This page reproduces both papers of the UPSC Sociology Optional 2019 in full, section by section, with the marks for every part. 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 2019 Sociology Optional exam had two papers of 250 marks each. Each paper set eight questions in two sections, with Q1 and Q5 compulsory and five questions to be answered. Paper-1 leaned on stratification and on Karl Marx, Max Weber, Robert K. Merton and George Herbert Mead, with a strong gender thread. Paper-2 paired Indian thinkers such as M. N. Srinivas, G. S. Ghurye, S. C. Dube and Ranajit Guha with current issues: demonetisation, the POSH Act, LGBTQ marriage rights and river interlinking.
Model answers for this paper. 53 of the 56 questions in the 2019 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 2019: 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: 20 + 20 + 10 marks | Q2–Q4 and Q6–Q8: 20 + 20 + 10 marks |
| Total parts | 28 | 28 |
Sociology Optional Question Paper-1 (2019)
Section A
Q1. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
- (a) Discuss the historical antecedents of the emergence of Sociology as a discipline. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Davis and Moore made it clear that social stratification is a functional necessity and also an unconscious device. Discuss. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What is the Marxist concept of ‘fetishism of commodities’? (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Present a sociological review on the ‘new middle class’. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Explain the probability sampling strategies with examples. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q2.
- (a) According to Mead, “We play a key role in our own socialization.” (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Bring out the significance of Ethnography in social research. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What is ‘reserve army of labour’? Present the position of feminist scholars on this. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q3.
- (a) Discuss the importance of interpretative understanding of social phenomena and explain its limitations. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Are all world religions patriarchal? Substantiate your answer with examples. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What, according to Merton, is the difference between ‘unanticipated consequences’ and ‘latent functions’? Give examples to elaborate. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q4.
- (a) Modernization presupposes class society; however caste, ethnicity and race are still predominant. Explain. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Compare and contrast the contributions of Marx and Weber on social stratification in capitalist society. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What, according to Irawati Karve, are the major differences between North Indian and South Indian kinship systems? (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Section B
Q5. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
- (a) Differentiate between ‘Life-chances’ and ‘Life-style’ with suitable examples. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Discuss the issues of access and exclusion in higher education in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What is civil society? Present a note on civil society engagement with science and technology policy in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Critique A. G. Frank’s ‘development of underdevelopment’. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) How well do you think Tönnies, Durkheim, Weber and Marx predicted the character of modern society? Critique. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q6.
- (a) Why is gender a dimension of social stratification? How does gender intersect other dimensions of inequality based on caste, class, race and ethnicity? (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) What are the theoretical models of societal power? Which one of them is most applicable in advanced industrial societies? (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What is affirmative action? Substantiate theoretical positions on affirmative actions with example. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q7.
- (a) What is ‘informal labour’? Discuss the need for and challenges in regulating informal labour in the post-industrial society. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Feminist scholars argue that ‘New media’ is masculine and hence reinforces structural hierarchies rather than reconfiguring them. Comment. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Discuss the concept of circulation of elite. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q8.
- (a) In the light of judicial intervention on ‘Live-in relationships’, discuss the future of marriage and family in India. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) How, according to Merton, are deviant subcultures generated? (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) How is terrorism a new form of asymmetrical warfare? What are some of the challenges in trying to win the war on terrorism? (10 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 (2019)
Section A
Q1. Write short answers to the following questions in about 150 words each, with a sociological perspective: 10×5=50
- (a) Elaborate Srinivas’s views on religion and society among the Coorgs. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Illustrate the contribution of the Tebhaga Movement to the peasants’ struggle in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Examine the changing initiatives of the land tenure system in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Write a note on Ghurye’s conception of caste in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Comment on the growing assertion of tribal community for autonomy in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q2.
- (a) Critically examine Dube’s contributions to the study of Indian villages. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) What is caste politics? Substantiate your answer with examples of how identities are defined by caste dynamics. (20 marks)
- (c) Do you think that the Indian saints have brought about social reform and awareness in Indian society? Explain. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q3.
