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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Discuss the importance and source of hypothesis in social research.

  • UPSC 2020
  • Research Methods and Analysis

Robert Merton's case for "theories of the middle range" is built on a single insight relevant here: a theory earns its keep in sociology only when it is precise enough to throw off testable propositions, and it is exactly this throwing-off operation that produces a hypothesis.

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 Hypothesis as the Bridge Between Theory and Data
  • Sources from Which Hypotheses Are Drawn
  • A Worked Illustration: Urbanization and Family Structure
  • The Importance of Hypothesis in Social Research

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