This page reproduces the UPSC Sociology Optional question paper 2010 in full: Paper-1 and Paper-2, section by section, with the marks printed against each question. A solved model answer is linked beneath each question so you can move straight from the question to a full answer. For every other year, see the complete set of Sociology Optional question papers.
Quick Answer
The 2010 Sociology Optional papers followed the old 300-mark pattern: eight 60-mark questions per paper in two sections, with Q1 and Q5 compulsory. Paper-1 set short notes as “any four of five” at 15 marks and long questions at 30 or 15 marks; Paper-2 set three 20-mark notes or comments. Paper-1 leaned on Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim and G. H. Mead, work and power. Paper-2 tested M. N. Srinivas, S. C. Dube, Louis Dumont and Yogendra Singh alongside SEZs, BPOs, honour killings and sex ratio.
Model answers for this paper. All 43 questions in the 2010 papers have a full model answer in Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions. Look for the Solved answer link under each question. The course files 1,500+ solved PYQs from 1985 to 2026 topic-wise, across every syllabus unit of Paper-1 and Paper-2.
Sociology Optional 2010: paper pattern at a glance
| Feature | Paper-1 | Paper-2 |
|---|---|---|
| Total marks | 300 | 300 |
| Questions | 8 in two sections (Q1–Q4, Q5–Q8), 60 marks each | 8 in two sections (Q1–Q4, Q5–Q8), 60 marks each |
| Compulsory | Q1 and Q5 | Q1 and Q5 |
| Short answers | Q1 and Q5: any 4 of 5 short notes, 15×4=60, about 200 words each | Q1 and Q5: 3 short notes, 3×20=60; Q2: 3 critical comments, 3×20=60, 200 words each |
| Long answers | 30-mark pairs; Q6 and Q7 split 30+15+15 | 30-mark pairs in Q3, Q4 and Q6–Q8 |
Sociology Optional Question Paper-1 (2010)
Section A
Q1. Write short notes on any four of the following, keeping sociological perspectives in view, in about 200 words each: 15×4=60
- (a) Content analysis. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Nomothetic and idiographic methods. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Serendipity. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Cybernetic hierarchy of control. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Ethnicity and development. (15 marks)
Solved answer →
Q2.
- (a) “Sociology without History is rootless and History without Sociology is fruitless.” Elaborate. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Examine the social dimensions of religious revivalism and fundamentalism in the context of globalization. (30 marks)
Solved answer →
Q3.
- (a) “Work in capitalism is reduced to mere labour in which the individual does not develop freely his physical and mental energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind.” Critically evaluate the assertion. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Compare Karl Marx with Émile Durkheim with reference to the framework of division of labour. (30 marks)
Solved answer →
Q4.
- (a) Critically analyze the contributions of G. H. Mead to ‘symbolic interactionism’. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Examine how open and closed systems of stratification are undergoing transformation in the emergence of new hierarchical social orders in societies. (30 marks)
Solved answer →
Section B
Q5. Write short notes on any four of the following, keeping sociological perspectives in view, in about 200 words each: 15×4=60
- (a) Feminization of labour in informal sector. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Identity politics. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Positive religion. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Kinship and social capital. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Human relations school of thought by Elton Mayo as a social organization of work process in industry. (15 marks)
Solved answer →
Q6.
- (a) “There has been a substantial decline in labour class and increase in labour force in non-manual jobs with the advent of new technological revolution.” Critically examine. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Distinguish between people being socially excluded and people excluding themselves socially in societies. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) “Science has empirical means to logical ends and religion has non-empirical means to logical ends.” Comment. (15 marks)
Solved answer →
Q7.
- (a) List the sources of power and explain the various indicators based on which power can be measured. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Analyze the social impact of market economy on traditional societies. (15 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Examine the social dimensions of displacement induced by development. (15 marks)
Solved answer →
Q8.
- (a) Evaluate how civil society and democracy mutually reinforce each other. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Examine Karl Marx’s views on ‘class-in-itself’ and ‘class-for-itself’ with reference to proletarians. (30 marks)
Solved answer →
Checked your Paper-1 answers yet? In Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions each of these questions sits inside its syllabus unit, next to every earlier UPSC question on the same theme, newest year first. You see how the examiner keeps returning to a topic, and a written model answer for each one.
Sociology Optional Question Paper-2 (2010)
Section A
Q1. Write short notes with a sociological perspective on the following in not more than 200 words each: 3×20=60
- (a) A. R. Desai’s characterization of leadership of Indian freedom movement. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Women in IT sector. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) The Parsi community and its contribution to Indian society. (20 marks)
Solved answer →
Q2. Comment critically on each of the following in 200 words: 3×20=60
- (a) The heterogeneous features that influenced Indian tradition, according to Yogendra Singh. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Linkage between patriarchy and honour killings. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Dumont’s concept of Homo Hierarchicus. (20 marks)
Solved answer →
Q3.
