ICMR-JRF SOCIAL SCIENCES PREPRATION GUIDE

ICMR JRF SOCIAL SCIENCES STRATEGY

                                                                                           

  Every year ICMR conducts the ICMR-JRF examination for life science and social science domains. In this blog, we will be dealing with the latter one, i.e., social sciences. As per the ICMR directories, the questions for the exam will come from the following disciplines: psychology, sociology, anthropology, social work, home sciences, statistics and public health/Health economics (excluding others). So technically, one has to deal with seven -eight disciplines that seem to be a herculean task. But is it really that hard to read all these subjects to clear the stipulated cut off? Well, if you prepare smartly and stick to basics, this becomes easier than someone reading without a strategy and haphazardly.

When we look at the syllabus for the social sciences as given in the ICMR JRF prospectus, we find that there are no specific details given for this; rather, it is mentioned that the syllabus will be of post-graduation level as prescribed by UGC. This leaves the aspirants in an ambiguous situation where they are unsure what to read and which books are to be referred to. On the other hand, we find that the books and preparation strategies are prescribed by various coaching institutes and other websites dealing with exam preparation for the life sciences section.

In this scenario, it becomes essential to assist the social sciences candidates in their preparation for the examination by providing them with information about relevant resources,

Duration of examination: 120 mins

Mode of examination: Online computer-based examination (OCBE)

Total number of fellowships for social science: 33 including EWS

Application fee

1.     General/OBC/EWS :1500 + Transaction fees

2.     SC/ST: 1200 + Transaction fees

3.     PwBD: Exempted from paying a fee

Educational qualifications to apply

 M.Sc. /M.A. or equivalent degree (subject areas mentioned in Section 5, pg. No. 7) with a minimum of 55% marks for General/EWS/OBC candidates and 50% for the SC/ST and PwBD candidates.

Age limit:

The age limit for admission to the eligibility test is 28 years as on 30-09-2021 (upper age limit relaxable up to five years in case of candidates belonging to SC/ST, PwBD and female candidates, three years in the case of OBC category.

Scheme of examination

A)  The paper will consist of two Sections. 

The Aptitude Section (Section A) will have 50 questions on (i) scientific phenomenon in everyday life; (ii) general knowledge in Sciences; and (iii) common statistics. All these questions would be compulsory with each question carrying 1 mark. 

    The subject Specific Section (Section B & C) would pertain to (B) Life Sciences and (C) Social Sciences. Each area of section B & C would have 100 questions and the candidate will attempt any 75 questions in the predesigned area of Section B or C. In the online Computer-based exam, the system will not allow the candidate to attempt more than 75 questions. Candidates are required to indicate the option for Section B or C in the application form too. 

E    Each question carries one mark. Negative marking @ 0.25 will be made for each of the wrong answer. The questions in both the Sections would appear in English only. 

     The qualifying marks will be 55% obtained in both the Sections (A+B or C) for General & EWS Category and 50% for OBC/ SC/ST and PwBD. The exam will be held in the following streams: (1) Aptitude test (mandatory for all) (2) Life Sciences (3) Social Sciences.

     The answer keys for the ICMR-JRF examination will be uploaded on ICMR New Delhi, website after three (03) days of the exam. 

      Qualifying marks: The qualifying marks will be 55% obtained in both the Sections (A+B or C) for General Category, EWS & and 50% for  OBC, SC/ST and PwBD.

      If you score a single percentage point below the stipulated cut off, you will not be considered for the fellowship. If no student can clear the cut off (as seen in 2022  examination), then no fellowship will be awarded to anyone; the seats will remain vacant.

     Subjects covered under Social Sciences include psychology, sociology, anthropology, social work, home Sciences, statistics and public health/Health economics (excluding others).

Level of examination: The exam can be considered easy to moderate in nature with a handful of questions that can be categorized as difficult. There are higher chances that you might have a pre-existing knowledge base about the questions that will be asked; it only depends on how well you can recollect it from that knowledge base. 

Due to several subjects in the examination, you will not be able to cover the whole syllabus but do not skip reading basic concepts of any discipline; you will find many questions from that only.

Study plan for the exam

Every individual has their own preferred way of reading and remembering things. If possible, dedicate at least 4-5 hours of self-study. Cover the basics of each subject to know what the subject is all about. Do not look around for multiple resources, as it will only bombard you with repetitive information.  Make sure to maximize your score in your own discipline, devote time for its revision also.  

In the examination, read the questions thoroughly, do not try to haphazardly move on with questions; many of the questions are such that you will find an answer after applying a bit of stress to your thinking. (Common sensical answers).

