Sociology Notes for OPSC
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OPSC Sociology Syllabus (Paper 1)
π Sociology: The Discipline
π Sociology as a Science.
π Sociology as an interpretative discipline
π Impact of Industrial and French Revolution on the emergence of sociology.
π Sociology and its Relationship with History, Economics, Political Science, Psychology and Anthropology.
π Scientific Study of Social Phenomena
π Problem of objectivity and value neutrality
π Issue of measurement in social science.
π Elements of Scientific Method Concepts.
π Theory and Fact
π Hypothesis
π Research Designs Descriptive
π Exploratory and Experimental
π Content Analysis
π Techniques of Data Collection and Analysis
π Participant and quasi-participant observation
π Interview, Questionnaire and Schedule case study
π Sampling-Size, Reliability and Validity
π Scaling Techniques-social distance and Likert scale
πPioneering contributions to Sociology
π Karl Marx : Historical materialism, alienation and class struggle.
π Emile Durkheim : Division of labour, social fact, religion and society, suicide.
π Max Weber : Social action, ideal types, authority, bureaucracy, protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.
πTalcott Parsons : Social system, pattern variables.
π Robert K. Merton- Latent and manifest functions, conformity and deviance, reference groups.
πMarriage and Family
π Types and forms of marriage; family-structure and function
π Personality and Socialization
π Social control
π Family, lineage, Descent and Property
π Changing Structure of family and marriage in Modern Society
π Divorce and its Implications
π Role Conflicts
π Social Stratification
π Concepts Hierarchy
π Inequality and Stratification
π Theories of Stratification-Marx
π Davis and Moore and Melvin Tuminβs critique
π Forms and Functions
π Classdifferent Conceptions of Class
π Class-in-itself and Class-for-itself
π Caste and Class
π Caste as a Class
π Social Mobility
π Types of mobility-open and closed models
π Intra and Intergenerational Mobility
π Vertical and Horizontal Mobility
π Social Mobility and Social Change
π Economic System
π Sociological dimensions of economic life
π The impact of economic processes on the larger society
π Social aspects of division of labour and types of exchange
π Features of pre-industrial and industrial economic system
π Industrialisation and Social Change
π Social Determinants of Economic Development
π Political System
π The nature of power-personal power, community power, power of the elite, class power, organizational power, power of the un-organized masses
π Authority and legitimacy
π Pressure Groups and Political Parties
π Voting Behaviour
π Modes of political participation-democratic and authoritarian forms
π Educational System
π Education and Culture
π Equality of educational opportunity
π Social Aspects of mass education
π Problems of Universalisation of primary education
π Role of Community and State Intervention in Education
π Education as an instrument of social control and social change
π Education and Modernisation
π Religion
π Origins of religious beliefs in pre-modern socieites
π The Sacred and the Profane
π Social Functions and Dysfunctions of Religion
π Monistic and Pluralistic religion
π Organised and Unorganised Religions
π Semitism and Antisemitism
π Religion, Sect and Cults
π Magic, Religion and Science
π Social Change and Gender Issues
π Social Construction of Gender
π Equality vs Differences
π Impact of Globalization on Women
π Emergence of Feminist Thought
π Gender Issues
OPSC Sociology Syllabus (Paper 2)
πHistorical Moorings of the Indian Society
π Traditional Hindu social Organisation
π Socio-Cultural Dynamics through the Ages
π Impact of Buddhism, Islam, and the West, factors in continuity and change
πClass Structure
π Class structure in India
π Agrarian and Industrial Class Structure
π Emergence of Middle Class
π Emergence of Classes Among Tribes
π Elite Formation in India.
πCaste System
π Origin of the caste system
π Cultural and Structural views about caste
π Mobility in Caste
π Caste among Muslims and Christians
π Change and Persistence of caste in modern India
π Issues of Equality and Social Justice
π Views of Gandhi and Ambedkar on Caste
π Caste on and Indian polity
π Backward Classes Movement
π Mandal Commission Report and issues of social backwardness and social justice
π Emergence of Dalit Consciousness
π Backward Caste Movement
π Marriage, Family and Kinship
π Marriage among different religious and tribal groups
π Its changing trends and its future
π Family-its Structural and Functional aspects-its changing forms
π Regional Variations in Kinship systems and its socio-cultural correlates
π Impact of legislation and socioeconomic change on marriage and family
π Generation Gap
πAgrarian Social Structure
π Peasant society and agrarian systems
π land tenure systems-historical perspectives
π Social Consequences of land reforms and green revolution
π Feudalism-semi-feudalism debates
π Emerging Agrarian class structure
π Peasant Movements
πIndustry and Society
π Path of industrialisation, occupational diversification, trade unions and human relations
π Market Economy and its social consequences
π Economic reforms liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation
πPolitical Processes
π Working of the democratic political system in a traditional society
π Political Parties and their social base
π Social Structural Origins of political elites and their orientations
π Regionalism, Pluralism and National Unity
π Decentralisation of Power
π Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalikas and 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments
πEducationΒ
π Directive Principles of State Policy and primary education
π Educational Inequality and Change
π Education and Social mobility
π The Role of Community and State Intervention in Education
π Universalisation of Primary Education
π Total Literacy Campaigns
π Educational Problems of Disadvantaged groups.
πReligion and Society
π Size, growth and regional distribution of different religious groups
π Educational levels of different groups
π Problems of religious minorities
π Communal tensions
π Secularism
π Conversions
π Religious Fundamentalism, Religious Reform Movements
πTribal Societies
π Distinctive features of tribal communities and their geographical spread
π Problems of tribal communities-land alienation, health and nutrition, education
π Tribal Development efforts after independence
π Tribal Policy-isolation, Assimilation and Integration
π Issues of Tribal Identity
πSocial Change and Development
π Endogenous and exogenous sources of change and resistance to change
π Processes of Change-Sanskritisation and Modernisation
π Agents of Change-Mass Media, Education and Communication
π Problems of Change and Modernisation; Structural Contradictions and Breakdowns
π Migration, Determinants and consequences of population growth, population policy and family welfare Programmes, child welfare Programmes
πMajor Social Issues
π Poverty, indebtedness, bonded labour, unemployment, depletion of forests, development related displacement, corruption, alcoholism, AIDS, drug addiction, violence against women, dowry, child labour.
π Maternal and Infant Mortality