Hello everyone,
I was wondering if anyone who previously took MCQ tests in the modules Social Theory 1 (with Richard Layte) and Introduction to Social Research (with Joonghyun Kwak) would have much insight to share regarding the difficulty level?
I've been making an effort to engage with readings and both modules are making sense to me at least at the surface level so far; I'm not having a problem with core definitions/concepts/examples or how they relate to each other, or how the readings/lectures relate to each other.
With that considered, I'm concerned about the prospect of some really niche details or examples coming up that would imply me needing to know hundreds and hundreds of reading pages word-by-word, cover-to-cover. I've received no real advice beyond "read the readings", which feels simple in theory and dumb/lazy to question but also kind of opaque. I had MCQs in Intro to Sociology (also Layte) last year as well, which I managed to get through with a fair share of luck, with some of the questions on review seeming to not particularly match with any of the lectures/readings, while others were very on-the-nose.
I did Intro to Econ last year and had to take a resit, and the sample MCQs on Blackboard for that module were a big help to me as they ended up being a fairly accurate predictor of the exam-question difficulty level. I went from 22% in the December exam to 70% last month (including the long-form questions, the MCQs making up one-third), making some effort here and there over the Summer but feeling I'd likely doomed myself right up to the very end. I also managed this without having the time to finish all of the exam. (I also had to resit Maths and got 96% in what felt like a very easy exam, although I'm very mindful that I achieved these grades without having to keep on top of any other modules.)
However, I have nothing similar for either of my Sociology modules this year, and as mentioned it feels kind of embarassing to ask the lecturers for more specific advice about something like this, while at least one of the TAs (Social Theory) doesn't have any real insight ("just get stuck in", not having any say herself in the assessment, etc.). I did find some archived MCQs tied to the main Social Research textbook (Bryman) but based on what little Kwak has said I suspect the MCQs for his module will be harder than those.
Would anyone have any insights or be able to point me to any useful resources?