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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Bring out the debates of ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ approaches in understanding Indian society.

  • UPSC 2026
  • Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society

Robert K. Merton, in his 1972 essay "Insiders and Outsiders: A Chapter in the Sociology of Knowledge", put the quarrel at its sharpest. The Insider doctrine holds that one must be a member of a group to know it; the Outsider doctrine, that only the detached stranger sees it whole. Indian sociology has fought it…

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions.

What the full answer covers

  • The insider's case
  • The outsider's case
  • The Dalit sharpening
  • Conclusion

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