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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Write short note: Middle-range theories.

  • UPSC 1995
  • Sociological Thinkers

Theories of the middle range are Robert K. Merton's answer to the question of what kind of theory sociology can build at its present stage. In Social Theory and Social Structure (1949; enlarged 1968) he defined them as theories that lie between the minor working hypotheses of day-to-day research and the all-inclusive speculations of a…

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What the full answer covers

  • Why Merton proposed them
  • Main features
  • Examples
  • Indian relevance
  • Limitations
  • Conclusion

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