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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

“Not all facts about human behavior are necessarily social facts.” State the meaning of ‘social facts’ and the methods of studying them with reference to this statement.

  • UPSC 1999
  • Sociological Thinkers

Émile Durkheim, in The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), wanted sociology to have a subject matter that biology and psychology could not claim. The statement captures his point: much of human behaviour is organic or psychic, and only a specific class of facts belongs to sociology.

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What the full answer covers

  • Meaning of social facts
  • Why not every fact is social
  • Methods of studying social facts
  • Illustration from India
  • Limits
  • Conclusion

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