Sociology Topic Wise PYQs

Sociology Topic Wise pyqs: Paper -1

Sociology PYQs: Paper - 1

1. Sociology - The Discipline

Year	Question	Marks
2019	Discuss the historical antecedents of the emergence of Sociology as a discipline	10
2015	How had Enlightenment contributed to the emergence of Sociology?	10
2013	Sociology emerged in Europe and flourished to begin with on social reformist orientation in the USA. Comment	10
2012	How did the French revolution and Industrial revolution play an important role in the emergence of Sociology?	10
2011	Emergence of sociology is an outcome of modernity and social change in Europe.	12
2008	How is emergence of sociology linked with modernisation of Europe	12
2006	Write short note on Intellectual background for the emergence of sociology	10

Year	Question	Marks
2018	“The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relationship between the two in a society.” – C.W.Mills. Explain.	20
2017	Discuss the changing equations of discipline of sociology with other social sciences.	20
2017	Explain how sociology has emerged as a distinct discipline based on rationality and scientific temper	10
2016	Sociology is pre-eminently study of modern societies. Discuss.	10
2015	Discuss the relevance of historical method in the study of society.	10
2014	How is sociological approach to human actions different from that of psychological approach?	10
2013	Compare and contrast Sociology with Anthropology.	10
2012	Write a short notes on: “Interpretative Sociology”	10
2011	What can Sociology show us about our actions? Discuss the practical significance of sociology	30
2010	Sociology without History is rootless and History without Sociology is fruitless. Elaborate.	30
2009	Comparison between Sociology and Economics	20
2005	Write short note on Sociology and its relationship with economics and Political science	20
2000	Write short note on Sociology and social anthropology	20

3.) Sociology and common sense.

Year	Question	Marks
2018	The focal point of sociology rests on interaction. How do you distinguish it from common sense?	10
2016	Is Sociology common sense? Give reasons in support of your argument.	10

2. Sociology as Science

2.1: Science, scientific method and critique

Year	Question	Marks
2017	Elaborate the main tenets of interpretative perspective in sociology.	10
2017	Examine ethnomethodological and phenomenological perspectives as critique of positivism	10
2016	Describe the basic postulates of scientific method. How far are these followed in sociological research?	20

2.2: Major theoretical strands of research methodology

Year	Question	Marks
2018	Explain with examples, the explanatory and exploratory designs of social research	10
2009	Comment on the reasons why neo-idealists and symbolic interactionists are critical of positivism in Sociology	30
2007	Write short note on Sociology as a science of society.	20
2005	Write short note on Social research design	20
2000	Write short note on Problem of objectivity in social research.	20

2.3: Positivism and its critique

Year	Question	Marks
2017	Examine the basic postulates of positivism and post-positivism.	20
2013	Critically examine positivistic approach in sociological studies.	12

2.4: Fact value and objectivity

Year	Question	Marks
2018	Distinguish between fact and value in Weber’s Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism.	10
2016	What is “value-free sociology”? Clarify	10
2015	Examine the problems of maintaining objectivity and value neutrality in Social Science research	20
2012	Write a short note on – “Fact, Value and Objectivity”	12
2011	Write a short note on – “Fact and Value”	12
2009	Problems of objectivity in sociological research	20
2008	Write a short note on – “Role of values in sociological enquiry”	20
2004	Objectivity and Value Neutrality in Social Research	20
2003	Highlight the problem of objectivity and value neutrality in Social Research. Elaborate, with suitable examples, the limitations associated with the tools of measurement in Social Science Research	60
2002	Write short note on – “Theory and Fact”	20
2002	Write short note on Sociology as a science	20

2.5: Non-positivist methodologies

Year	Question	Marks
2018	Is non-positivistic methodology scientific? Illustrate	20
2015	Non-positivistic methodology is essential for understanding human behaviour. Discuss	20
2014	In what way interpretative method is different from positivist approach in the study of social phenomena?	20

3. Research Methods and Analysis

3.1: Qualitative and quantitative methods

Year	Question	Marks
2018	Distinguish between qualitative techniques of data collection with suitable examples from Indian society	10
2017	Examine epistemological foundations of qualitative methods of social research.	10
2016	Analyze the importance of qualitative method in social research.	10
2014	How is objectivity different from value neutrality? Discuss with reference to Weber‘s views on methodology	10
2014	Which research technique is most suitable for the study of customer behavior and its social correlates? Explain	20
2011	What is subjective method in social research? Examine Focus Group Discussion (FGD) as a technique for data collection, with suitable examples.	30

