DU MA Sociology Entrance Exam Guide: Books, Questions Papers

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Delhi School of Economics ( DSE) MA Sociology Entrance Exam – Tips, Tricks and Strategy

Delhi University(DU) is one of the most sought after Central Universities of the country. Every year, the University receives thousands of application forms from the students all over the country to get enrolled into various departments of the University. To admit the students into the University in a fair manner, entrance examinations are held from time to time and students are required to sit for exams in the concerned subjects and if they meet the selection criteria, they will get into the University. To crack the entrance exam, students should sincerely prepare for the same. This article deals with the strategies of good preparation along with a little knowledge about the institute and the course.

Introduction to the institute

Popularly known as DU, Delhi University established in 1922, is one of the country’s most prominent Central Universities to which students from all over the country seek admission to gear up their academic career. Within the University’s  North campus premise, Delhi School of Economics (DSE) campus has been situated comprising of a few of the departments that include Economics, Sociology, Geography and Commerce. This campus was established in 1949 and ever since then, DSE has been yearningly providing teaching and research facilities to the students in the mentioned departments. DSE is a reputed institute and is indubitably one of the dream institutes of the students who has the zeal to play an important role in the development of the country and the institute too provides opportunities to the students to bring the best out of them.

Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics

Delhi University introduced the Department of Sociology in the year 1959 as a member department of the Delhi School of Economics. The department combines the areas of teaching and research in variety of fields existing in the academic arena. The department of Sociology has conducted studies in various fields like politics, family, state, kinship, religion, environment, gender, stratification, demography, urban sociology and rural sociology, migration, medical sociology, so on and so forth. These areas are being worked upon by both students and faculty members that is helping in bringing success as well as recognition to the department. To keep up with the vitality of the department, regular seminars, conferences and lecture sessions are being organized by the department by distinguished scholars and resource persons from all over the globe promoting a healthy collaboration of the department with international institutions and organizations. 

Scope of the course

 The scope of the course MA in Sociology from Delhi University is manifold and opportunities are provided to students to excel in their career.  The scope could be discussed as follows –

  • In DSE, the placement cell of the department plays an active role in facilitating the students in suitable employment opportunities be it in NGOs, business corporations, in the field of health, law, research, management so on and so forth.
  • Not just employment opportunities but students interested in pursuing higher studies are also assisted in their academic endeavours by the department to build a strong academic career by providing them fellowships.
  • Moreover, students interested in research also receive scholarships from institutes like Harvard, Princeton, Oxford.

This clearly reflects that a  Master’s degree from DSE along with good academic performance could open the doors for many outstanding opportunities to earn a good living.  

Selection Criteria

Applying for an MA in Sociology in Delhi University through the university portal makes an automatic application in the Delhi School of Economics.  Getting admitted into this institute requires the students to give their best in the entrance examination conducted for the admission procedure through Delhi University Entrance exam (DUET). Admission to the department will be based on the scores secured by the students in DUET.

Syllabus and recommended materials

The DUET PG entrance exam for Sociology does not provide a particular syllabus for the students to prepare. The pattern of the exam  is quite unique because it does not check the students’ prior knowledge of Sociology but ask questions on data interpretation, logical and reasoning skills, research and reading comprehension as well as sociological understanding rather than concepts and theories. Aspirants could take help of certain books to prepare on the aforementioned topics and some of the books are :

In the Sociology entrance exam for DSE, original texts from the books of Sociologists and Social Thinkers are picked up and to be able to solve these comprehension questions basic Sociology books like Sociological Theory by Ritzer and Sociology Themes and Perspectives by Haralambos & Holborn could be very useful.

The books that will cover all the topics could be listed as follows –

Strategy to crack the entrance exam

The DUET PG Sociology exam is quite different from the rest of the universities for which a proper and slightly different plan for preparation to get into DSE is essential  Here are a few strategy and tips to ace the preparation for entrance exam to get into an esteemed institute like DSE –

  • Analyzing previous year questions

This is the best strategy to get an idea about the type of questions asked in the exam and prepare accordingly.  Here are a few PYQs to understand the type of questions asked –

[Question ID = 7983] The term ‘shame’ is often used inconsistently in philosophical, sociological and psychological literature. Many thinkers take for granted a folk (or everyday and unexamined) understanding of shame and use the term to denote a wide and varied range of experiences. Due to shame’s inherent complexity and ambiguity, it is frequently conflated with other (some argue distinct) self‐conscious emotions such as humiliation, embarrassment and guilt. (Source: Luna Dolezal 2015 The Body And Shame: Phenomenology, Feminism, and the Socially Shaped Body, p. 3) From the above passage, it follows that:‐

  1. Shame—unlike embarrassment and humiliation—has a somewhat narrow reference
  2. Scholarship on shame often uses popular notions of this emotion
  3. Many thinkers differentiate between shame and guilt
  4. Emotions like humiliation and embarrassment are not complex or ambiguous.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

  1. A and C only [Option ID = 31926]
  2. B and D only [Option ID = 31927]
  3. B only [Option ID = 31928]
  4. C only [Option ID = 31929]

Correct Answer :‐ B only [Option ID = 31928]

[Question ID = 8022] Four friends Kishan, Guddu, Munni and Bantu are sharing a pizza with 5 slices and decide the extra slice will go to the oldest person. Bantu is two months older than Kishan, who is four months younger than Munni. Guddu is one month older than Bantu. Who get the extra slice?

