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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

State the meaning and characteristics of an ideal type. What, according to Max Weber, is the use and significance of the ‘ideal type’ in social science research?

  • UPSC 2001
  • Sociological Thinkers

Social reality is infinite and confused, and concepts borrowed from everyday speech are vague. Max Weber, in his essay on "objectivity" in social science (1904), proposed the ideal type as the social scientist's means of making that reality intelligible without claiming to copy 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

  • Meaning
  • Characteristics
  • Use in research
  • Weber's own ideal types
  • Significance
  • Conclusion

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