AIR 79 · CSE 2014 · Sociology I · 34 pages

Purva Garg: Sociology I answer copy

13 answers by Purva Garg, as written in the test. Each question opens a page with how other toppers answered it.

The questions

  1. Q1(a)Sociology and Common Sense12.5 marks
  2. Q1(b)1. (b) Charismatic Authority12.5 marks
  3. Q1(c)1. (c) Sociology and Economics12.5 marks
  4. Q1(d)1. (d) Sacred and Profane12.5 marks
  5. Q2(a)Elaborate Max Weber's 'Ideal Type' features of bureaucracy. What was Weber's assessment of the increasing bureaucratization of modern societies?25 marks
  6. Q2(b)Explain Karl Marx's theory of class struggle. Evaluate the theory in terms of its relevance in explaining contemporary reality.25 marks
  7. Q3(a)Emile Durkheim's conception of 'Social Fact' was essentially an endeavor by him to create a separate niche and scientific status for Sociology.25 marks
  8. Q3(b)Critically evaluate to what extent is the Marxian notion of alienation, significant in understanding of modern capitalist societies.25 marks
  9. Q4Explain the transition from class-in-itself to class-for-itself, according to Karl Marx.15 marks
  10. Q4(a)Discuss the emergence of Sociology as a discipline, in the backdrop of an increasingly modernizing European society.20 marks
  11. Q4(b)Examine how Max Weber applies the 'ideal type' in establishing a relationship between religion and economy.15 marks
  12. Q5(a)Examine how Max Weber's 'Interpretive Sociology' added new dimensions to the subject matter and methodology of Sociology.25 marks
  13. Q5(b)Critically analyze the contemporary relevance of Durkheim's theory of religion.25 marks

The answers

Question 1(a) · 12.5 marks · 147 words written

Sociology and Common Sense

Opening · a definition

[Common Sense] is the unverified rudimentary knowledge obtained by people from their daily experiences and environment.

Body · continuous prose

[Sociology] is the scientific study of social processes, social structures and social institutions.

Sociology emerged in the background of Enlightenment Period. Its [founders] like Auguste Comte & Emile Durkheim emphasised on positive science methods to study society & dissociate sociology from common sense.

However, later it was proposed by theorists like [John Locke] that scientific study & common sense are not mutually exclusive. Common sense presents ideas which when verified make scientific knowledge.

[Example]: Hopi Tribe Rain Dance apparently irrational - common sense knowledge of pleasing Gods. on scientific study → latent function of solidarity.

Further [Post modernists] profess common sense is required to build and interpret social world.

Close · a summary

Thus sociology recognises man is a culture bound & rational being & Accordingly both common sense & scientism are given due importance.