Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

“Participant observation is the most effective tool for collecting facts.” Comment.

  • UPSC 2016
  • Research Methods and Analysis

Bronislaw Malinowski's founding of participant observation as a systematic method — undertaken so as to grasp "the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realise his vision of his world" — is the natural starting point for judging the claim this question puts forward.

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

What the full answer covers

  • Two Different Kinds of "Facts"
  • The Genuine Strengths of Participant Observation
  • The Real Weaknesses
  • A Contemporary Extension: Digital Ethnography

Unlock this answer and 1,500+ more

  • 1,500+ solved UPSC Sociology PYQs from 1985 to 2026, Paper-1 and Paper-2
  • Topic-wise across all 25 syllabus units, newest exam year first
  • A full model answer for every question, shaped to 10 or 20 marks, with thinkers and Indian examples
  • Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download

₹1,499₹2,50040% off

Get Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions @ ₹1,499 →

One-time payment · 12 months of access · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay

See every Research Methods and Analysis question (63 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in