[Optional Paper] IAS Mains 2014 Sociology Paper 1 Question Paper

Section A (Part 1)

Q1. Write short answer of the following in about 150 words each: 10×5=50           

1. How is objectivity different from value neutrality? Discuss with reference to Weber’s views on methodology.
2. How did the emergence of industrial society change the family life in Western Europe?
3. How is sociological approach to human actions different from that of psychological approach?
4. In what way biographies could be used to study social life?
5. How can we use reference group theory to understand fashion in society?

Q2.Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. Which research technique would be most suitable for the study of consumer behaviour and its social correlates? Explain.20 marks
2. Identify the similarities and differences between Marx’s theory of ‘alienation’ and Durkheim’s theory of ‘anomie’.20 marks
3. How could one use Merton’s concept of deviance to understand the traffic problem in urban India?10 marks

Q3. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. What do you understand by gender? How does it shape ‘male ‘identity?20 marks
2. “According to Max Weber, ‘class’ and ‘status’ are two different dimensions of power.” Discuss.20 marks
3. Using Merton’s concepts of ‘manifest’ and ‘latent’ functions, explain the persistence of corruption in Indian society.10 marks

Q4. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. How does Weber use the notion of ‘ideal types’ in his theory of bureaucracy?20 marks
2. In what way ‘interpretative’ method is different from ‘positivist’ approach in the study of social phenomena?20 marks
3. Using Mead’s theory of symbolic interactionism, discuss the stages in the formation of gender identity.10 marks

Section B (Part 2)

Q5. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50

1. For Marx, class divisions are outcomes of ‘exploitation’. Discuss.
2. What are the distinctive features of social organization of work in slave society? How is it different from feudal society?
3. Discuss T. H. Marshall’s views on citizenship.
4. Distinguish between Political Parties and Pressure
5. “According to Durkheim, the essence of religion in modern society is the same as religion in primitive society.” Comment.

Q6. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. “Power is not a zero-sum game”. Discuss with reference to Weber’s and Parsons’s views.20 marks
2. Critically examine the functionalist views on the institution of family. How do those help us in understanding family in the present times?20 marks
3. What do you understand by institutionalization of ‘live-in-relationship?10 marks

Q7. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. How is religious revivalism different from communalism? Elaborate with suitable examples from the Indian context.20 marks
2. Education is often viewed as an agency of social change. However in reality it could also reinforce inequalities and conservatism. Discuss.20 marks
3. According to Marx, capitalism transforms even the personal relationships between men and women. Critically examine with illustrations from the contemporary Indian context.10 marks

Q8. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. How is the increasing use of technology changing the status of women in Indian society?20 marks
2. Write a short essay on the Latin American perspective on ‘dependency’.20 marks
3. What do you understand by social movement? How has the mobilization by Scheduled Castes helped them in constructing a new identity?10 marks

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