SOCIOLOGY PAPER 1

OPSC
Foundations of Sociology

1. Sociology-The Discipline:
[1] Sociology as a science.

[2] Sociology as an interpretative discipline;

[3] Impact of Industrial and French Revolution on the emergence

of sociology;

[4] Sociology and its relationship with

[a]History

[b]Economics

[c]Political science

[d]Psychology

[e]Anthropology
2. Scientific Study of Social Phenomena :
[1]Problem of objectivity and value neutrality;

[2]Issue of measurement in social science;

[3]Elements of scientific method-

[a]Concepts,

[b]Theory and fact,

[c]Hypothesis;

[4]Research designs-

[a]descriptive

[b]exploratory

[c]experimental,

[5]Content analysis.
3. Techniques of data collection and analysis
: [1]Participant and quasi-participant observation;
[2]Interview

[3]Questionnaire

[4]Schedule case study

[5]Sampling-size,

[6]Reliability and validity,

[7]Scaling techniques-

[a]Social distance scale

[b]Likert scale.
4. Pioneering contributions to Sociology:
a) Karl Marx :

[1]Historical materialism

[2]Alienation

[3]Class struggle.

b) Emile Durkheim :

[1]Division of labour

[2]Social fact

[3]Religion and society

[4]Suicide

c) Max Weber :

[1]Social action

[2]Ideal types

[3]Authority

[4]Bureaucracy

[5]Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.

d) Talcott Parsons :

[1]Social system

[2]Pattern variables.
e) Robert K. Merton:

[1]Latent and manifest functions,

[2]Anomie

[3]Conformity and deviance

[4]Reference groups.

5. Marriage and Family :

[1]Types and forms of marriage;

[2]Family-structure and function;

[3]Personality and socialization;

[4]Social control;

[4]Family, Lineage, Descent and Property;

[5]Changing structure of family and marriage in modern

society; [6]Divorce and its implications;

[7]Role conflicts.
6. Social Stratification
: [1]Concepts-

[a] Hierarchy

[b]Inequality

[c]Stratification;

[2]Theories of stratification-

[a]Marx

[b]Davis and Moore and Melvin Tumin’s critique;

[3]Forms and functions;

[4]Class

[5]Different conceptions of class;

[6]Class-in-itself and class-for-itself; caste and

class; [7]Caste as a class.

7. Social Mobility :
[1]Types of mobility-
[a]Open and closed
models;

[b] Intra-and intergenerational

mobility; [c]Vertical and horizontal

mobility; [2]Social mobility and social

change.
8. Economic System :
[1] Sociological dimensions of economic life;

[2] The impact of economic processes on the larger

society; [3]Social aspects of division of labour

[4]Types of exchange;

[5]Features of pre-industrial and industrial economic

system; [6]Industrialization and social change;

[7]Social determinants of economic development

9. Political System :
[1]The nature of power-

[a]Personal power

[b]Community power

[c]Power of the elite

[d]Class power

[e]Organisational power

[f]Power of the un-organised masses;

[2]Authority and legitimacy;

[3]Pressure groups and political parties;

[4]Voting behaviour;
[5]Modes of political participation-

[a]Democratic form

[b]Authoritarian forms.

10. Educational System :

[1] Education and Culture;

[2] Equality of educational

opportunity; [3]Social aspects of mass

education;

[4]Problems of universalisation of primary education;

[5]Role of community and state intervention in education;

[6]Education as an instrument of social control and social change;

[7]Education and modernisation

11. Religion :
[1]Origins of religious beliefs in pre-modern societies;

[2]The sacred and the profane;

[3]Social functions and dysfunctions of religion;

[4]Monistic and pluralistic religion;

[5]Organised and unorganised religions;

[6]Semitism and antisemitism;

[7]Religion, sect and cults;

[8]Magic

[9]Religion and science

12. Social Change and Gender Issues:

[1]Social construction of gender,

[2]Equality vs. Differences,

[3]Impact of globalization on women,

[4]Emergence of feminist thought,

[5]Gender issues