This page reproduces both papers of the UPSC Sociology Optional 2018 in full, section by section, with marks where the paper prints them. A solved model answer is linked beneath almost every question, so you can read the question as it was set and then check how it can be answered. For every other year, see the complete set of Sociology Optional question papers.
Quick Answer
The 2018 Sociology Optional exam had two papers of 250 marks each, with eight questions per paper in two sections and Q1 and Q5 compulsory as five 10-mark short answers. Paper-1 was strongly thinker-driven, naming Émile Durkheim in four parts alongside Karl Marx, Max Weber, G.H. Mead, Robert K. Merton, Talcott Parsons, Vilfredo Pareto and C. Wright Mills. Paper-2 mixed G.S. Ghurye, A.R. Desai and André Béteille with current issues such as Me Too, the triple talaq ban and transgender rights.
Model answers for this paper. 53 of the 56 questions in the 2018 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 2018: paper pattern at a glance
| Feature | Paper-1 | Paper-2 |
|---|---|---|
| Total marks | 250 | 250 |
| Questions | 8 in two sections (A and B) | 8 in two sections (A and B) |
| Questions to attempt | 5: Q1, Q5 and three more, at least one from each section | 5: Q1, Q5 and three more, at least one from each section |
| Compulsory | Q1 and Q5 | Q1 and Q5 |
| Short answers | Q1 and Q5: 5 parts each, 10 marks, about 150 words | Q1 and Q5: 5 parts each, 10 marks, about 150 words |
| Long answers | Q2–Q4 and Q6–Q8: three parts each, 50 marks per question | Q2–Q4 and Q6–Q8: three parts each, 50 marks per question |
| Total parts | 28 | 28 |
Sociology Optional Question Paper-1 (2018)
Section A
Q1. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
- (a) The focal point of sociology rests on interaction. How do you distinguish it from common sense? (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Distinguish between fact and value in Weber’s Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Do you think ‘I’ and ‘Me’ are central terms in Mead’s work? (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) What is the difference between natural and social inequality? Give examples from caste and class dimensions. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) What are the new forms of family in developed societies? Discuss. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q2.
- (a) Is non-positivist methodology scientific? Illustrate.
Solved answer → - (b) Explain Durkheim’s basic arguments on suicide. Can you analyse high suicide rates of contemporary Indian society with Durkheim’s theory?
Solved answer → - (c) Evaluate if social stratification is functional for society.
Solved answer →
Q3.
- (a) Does the collapse of functionalism and bankruptcy of Marxism coincide with the rupture of modernity? Discuss.
Solved answer → - (b) Define patriarchy. How does patriarchy manifest in interpersonal relations?
Solved answer → - (c) What is the difference between anomie in Merton and Durkheim? Explain.
Solved answer →
Q4.
- (a) According to Marx, how are human beings alienated from their human potential and what does he suggest to change this?
Solved answer → - (b) Schooling does not ensure upward mobility of all members of this society. Discuss with reference to class societies.
Solved answer → - (c) Discuss the challenges thrown by religious revivalism to a secular nation-state.
Solved answer →
Section B
Q5. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
- (a) Is the theory of cultural lag valid in present times? Discuss. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Are social movements primordial in means and progressive in agenda? Explain. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Does scientific method make Sociology a Science? Illustrate your answer with Durkheim’s method. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection with suitable examples from Indian society. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Is social mobility possible in closed systems of stratification? Illustrate from research work. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q6.
- (a) Discuss the nature of social organization of work in capitalist society with reference to the ‘Limits of the working day’.
Solved answer → - (b) Distinguish between family and household with reference to the concept of development of the household.
Solved answer → - (c) Explain with examples, the explanatory and exploratory designs of social research.
Solved answer →
Q7.
- (a) How can Parsons’ AGIL framework be used to analyse key problems in a society? Discuss.
Solved answer → - (b) What is labour commitment? Discuss it with reference to studies of manufacturing industry.
Solved answer → - (c) What, according to Pareto, are the basic characteristics of elites? Discuss.
Solved answer →
Q8.
- (a) “The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relationship between the two in society.” – C. Wright Mills. Explain.
Solved answer → - (b) What are sects? Discuss their role in multi-religious societies with empirical examples.
Solved answer → - (c) In what way did Durkheim perceive religion as functional to society?
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 (2018)
Section A
Q1. Write short answers with a sociological perspective of the following questions in about 150 words each. 10×5=50
- (a) Write a note on G.S. Ghurye’s Indological perspective of understanding Indian society. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Give a critical analysis of André Béteille’s study of Tanjore village. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Media is the fourth pillar of democracy. Discuss. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Write a note on the changing roles of middle-class women in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Discuss the growth of religious sects in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q2.
- (a) Analyse A.R. Desai’s views on India’s path of development.
Solved answer → - (b) Examine sociological dynamics of Champaran Peasant Movement in colonial India.
Solved answer → - (c) How do the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission (2004–2006) ensure food and nutrition security for the Indian masses?
Solved answer →
Q3.
- (a) What do you understand by discrete castes and muddled hierarchies? Substantiate your answer with suitable illustrations.
