Table of Contents

Interpretive and Qualitative Strategies

(Relevant for Sociology Optional for Civil Services Examination)

Interpretive and qualitative methodology

Regardless of the significant impact of ‘scientific’ methodologies on sociology, there has always been an alternate path of interpretive or qualitative methods. These approaches either contend that ‘scientific’ methods are insufficient alone for gathering, assessing, and explaining data, or that they are wholly unsuitable for a discipline addressing human behaviour. Therefore, some sociologists who endorse the use of interpretive and qualitative methods propose that these methods should complement ‘scientific’ quantitative strategies; others argue they should replace ‘scientific’ approaches entirely.

Qualitative Data

Quantitative data refers to numeric data: for instance, official figures on crime rates, suicides, and divorces. On the contrary, qualitative data is typically expressed in words. These might include a depiction of an impoverished group, offering a thorough and detailed narrative of their lifestyle, or a recorded interview where people express and elucidate their attitudes towards and experiences with religion.
Compared to quantitative data, qualitative data are generally considered to be more vibrant, richer, and provide more depth, and are more likely to deliver a genuine portrayal of a lifestyle, of people’s experiences, attitudes, and beliefs.

The Interpretive Method

Sociologists who adopt an interpretive method are often the most vigorous advocates for qualitative data. They assert that the core foundation of sociology lies in the interpretation of social action. Social action can only be comprehended by interpreting the meanings and motivations it is based upon. Only through qualitative data – with its increased richness and depth – can a sociologist aspire to interpret the meanings that underpin social action.

Several interpretive sociologists dismiss the application of natural science methodologies to the study of social action. They see the subject matter of the social and natural sciences as fundamentally dissimilar. The natural sciences deal with inanimate matter. Since matter lacks consciousness, its behaviour can simply be defined as a reaction to external stimuli. It reacts this way because its behaviour is inherently without meaning.

Unlike matter, humans possess consciousness. They perceive, interpret, and experience the world through meanings; they actively construct their social reality. Meanings don’t exist independently or have their own reality separate from social actors. They’re not imposed by an external society that forces its members to behave in certain ways. Instead, they are constructed and reconstructed by actors during social interactions.

Regardless of an individual’s actions, proponents of interpretive sociology would argue that it’s impossible to causally explain human behaviour without some understanding of the subjective states of the individuals involved.

At this point, opponents of positivist and ‘scientific’ methods begin to differ. While some, such as phenomenologists, see understanding as the ultimate result of sociological research, rejecting the possibility of producing causal explanations altogether, although Weber, see the understanding of meaning as essential to make causal explanations possible. The interpretive approach weber will be discussed below

Max Weber

Weber characterized sociology as the study of social action (Weber, in Gerth and Mills (eds), 1948). Action is social when it takes into account other members of society. Weber posited that an explanation of social action required an understanding of the meanings and motives that underpin human behaviour.

The sociologist must interpret the meanings attached to actions by the actors themselves. For instance, to explain why an individual was cutting wood, the sociologist must discover the person’s motives for doing so – were they doing it to earn money, to create a fire, to vent anger, or for some other reason? According to Weber, understanding motives could be achieved through “verstehen” – imagining yourself in the position of the person whose behaviour you are trying to explain.

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Paper-1

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIOLOGY

Sociology – The Discipline
Sociology as Science:
Research Methods and Analysis:
Sociological Thinkers:
Stratification and Mobility:
Works andEconomic Life:
1. Social organization of work in different types of society- slave society, feudal society, industrial /capitalist society
2. Formal and informal organization of work.
3. Labour and society.
Politics and Society:
1. Sociological theories of power.
2. Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups, and political parties.
3. Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.
4. Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.
Religion and Society:
1. Sociological theories of religion.
2. Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.
3. Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism.
Systems of Kinship:
1. Family, household, marriage.
2. Types and forms of family.
3. Lineage and descent.
4. Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
5. Contemporary trends.
Social Change in Modern Society:
1. Sociological theories of social change.
2. Development and dependency.
3. Agents of social change.
4. Education and social change.
5. Science, technology and social change.

Paper-2

INDIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURE AND CHANGE

INTRODUCING INDIAN SOCIETY

Perspectives on the study of Indian society:
1. Indology (GS. Ghurye).
2. Structural functionalism (M N Srinivas).
3. Marxist sociology (A R Desai).
Impact of colonial rule on Indian society :
1. Social background of Indian nationalism.
2. Modernization of Indian tradition.
3. Protests and movements during the colonial period.
4. Social reforms.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Perspectives on the study of Indian society:
1. The idea of Indian village and village studies.
2. Agrarian social structure – evolution of land tenure system, land reforms.
Caste System:
1. Perspectives on the study of caste systems: GS Ghurye, M N Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre Beteille.
2. Features of caste system.
3. Untouchability – forms and perspectives.
Tribal communities in India
1. Definitional problems.
2. Geographical spread.
3. Colonial policies and tribes.
4. Issues of integration and autonomy.
Social Classes in India:

1. Agrarian class structure.

- - Industrial class structure.
  - Middle classes in India.
Systems of Kinship in India:
1. Lineage and descent in India.
2. Types of kinship systems.
3. Family and marriage in India.
4. Household dimensions of the family.
5. Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour
Religion and Society:
1. Religious communities in India.
2. Problems of religious minorities.
3. Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour

SOCIAL CHANGES IN INDIA

Visions of Social Change in India:
- Idea of development planning and mixed economy
- Constitution, law and social change.
- Education and social change.
Rural and Agrarian transformation in India:
- Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives,poverty alleviation schemes
- Green revolution and social change.
- Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
- Problems of rural labour, bondage, migration.

3. Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:

- Evolution of modern industry in India.
- Growth of urban settlements in India.
- Working class: structure, growth, class mobilization.
- Informal sector, child labour
- Slums and deprivation in urban areas.

4. Politics and Society:

- Nation, democracy and citizenship.
- Political parties, pressure groups , social and political elite
- Regionalism and decentralization of power.
- Secularization

5. Social Movements in Modern India:

- Peasants and farmers movements.
- Women’s movement.
- Backward classes & Dalit movement.
- Environmental movements.
- Ethnicity and Identity movements.

6. Population Dynamics:

- Population size, growth, composition and distribution
- Components of population growth: birth, death, migration.
- Population policy and family planning.
- Emerging issues: ageing, sex ratios, child and infant mortality, reproductive health.

7. Challenges of Social Transformation:

- Crisis of development: displacement, environmental problems and sustainability
- Poverty, deprivation and inequalities.
- Violence against women.
- Caste conflicts.
- Ethnic conflicts, communalism, religious revivalism.
- Illiteracy and disparities in education.

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