  1. Kishan [Option ID = 32082]
  2. Guddu [Option ID = 32083]
  3. Munni [Option ID = 32084]
  4. Bantu [Option ID = 32085]

Correct Answer :‐ Munni [Option ID = 32084]

[Question ID = 25887] Dead bodies are material things that bear a referential relationship to an absent subject. They are in this sense a kind of medium, connecting the living to the memory of a deceased. As such, they are the perfect starting point to what Bill Brown has termed a “materialist analysis of media.” The corpse is a material thing freighted with the most intense cultural meaning. To look at death practices from the starting point of the corpse is thus to inquire precisely into the relationship between the material and the textual, between the thing itself and the rich variety of representational texts required to make sense of it, to venture between the world of specific cultural and historical practice, and the universality of death. A materialist analysis of media begins with the corpse because the corpse is itself a complex figure of mediation. For the corpse is precisely not a material object among others. It is a special kind of thing whose physical existence is a matter of no small cultural significance—and whose discursive power is inseparable from its materiality. The corpse combines the organic material of the body with the symbolic power of death. The corpse is, on the one hand, a material thing, subject to the laws of biology and physics. It has weight heft; it will decompose at a certain rate under certain physical conditions; it responds to moisture and heat, and so on. On the other hand, these material properties provoke horror, as we all fear death and flinch at the thought of our own corpses. Nevertheless, because this powerful symbolism rests precisely upon the corpse as dead flesh, its meaning is not reducible to mere cultural effect. It is the corpse as thing that commands such powerful symbolic efficacy. It frightens because it is vulnerable and passive—because it scares us to imagine our own bodies as subject to the biological imperatives of decomposition. Corpses depend on the living to treat them respect and dignity, to guide them carefully into some kind of not being there. The corpse is thus both a powerfully suggestive cultural text and an incontrovertibly material object.[Source: Margaret Schwartz,2013.”An Iconography of the Flesh: How Corpses Mean As Matter,” Communication +1: Vol. 2(1).]

Which of the following statements can be inferred from the above passage?

  1. Decomposed corpses are infectious and threaten the living. [Option ID = 43546]
  2. Decomposed dead bodies are materially significant but culturally irrelevant. [Option ID = 43543]
  3. Smell, texture and material appearance of corpses makes them culturally significant [Option ID = 43545]
  4. Culturally freighted, decomposed dead bodies lose their material significance. [Option ID = 43544]

Correct Answer :-

Smell, texture and material appearance of corpses makes them culturally significant [Option ID = 43545]

[Question ID = 1438] After all, rules – what we get by interpreting precedents and statutes and precedents – must be applied to facts; but facts of a case do not come with their own descriptions, and must be characterized in terms of their legal import. (Source: Brian Leiter 1996, ‘Legal Realism’)

Some statements based on the above passage:

  1. Facts of a case are more fundamental than rules
  2. Facts of a case are determined by applying rules
  3. Facts of a case need to be described in legal terms
  4. Facts of a case are got by interpreting precedents

Which of the above statements are correct?

  1. Only III [Option ID = 5752]
  2. All of these [Option ID = 5749]
  3. II and III [Option ID = 5751]
  4. I, II and III [Option ID = 5750]

Correct Answer :- Only III [Option ID = 5752]

Checking previous year questions will provide an idea to the aspirants regarding how to prepare and what kind of questions to expect in the exam. From analyzing the question papers of the last few years, it can be observed that 50 questions are asked in comprehension form, logical reasoning, data interpretation, research.

  • Solving previous year questions

This is the most essential step to clear the entrance exam as solving previous year questions will help the students to actually attempt the questions asked in the previous years and will provide them an experience of the difficulty level of the question papers each year.

  • Time Consciousness

Time is the most crucial factor in DUET Sociology exam because maximum of the questions asked are based on reading comprehension. This portion consumes much of the time of the students and if time isn’t managed wisely, it is possible that the students couldn’t complete the paper on time. So, in the preparation strategy, along with studying and solving questions, the factor of time should not be neglected.

  • Keeping Notes

Aspirants should note down important topics and points while studying for the exam so that they could easily get access to the important points whenever they need.

  • Constant Revision

Aspirants should revise their notes and books from time to time in order to summarize and retain whatever they have studied so far. This will surely help them in answering maximum of the questions in the exam.

Discipline

Discipline is often taken for granted by the aspirants in the preparation process. But if an aspirant follow their preparation routine in a disciplined way, they will not break the flow of preparation and will be able to keep a track of how much they have prepared and how much is still left. This will help them realize the pace of their preparation and what changes they are to make to score good marks in the exam.

Conclusion

Preparation strategy is the most important thing to keep in mind while planning to get into any esteemed institute. Because Delhi University has a unique pattern of entrance examination the preparation to enroll oneself into the University needs to be different and wise. To know what to study, how to study and where to study from are a few important questions that the aspirants need to find the answers as soon as possible so that they could clear the entrance exam and study in their dream university.  

Download Sociology Question Paper 2019 with answers

Download Sociology Question Paper 2018 with answers 

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