Solved answer → - (b) Discuss development induced displacement in the context of tribal uprising in India. Substantiate your answer with any one detailed illustration from India.
Solved answer → - (c) Illustrate the importance of ‘Kanyadaan’ and ‘Kulavadhu’ in changing institution of marriage and family.
Solved answer →
Q4.
- (a) How has the New Economic Policy (1991) affected the lifestyle and life chances in new middle class in India?
Solved answer → - (b) Write a critical narrative on the concerns of religious minorities in India.
Solved answer → - (c) Discuss the issues relating to the entitlement of transgender in Indian society.
Section B
Q5. Write short answers, with a sociological perspective of the following questions in about 150 words each. 10×5=50
- (a) Elaborate the concept of constitutional morality as given by B.R. Ambedkar. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Construct a sociological narrative on the increasing trend of child abuse in India. (10 marks)
- (c) Explain the dynamics of neo-farmers movement in contemporary India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Assess the role of the State in promoting education of girl child. (10 marks)
- (e) Elaborate the ‘Me Too’ Movement and its impact in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q6.
- (a) How do you relate the growth of development of metropoles and its impact on the mental and social life of people in India?
Solved answer → - (b) Has Green Revolution led to the formation of new power elite in rural India? Elaborate your answer.
Solved answer → - (c) Write a note on Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum Development (IHSD) programme provided for the urban poor.
Solved answer →
Q7.
- (a) Has caste system hindered democracy and adult franchise in India? Discuss.
Solved answer → - (b) Elaborate various forms of Dalit assertions in contemporary India? Discuss.
Solved answer → - (c) With increase in education and economic development is Indian society becoming more secular?
Solved answer →
Q8.
- (a) What are the issues relating to male migration and its impact on birth rate? Does it necessarily result in skewed sex ratio?
Solved answer → - (b) Western patriarchy which surrenders feminine principles is the development project in India. Do you agree with this view? Why?
Solved answer → - (c) Assess the impact of ban on ‘Triple Talak’ on marriage and divorce among the Muslim community in India.
Solved answer →
What the 2018 Sociology Optional papers tested
The 2018 papers rewarded close reading of the classical texts in Paper-1 and awareness of that year’s social and legal debates in Paper-2. Many questions asked candidates to test a theory against Indian or contemporary evidence.
Syllabus units in the 2018 papers
| Paper | Syllabus unit | Parts asked |
|---|---|---|
| Paper-1 | Sociological Thinkers | 7 |
| Paper-1 | Stratification and Mobility | 3 |
| Paper-1 | Systems of Kinship | 3 |
| Paper-1 | Sociology as a Science | 3 |
| Paper-1 | Social Change in Modern Society | 3 |
| Paper-1 | Sociology: The Discipline | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Religion and Society | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Politics and Society | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Works and Economic Life | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Education System and Social Change | 1 |
| Paper-1 | Social Movements | 1 |
| Paper-1 | Research Methods and Analysis | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Politics and Society in India | 3 |
| Paper-2 | Religion and Society in India | 3 |
| Paper-2 | Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Social Classes in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Rural and Agrarian Transformation in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Caste System | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Systems of Kinship in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Social Movements in Modern India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Industrialization and Urbanisation in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Rural and Agrarian Social Structure | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Impact of Colonial Rule on Indian Society | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Challenges of Social Transformation | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Visions of Social Change in India | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Population Dynamics | 1 |
Counts are based on the 53 questions with a linked model answer; a question filed under two units is counted in both.
Durkheim everywhere in Paper-1
Émile Durkheim appeared in four parts: suicide applied to Indian suicide rates, anomie compared with Robert K. Merton, his method as proof of sociology as a science, and religion as functional to society. Karl Marx was next, with two.
Text-specific thinker questions
Several questions pointed to specific works or concepts: Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic, G.H. Mead’s ‘I’ and ‘Me’, Karl Marx’s alienation and the ‘Limits of the working day’, Talcott Parsons’ AGIL, Vilfredo Pareto on elites and C. Wright Mills’ sociological imagination.
Theory tested on India
Paper-1 repeatedly asked whether a theory holds today: Durkheim on contemporary Indian suicide rates, cultural lag in present times, stratification as functional and the collapse of functionalism and Marxism alongside the rupture of modernity.
Family and household for the third year
Paper-1 Q6(b) asked about family and household through the development of the household, after the same distinction appeared in 2016 and 2017. Q1(e) on new family forms and Q3(b) on patriarchy kept kinship prominent.
Current affairs in Paper-2
Paper-2 drew heavily on contemporary debates: the Me Too movement, the triple talaq ban, transgender entitlements, child abuse, constitutional morality, neo-farmers’ movements and the Swaminathan Commission. Answers needed recent developments as well as sociological framing.
Indian thinkers in Section A
Paper-2 Section A opened with G.S. Ghurye’s Indology, André Béteille’s Tanjore study and A.R. Desai on India’s path of development, followed by the Champaran movement and discrete castes and muddled hierarchies.
Practise the 2018 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 2018 paper under timed conditions, then open the linked answers and compare structure, not just content.
Sociology Optional Question Paper 2018: FAQs
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