics that UPSC will choose for the current year’s exam. Still, there are ways to prepare for it and attempt the questions successfully.

As the current affairs’ section is a dynamic part, you should not rely simply on your bookish knowledge. You have to learn about the latest events in Indian society. You must look for theoretical evidence to make your study more effective.

Nowadays, several UPSC candidates choose Sociology as the optional subject. However, due to the lack of knowledge about current affairs, they cannot obtain a high score. Interestingly, UPSC gave high importance to current affairs in the past years. Most of the questions in the optional Sociology paper are related to current events. Thus, current affairs are the dominant parts of your optional paper.

How will you ensure better answer quality by referring to social events?

In the optional Sociology Paper II, you have to talk about the current issues while writing answers. For instance, the topic on Indian society and its structure is dynamic. You must not add any event that happened 40 to 50 years ago. For instance, the innovation of Artificial Intelligence technologies solves several problems in the present years. They also affect the workforce in different sectors. Impact of Covid pandemic on Indian Education system and culture? This is the present trend and commonly asked questions in Sociology Paper II.

Moreover, current affairs are also valuable for your Paper II preparation. Sociology overlaps with different GS subjects. You can reduce your burden by reading both sociological theories and current issues at a time.

Thus, you have to combine the dynamic and static parts to secure more marks. Most of the Paper-II topics (including women and minorities, poverty, urban and rural development, family, and religion) are easily understandable by reading current affairs. While writing your answers, you can try to mention some relevant events. It will drive your marks to a higher level.

Some more tips on preparing for the current affair section of your UPSC Sociology paper-

Your focus should be on the current issues and not on the news

You have to search for something more important than the common news. Check out the hottest issues in Indian and learn more about them. There is a chance to have questions on these issues. You need to understand those issues thoroughly and write down notes on them. The term- issue refers to the ideas. The most important things are-

  • Background Knowledge- Data and reports.
  • Current status of the issue
  • Conflicts about the issue
  • Others’ opinions

Concentrate more on keywords

After interpreting and analyzing the topic repeatedly, you can create short notes. You will find the important words related to the topic. However, make sure that the topic is relevant to the Sociology optional syllabus.

Your concise notes and keywords will help you to revise the content very easily.

Quality is more important

While selecting the sources to know about current affairs, you have to be careful about the quality of information. There are several websites and newspapers providing you with lots of details, for example, at Elite IAS website you can find monthly Yojana Magazine & Kurukshetra Magazine. However, not every detail is relevant to your UPSC Sociology optional syllabus.

It takes some days to do research and decide on the most relevant sources to get information. Choose the sources carefully.

Do revisions-

The current affairs cover several topics, and you may not recall them without revisions. Thus, to secure a high grade in your Sociology paper, you have to revise the current affair topics. You will find it easy to write on a topic elaborately. Without solid knowledge, you cannot write essay-type questions in the current affairs section of the optional paper.

It is a comprehensive guide to preparing for the current affair section of Sociology optional syllabus for UPSC. You can rely on the professional trainer to get better instructions on this optional paper.

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