3.2: Techniques of data collection

Year	Question	Marks
2019	Bring out the significance of Ethnography in social research	20
2016	Participant observation is the most effective tool for collecting facts. Comment	20

3.3: Variables, sampling, hypothesis, reliability and validity

Year	Question	Marks
2019	Explain the probability sampling strategies with examples.	10
2017	How can one resolve the issue of reliability and validity in the context of sociological research on inequality?	10
2017	Illustrate with example the significance of variables in sociological research.	10
2016	Hypothesis is a statement of the relationship between two or more variables. Elucidate by giving example of poverty and illiteracy.	10
2015	What are variables? Discuss their role in experimental research.	10
2015	Why is random sampling said to have more reliability and validity in research?	20
2011	Write a short note on – “Reliability & Validity”	12
2010	Write a short note on – “Cybernetic Hierarchy of Control”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Serendipity”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Nomothetic & Idiographic Methods”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Content Analysis”	20
2009	Distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling methods. How many types of sampling designs are there?	30
2008	Write short note on – “Importance and sources of hypotheses in social research”	20
2008	What is the importance of sampling in sociological studies? Distinguish between simple random sampling and stratified random sampling.	60
2003	Write a short note on – “Utility of Reliability and Validity in Social Research.”	20
2002	What are the uses of Bogardus social distance scale and of Likert scale? Discuss	60

4. Sociological Thinkers

4.1: Karl Marx

Year	Question	Marks
2018	Distinguish between qualitative techniques of data collection with suitable examples from Indian society	10
2017	Examine epistemological foundations of qualitative methods of social research.	10
2016	Analyze the importance of qualitative method in social research.	10
2014	How is objectivity different from value neutrality? Discuss with reference to Weber‘s views on methodology	10
2014	Which research technique is most suitable for the study of customer behavior and its social correlates? Explain	20
2011	What is subjective method in social research? Examine Focus Group Discussion (FGD) as a technique for data collection, with suitable examples.	30

4.2: Emile Durkheim

Year	Question	Marks
2018	Explain Durkheim’s basic arguments on suicide. Can you analyse high suicide rates of contemporary Indian society with Durkheim’s theory?	20
2018	What is the difference between anomie in Merton and Durkheim? Explain.	10
2018	Does scientific method make Sociology a Science? Illustrate your answer with Durkheim’s method	10
2018	In what way did Durkheim perceive religion as functional to society?	10
2017	Discuss distinct sociological method adopted by Emile Durkheim in his study of ‘suicide’.	20
2016	How is Durkheim‘s theory of religion different from Max Weber‘s theory of religion?	20
2015	Elaborate the views of Durkheim on The Elementary Forms of Religious Life	10
2014	Identify the similarities and differences between Marx‘s theory of alienation and Durkheim‘s theory of anomie.	20
2012	Social fact is to be treated as a thing. Discuss	20
2012	Show how Durkheim through the study of Totemism demonstrates the reality of religion	30
2012	Write a short note on – “Sacred and Profane”	12
2011	Define sect cult and religion. In What way do Weber‘s views or religion differ from those of Durkheim?	20
2009	What is the subject-matter of Sociology, according to Emile Durkheim.	20
2007	Elaborate Emile Durkheim‘s analysis of the Elementary Forms of Religious Life and role of religion in society. How does the explain existence of religion in modern industrial societies?	30
2007	Write short note on – “Social facts”.	20
2006	What according to Emile Durkheim is the nature of relationship between the individual and society? Explain this with the help of his analysis of division of labour in society.	30
2004	Give a Critical Review of Emile Durkheim‘s Theory on Religion and Society. To what extent does it explain the contemporary scenario in Asia?	30
2002	Write short note on the sacred and the profane.	20
2002	Examine the nature of social facts as understood by Durkheim	30
2001	What is the focus of sociological analysis in the contributions of Emile Durkheim? Give your answer with the help of any one of his contributions.	30
2000	Emile Durkheim had argued that the function of division of labour in society is that of the promotion of social solidarity. Elaborate the statement and analyze the distinction between two forms of solidarity discussed by him.	30

