The village and its hamlets represented "India in microcosm". In the light of this statement, explain the significance of village studies.

Village studies gained special significance for enrichment of Indian sociological discourse guided and led by MN Srinivas and his students.

Village study, a form of Participant Observation marked a shift from armchair book views depicted by Indology or ideologically charged Marxism both of which were far from empirical reality.

Different aspects of social structure were studied by different scholars through village study such as:

• Caste: Beteille, MSA Rao
• Power structure: Anand Chakraborty
• Kinship structure: IP Desai, AM Shah

Thus, village may be a mere pattern of settlement for geography, but for sociology its a microcosm. Villages in India are a miniature of Indian society.

However, Dipankar Gupta argues that with forces of globalisation and modernisation entering the shields of village, villages have ceased to be a sociological treasure.