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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

In what way ‘interpretative’ method is different from ‘positivist’ approach in the study of social phenomena?

  • UPSC 2014
  • Sociology as a Science

Auguste Comte founded the positivist programme for the social sciences; Max Weber founded the interpretative counter-tradition that has shaped sociological method ever since.

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

What the full answer covers

  • Positivism: Comte and Durkheim's Vision of Social Science
  • Interpretivism: Weber and the Successors
  • Positivism and Interpretivism Compared
  • The Sharpest Points of Difference Elaborated
  • Causal Law versus Meaningful Understanding
  • The Observer's Relationship to What Is Studied
  • …and 1 more sections, with a conclusion

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