Description: Psychology Undergraduate Tutor Joanna provides insight and gives useful advice for A-Level students revising Sociology and Psychology.
As fascinating as Sociology and Psychology are as subjects, they come with a lot of content for you to read and learn. It can often be difficult to understand and memorise everything. Here I have some top tips on ways to help you study effectively when revising Sociology and Psychology.
Note down all the key words
There are so many key terms which will be new for you, (like bourgeoise or proletariat in sociology, or episodic and semantic memory in psychology.) Therefore, whenever you come across a new keyword write it down next to a definition Then give an example. This is useful because many exam questions often ask you to define a key term or give an example. In that case, you’ll be fully prepared on what to write!
Note down all the studies
You will have many studies you need to learn. It is worth writing down each individual study you have to learn and separate it into these sub-sections:
- The aim of the study
- The method used
- The procedure
- The results
- The conclusion
This may seem long and boring, but writing down each study with these key headings will leave you fully prepared for the exam. Often the exam question may ask you to simply outline the procedure or describe the finding. In some cases, the exam question may ask you to outline and evaluate the whole study. This useful study tip allows you to clearly analyse the different sections of any given study.
Be aware of the evaluations
The majority of Psychology and Sociology consists of being able to discuss different topics. In light of this, you should write down the possible strengths and limitations of any topic, theory, study, or example. This will ensure you are confident about discussing that particular topic or study. Remember, most of the exam paper will be filled with this kind of evaluation!
Don’t forget about research methods
Many students often leave research methods to the last minute because they think they can quickly learn the strengths and limitations of different methods. This is not the case! Research methods appear in most of the exam papers you will sit.
For example, in the Psychology paper, you will often get a research method question embedded in another topic like Attachment. For Sociology, you will be asked to evaluate a specific research method for investigating a topic such as Streaming in Schools. As a result, make sure you revise research methods. Be prepared to be precise and link certain methods to certain topics, e.g. phobias in Psychology or education in Sociology.
Past papers are key
Past papers are the main way you will become familiar with the kind of questions you will receive in the exam. I would recommend that at the end of every revision session you should answer one or two questions relating to the topic you are studying because this is a way for you to become confident answering exam questions as well as a way to test your own knowledge.
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