- (a) With reference to their understanding of the Indian village, compare the perspectives of M. N. Srinivas and S. C. Dube. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Critically assess the forms in which untouchability continues to be practised. (30 marks)
Solved answer →
Q4.
- (a) Discuss the inter-relationships between caste, class and power. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) How far is structural functional perspective helpful in understanding changes in contemporary Indian society? (30 marks)
Solved answer →
Section B
Q5. Write short notes on the following in not more than 200 words each. Your answer should have a sociological perspective: 3×20=60
- (a) Factors responsible for increasing demands for the formation of separate states. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Social security measures for the elderly. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Ethnic movements. (20 marks)
Solved answer →
Q6.
- (a) Evaluate the policy of SEZ and nature of social response to it. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) From sociological perspective, examine the effects of the BPO industry on the youth. (30 marks)
Solved answer →
Q7.
- (a) Identify the reasons for the resilience of democratic system in India. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Assess the contribution of contemporary women’s movements in women’s empowerment. (30 marks)
Solved answer →
Q8.
- (a) Discuss the socio-cultural factors for the declining sex-ratio in some states of India. (30 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Highlight the important dimensions of inter-caste conflict in India. (30 marks)
Solved answer →
What the 2010 Sociology Optional papers tested
The 2010 papers were concept-heavy in Paper-1 and strongly applied in Paper-2, where most questions were tied to visible changes in Indian society at the end of the 2000s.
Syllabus units in the 2010 papers
| Paper | Syllabus unit | Parts asked |
|---|---|---|
| Paper-1 | Sociological Thinkers | 4 |
| Paper-1 | Works and Economic Life | 4 |
| Paper-1 | Stratification and Mobility | 3 |
| Paper-1 | Religion and Society | 3 |
| Paper-1 | Politics and Society | 3 |
| Paper-1 | Research Methods and Analysis | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Social Change in Modern Society | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Sociology as a Science | 1 |
| Paper-1 | Sociology: The Discipline | 1 |
| Paper-1 | Systems of Kinship | 1 |
| Paper-1 | Science, Technology and Social Change | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society | 3 |
| Paper-2 | Caste System | 3 |
| Paper-2 | Challenges of Social Transformation | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Politics and Society in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Population Dynamics | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Social Movements in Modern India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Industrialization and Urbanisation in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Religion and Society in India | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Systems of Kinship in India | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Rural and Agrarian Social Structure | 1 |
Counts are based on the 43 questions with a linked model answer; a question filed under two units is counted in both.
Classical thinkers through set frameworks
Paper-1 asked Karl Marx twice (alienated labour and ‘class-in-itself’ versus ‘class-for-itself’), set him against Émile Durkheim on the division of labour, and asked for G. H. Mead’s contribution to symbolic interactionism. Talcott Parsons appeared indirectly through the cybernetic hierarchy of control.
Methods set as short notes
Content analysis, nomothetic and idiographic methods and serendipity all came as 15-mark notes, so research methods were tested for precise definitions rather than long essays.
Work, power and globalisation
Work and economic life ran through Paper-1: alienation, the shift to non-manual jobs, the Human Relations school, feminisation of informal labour and market economy in traditional societies. Power, civil society and democracy, religious revivalism under globalisation and development-induced displacement filled the rest.
Indian thinkers in Paper-2
Section A of Paper-2 named A. R. Desai, Yogendra Singh, Louis Dumont, M. N. Srinivas and S. C. Dube, and asked whether structural functionalism can explain change in contemporary India. Knowing each scholar’s key argument was essential.
Contemporary Indian issues
Section B was anchored in current debates: SEZs and the resistance to them, the BPO industry and youth, demands for separate states, honour killings, the declining sex ratio and women in the IT sector.
Caste as a recurring thread
Caste appeared in several forms across Paper-2: Homo Hierarchicus, persisting untouchability, the caste–class–power link and inter-caste conflict, which rewarded a well-organised caste unit.
Practise the 2010 paper with a model answer beside every question
Reading a question paper tells you what UPSC asked. It does not show you how a 10-mark or 20-mark answer should be built. Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions does, question by question:
- 1,500+ solved PYQs from 1985 to 2026, covering every unit of Paper-1 and Paper-2
- Filed topic-wise, newest exam year first, so every question on a theme sits together
- A full model answer for each question: introduction, argument and conclusion, shaped to 10 or 20 marks
- Thinkers applied, not name-dropped, with Indian examples and current data where the question needs them
- Online access on lotusarise.com plus PDF download, 12 months from the day you enrol, one-time payment
Attempt the 2010 paper under timed conditions, then open the linked answers and compare structure, not just content.
Sociology Optional Question Paper 2010: FAQs
Sociology Optional question papers: other years
2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011
