Context

Concepts are ideas that, by their very nature, are general in scope. That is, in order to make sense of a particular concept it is necessary to apply it in some way to a specific case or instance.

This feature of sociological concepts makes them potentially very useful at A-level since they have a transferable quality. That is, once you have a basic understanding of a concept (knowledge) you can apply it to a range of sociological areas in order to generate further knowledge and understanding.

For example, if you have a basic understanding of concepts such as socialisation, anomie or alienation, they can be applied across a wide range of syllabus areas (deviance, education, religion, power and politics, work, culture and identity and so forth). 

As should be apparent, therefore, by "learning a little" (relevant sociological concepts) you can "know a lot" (since if you use concepts correctly you will always be using the required skills of knowledge, understanding, interpretation, application and evaluation).

However, this only works if you provide concepts with a social context within which they can be applied - simply stating a concept (knowledge) effectively throws-away the opportunity to gain marks for interpretation and application in the exam. As a general rule, therefore:

a. The learning of basic sociological concepts is a very effective and efficient way of revising.

b. Whenever you find yourself using a sociological concept in an exam answer you will find that it becomes almost second-nature (especially if you've practiced interpreting and applying concepts through your classwork and homework) to relate it to a particular question by explaining its meaning and applying it to examples that relate to the specific context in which it's being used.

For example, if you decide to use the concept of "socialisation" in the context of explaining gender differences in criminal activity, by explaining why this concept is significant in this context (interpretation) and showing how it is significant here (application) you will gain marks.

This way of organising your work also encourages you to evaluate your use of a concept - by, for example, showing how different sociologists have applied the concept to an explanation of gender differences.