 

Let us now have a look at the resources for the exam:

Paper 1

Paper one will have 50 questions, and all of them are compulsory to attend. The questions will be from general science, statistics and scientific phenomenon in everyday life. For the statistics part, Introduction to Biostatistics by Dr Pranab Kr Banerjee (pdf link is given at the end of this blog) will be enough to attempt the questions.

If your statistics part is not that strong, then focus more on the examples given in the book and understand them. More or fewer questions will be asked in the manner given in the book only. For the remaining parts, look at current affairs related to health, noble prizes, environment treaties, and past summits. Focus on any diseases and their causes, vitamins and their deficiencies, geophysical phenomenon such as volcanoes, clouds, global warming, cyclones, the phenomenon of physics, psychology etc.,. Some reasoning-based questions based on the clock, calendar, series can be asked apart from data interpretation may be asked. For this section, you can refer to Lucent’ General science book and physical geography book.  

You can refer to IAS SCORE magazine for current affairs related to health, disease etc., the link is given in later parts of the blog.

Also, you can watch lectures on YouTube for these geophysical processes as it will help in saving time.  The level of science that is asked is of school level only, and you must have read that sometimes even after your school.

Try to maximize your score in this section and focus on attempting at least 40-42 questions. I am saying this because in the next section, you will have several disciplines to cover and chances to score higher diminishes a bit.

Now let us move to the second part of the blog, where we will talk about resources for social sciences. Let us begin with statistics

1.    Common statistics: (for papers 1 and 2)

Resource name:  Introduction to Biostatistics by Dr PRANAB Kr. BANERJEE

The book is very concisely written and covers all aspects of statistics required for the examination. Direct questions based on the material given in this book will be asked.  

In the alternative case, you can also refer to Research methodology book by CR Kothari. This is also a good reference book for covering the theoretical aspects of the section.

You must know that questions from statistics portion range from 20-30 in overall question paper (paper 1 and 2), and it becomes really important to focus on this subject.

Looking at the difficulty level of the questions in this section, the majority of the questions will check your basic theoretical knowledge about the usage of various statistical tests, and a few numerical questions which are relative of easy nature. (If you have read the book)

Focus on sampling types and types of statistical tests such as T-test, Pearson coefficient, chi-square test etc. and their usage and differences.

2.    Anthropology 

In the section of anthropology for Physical Anthropology by BM Das will be sufficient for attempting questions of the section concerned.

For the social anthropology section: Any introductory text such as Introduction to social anthropology by Majumdar and Madan or Introduction to anthropology by Makhan Jha will serve the purpose. Look for introductory books on social anthropology such as General Anthropology by Nadeem Hasnain , they will serve the purpose.

If you can spare  some time, then Anthropology by Ember and Ember can be referred.

Alternatively, you can refer to anthropology distance course study material of University of Calicut for its under graduation sociology course. (This is short and concise and covers most of the relevant aspects.)

Do not dwell deeper into the subject because social anthropology is a very vast domain to explore completely. You will be reading sociology also, so there will be overlapping of subject material too. Stick to basics, and that will suffice the purpose.

Questions will also come from archaeological anthropology that will be covered from the book: Outline of Indian Prehistory by DK Bhattacharya.

 

3.       Sociology

  Many of the topics in sociology will be overlapping with the syllabus of social anthropology. As questions will be easy to moderate in nature, any introductory book will suffice, but let us focus on a few books for ease of purpose.

1.   Sociology: Principles of Sociology with An Introduction to Social Thoughts – CN Shankar Rao (available on Amazon)

2.     An introduction to sociology: D.R Sachdeva and Vidya Bhushan. (Available on Amazon)

3.     Cultural theory by Alexander Riley (for advanced information.)

 

4.    Psychology

For psychology, there is only a single resource that will help you to maximize your score. As many of you will be from a non-psychology background, there will always be a fear of missing out on the questions. The book, Psychology:  5^th edition, Baron and Mishra is our one-stop reference book here. The book is a thick one, but we need not read every section of it. Go through the major chapters and read the glossary carefully.

You can buy it from Amazon or Flipkart.

5.    Home sciences

Home sciences is a discipline that many of you would have not read. The questions in home science will be basic in nature, and chances are thin that advanced level questions will be asked.  For the exam perspective, focus upon the books:

1.     1. Home Science, Higher the secondary first year 2018 edition, TamilNadu board (Govt of Tamil Nadu) and

2.    2.  NIOS material for the section on textile and clothing

         The link to the pdf of the book will be shared at the end of this blog.

