SOCIOLOGY ESSAY WRITING SKILLS

Introduction

Comment on the question
State or list what issues you are going to present in your essays
Use some of the words from the question

Content

Basics:

You should not write less than three sides/pages for your essay assignments (and questions that are worth 25 marks in the exam). There should only be two or three paragraphs on each page that you write.
You should have more than two sociological perspectives in your essay. Four is recommended to get the best result.
You should follow the instructions stated in the question, i.e. you should start your essay by presenting arguments for the question followed by arguments against the question. Provide criticisms for each theory that you use.
Provide plenty of evidence: references are crucial in justifying your arguments. Always write down the date and name of the study/publication done by the theorist/author.
Link your ideas together i.e. how you would relate one paragraph with another. Look for similarities and differences between your arguments.

Each paragraph:

Must contain references
Should include a lot of sociological terms
Must show how the ideas presented in the paragraph can be used to answer the question
Must contain three sentences or more

Conclusion

Give a short summary on the ideas that you have presented.
Comment on the need to consider different perspectives: be neutral.
Suggest what is not included in the question i.e. possible areas of research or issues beyond the topic that is set in the question.