4.3: Max Weber

Year	Question	Marks
2019	Explain the probability sampling strategies with examples.	10
2017	How can one resolve the issue of reliability and validity in the context of sociological research on inequality?	10
2017	Illustrate with example the significance of variables in sociological research.	10
2016	Hypothesis is a statement of the relationship between two or more variables. Elucidate by giving example of poverty and illiteracy.	10
2015	What are variables? Discuss their role in experimental research.	10
2015	Why is random sampling said to have more reliability and validity in research?	20
2011	Write a short note on – “Reliability & Validity”	12
2010	Write a short note on – “Cybernetic Hierarchy of Control”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Serendipity”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Nomothetic & Idiographic Methods”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Content Analysis”	20
2009	Distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling methods. How many types of sampling designs are there?	30
2008	Write short note on – “Importance and sources of hypotheses in social research”	20
2008	What is the importance of sampling in sociological studies? Distinguish between simple random sampling and stratified random sampling.	60
2003	Write a short note on – “Utility of Reliability and Validity in Social Research.”	20
2002	What are the uses of Bogardus social distance scale and of Likert scale? Discuss	60

4.4: Talcott Parsons

Year	Question	Marks
2019	Explain the probability sampling strategies with examples.	10
2017	How can one resolve the issue of reliability and validity in the context of sociological research on inequality?	10
2017	Illustrate with example the significance of variables in sociological research.	10
2016	Hypothesis is a statement of the relationship between two or more variables. Elucidate by giving example of poverty and illiteracy.	10
2015	What are variables? Discuss their role in experimental research.	10
2015	Why is random sampling said to have more reliability and validity in research?	20
2011	Write a short note on – “Reliability & Validity”	12
2010	Write a short note on – “Cybernetic Hierarchy of Control”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Serendipity”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Nomothetic & Idiographic Methods”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Content Analysis”	20
2009	Distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling methods. How many types of sampling designs are there?	30
2008	Write short note on – “Importance and sources of hypotheses in social research”	20
2008	What is the importance of sampling in sociological studies? Distinguish between simple random sampling and stratified random sampling.	60
2003	Write a short note on – “Utility of Reliability and Validity in Social Research.”	20
2002	What are the uses of Bogardus social distance scale and of Likert scale? Discuss	60

4.5: Robert K. Merton

Year	Question	Marks
2019	Explain the probability sampling strategies with examples.	10
2017	How can one resolve the issue of reliability and validity in the context of sociological research on inequality?	10
2017	Illustrate with example the significance of variables in sociological research.	10
2016	Hypothesis is a statement of the relationship between two or more variables. Elucidate by giving example of poverty and illiteracy.	10
2015	What are variables? Discuss their role in experimental research.	10
2015	Why is random sampling said to have more reliability and validity in research?	20
2011	Write a short note on – “Reliability & Validity”	12
2010	Write a short note on – “Cybernetic Hierarchy of Control”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Serendipity”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Nomothetic & Idiographic Methods”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Content Analysis”	20
2009	Distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling methods. How many types of sampling designs are there?	30
2008	Write short note on – “Importance and sources of hypotheses in social research”	20
2008	What is the importance of sampling in sociological studies? Distinguish between simple random sampling and stratified random sampling.	60
2003	Write a short note on – “Utility of Reliability and Validity in Social Research.”	20
2002	What are the uses of Bogardus social distance scale and of Likert scale? Discuss	60

4.6: Mead

Year	Question	Marks
2019	Explain the probability sampling strategies with examples.	10
2017	How can one resolve the issue of reliability and validity in the context of sociological research on inequality?	10
2017	Illustrate with example the significance of variables in sociological research.	10
2016	Hypothesis is a statement of the relationship between two or more variables. Elucidate by giving example of poverty and illiteracy.	10
2015	What are variables? Discuss their role in experimental research.	10
2015	Why is random sampling said to have more reliability and validity in research?	20
2011	Write a short note on – “Reliability & Validity”	12
2010	Write a short note on – “Cybernetic Hierarchy of Control”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Serendipity”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Nomothetic & Idiographic Methods”	20
2010	Write a short note on – “Content Analysis”	20
2009	Distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling methods. How many types of sampling designs are there?	30
2008	Write short note on – “Importance and sources of hypotheses in social research”	20
2008	What is the importance of sampling in sociological studies? Distinguish between simple random sampling and stratified random sampling.	60
2003	Write a short note on – “Utility of Reliability and Validity in Social Research.”	20
2002	What are the uses of Bogardus social distance scale and of Likert scale? Discuss	60

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