 

6.     Health economics:

Health economics is one discipline from which a limited number of questions will come in the examination. For that, we need to smartly work. Reading thick books will not serve our purpose as it will consume much of our time. For efficient time management, we need to focus on limited resources.

 You can watch a few PPTs on slideshare.com or download any introductory pdf related to health sciences related to basic concepts of health economics.  This will give you an overview of the subject as a whole. Remember, we need to clear the stipulated cut off of 55% to get our name on the merit list. So, we need to work accordingly.

But in case you really want to refer to a book then, Introduction to Health economics by Carter Centre will serve the purpose. The book has been written for health students in a very lucid and comprehensive manner. The language is simple, and concepts are explained in a very approachable manner.

The link to the pdf of the book will be shared at the end of this blog.

 

7.    Social Work

Many questions can be expected from social work, so it becomes important to focus on this discipline. Refer to course books of Bachelor of social work (BSW) of IGNOU. There are around 4-5 thin books that can be covered in a matter of few days and if you read them properly then in one or two readings you will be able to get the most of it in minimum time.

 

Complied list of resources for ICMR-JRF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Paper 1

1.     Lucent general science

2.    Current affairs related to health, geophysical phenomenon, diseases and noble prizes etc.

      Link to  IAS SCORE yearly compilation on health, general science, and disease is given : 

        Introduction to Biostatistics by Dr PRANAB Kr. BANERJEE

        https://drive.google.com/file/d/11J2kdClyc2ZIAAk3nSAYSVPpWCCaW1jx/view

         Research Methodology by CR Kothari     (available in pdf online)

     

Paper 2

1.     Anthropology

a)     Physical Anthropology by BM Das

b)    Introduction to Social anthropology by Majumdar and Madan or Introduction to Anthropology by Makhan Jha or General Anthropology by Nadeem Hasnain

c)     Outlines of Indian Prehistory- DK Bhattacharya 

d)    Univ of Calicut, BA sociology study material of course; introduction to social anthropology

The link to the study material of social anthropology is attached with sociology. 

 

2.      Sociology

a)     Univ of Calicut, BA sociology study material

Link to website:

              - http://sdeuoc.ac.in/?q=content/ba-sociology-2011-2012-2013-admission

              -http://sdeuoc.ac.in/?q=content/ba-sociology-2014-admission-onwards

              - http://sdeuoc.ac.in/?q=content/ba-sociology-2019-admission

 The links provided above are for different academic sessions; you can choose the modules as per the exam requirement. Do not dwell on every module; read the basics one. These modules will also serve as a reference for social anthropology. 

b)    Sociology: Principles of Sociology with An Introduction to Social Thoughts – CN Shankar Rao

c)     An introduction to sociology: D.R Sachdeva and Vidya Bhushan.

d)    Cultural theory by Alexander Riley (only if you can get it from somewhere, otherwise, I will try to upload a scanned copy)

 

3.     Psychology

a)      Psychology:  5^th edition, Baron and Mishra

 

4.     Home science

a)     Higher the secondary first year 2018 edition, TamilNadu Board (Govt of Tamil Nadu)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14SLdAjVCWTXttn8i0QgRQ6okwHI4v4-_/view?usp=sharing 

 

b)    NIOS material for the section on textile and clothing.

https://nios.ac.in/online-course-material/secondary-courses/home-science-(216)-syllabus.aspx

5.     Health economics

a)     Introduction to health economics, Carter Centre

https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/health/ephti/library/lecture_notes/health_science_students/LN_Intro_to_Health_Economics_final.pdf

 

6.     Statistics

a)     Introduction to Biostatistics by Dr PRANAB Kr. BANERJEE

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11J2kdClyc2ZIAAk3nSAYSVPpWCCaW1jx/view?usp=sharing 

7.     Social work

a)    IGNOU Bachelor of social work (BSW) course books.

 

      

8.    Alternative strategy for the examination

Now coming to an alternative strategy where I will try to offer another approach to prepare for the exam. Instead of referring to many books for a particular subject, you can refer to NTA NET-JRF books of subjects concerned such as sociology, anthropology, psychology etc. These books cover nearly all the aspects of the syllabus in a sequenced manner with questions given in the end for your revision.

 

Wishing you all the very best.

In case you have any queries, kindly drop an email at anthroclaninfo@gmail.com

 

About the author: Abhijay, an anthropologist by training currently as  PhD scholar. He is a university-level educator and has worked in various fields with renowned global organizations. He has cleared examinations of  UGC-JRF in Anthropology  and ICMR JRF in social sciences , both in first attempts.