- (a) What is ethno-nationalism? Examine the critical factors responsible for tribal discontent in India. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Is industrial development in India a bane or a boon to agrarian class structure? Substantiate your answer with suitable examples. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Give an account of Ranajit Guha’s approach in studying ‘subaltern class’. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q4.
- (a) Define patriarchy. Does it have bearings on women’s entitlement in Indian family system? Explain. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) How do you understand the ‘minority’ question? Examine the violence and discrimination against the religious minorities in India. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What do you understand by LGBTQ? Comment on the issues concerning their marriage rights. (10 marks)
Section B
Q5. Write short answers to the following questions in about 150 words each, with a sociological perspective: 10×5=50
- (a) Comment on the critical issues of commercialization of higher education in India. (10 marks)
- (b) Discuss the challenges in implementing the Rural Development Programmes in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Elaborate urbanism as a way of life in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Comment on the changing democratic profile of India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Elucidate the concerns of growing urban displacement dynamics in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q6.
- (a) Examine the importance of Development Planning in Indian Mixed Economy, and analyze its problems and prospects. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Highlight the main features of the ‘Inter-linking of Rivers’ project in India. What could be its probable advantages to Indian agriculture? (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Has reduction of green cover affected ecological degradation leading to global warming? Elaborate your answer with illustration. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q7.
- (a) Do you think that ‘demonetization’ has accelerated the economic growth in India? How do you understand the informalization of labour, underemployment and gender discrimination in this context? (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Discuss the implications of ‘Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan’. Do you think that civil society has a role to play here? Substantiate your answer with an example. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Do you agree that social movements are caused by opportunity structures that are generated by media? Why? (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q8.
- (a) Why has ‘Active aging’ become a glocal goal? Do you agree that the role of elderly care-giving is disproportionately gendered in developing countries? Why? (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) What is POSH Act? “Identification of tormentor by women at workplace does not come easily even today.” Examine the statement with substantive examples from India. (20 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What is ‘social security’? Examine recent security measures adopted by the Government in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
What the 2019 Sociology Optional papers tested
The 2019 papers rewarded conceptual clarity in Paper-1 and awareness of current Indian debates in Paper-2. Gender ran through both papers, from feminist readings of labour and media to patriarchy, ageing and workplace harassment.
Syllabus units in the 2019 papers
| Paper | Syllabus unit | Parts asked |
|---|---|---|
| Paper-1 | Stratification and Mobility | 7 |
| Paper-1 | Sociological Thinkers | 6 |
| Paper-1 | Politics and Society | 4 |
| Paper-1 | Social Change in Modern Society | 3 |
| Paper-1 | Research Methods and Analysis | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Works and Economic Life | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Systems of Kinship | 2 |
| Paper-1 | Sociology: The Discipline | 1 |
| Paper-1 | Religion and Society | 1 |
| Paper-1 | Education System and Social Change | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Industrialization and Urbanisation in India | 3 |
| Paper-2 | Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Social Movements in Modern India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Rural and Agrarian Social Structure | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Tribal Communities in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Religion and Society in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Rural and Agrarian Transformation in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Politics and Society in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Visions of Social Change in India | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Challenges of Social Transformation | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Population Dynamics | 2 |
| Paper-2 | Caste System | 1 |
| Paper-2 | Systems of Kinship in India | 1 |
Counts are based on the 53 questions with a linked model answer; a question filed under two units is counted in both.
Stratification dominated Paper-1
Seven of the 28 parts in Paper-1 came from stratification and mobility: Davis and Moore, the new middle class, Marx versus Weber, life-chances and life-style, gender as a dimension of inequality and affirmative action. Q4(a) also asked why caste, ethnicity and race persist in a class society.
Merton asked twice
Robert K. Merton appeared in Q3(c) on unanticipated consequences and latent functions and again in Q8(b) on deviant subcultures. Marx (fetishism of commodities), Weber (interpretative understanding), Mead (socialisation) and a comparative question on Ferdinand Tönnies, Émile Durkheim, Weber and Marx completed the thinkers’ spread.
A feminist lens across units
Paper-1 asked for the feminist position on the reserve army of labour, whether all world religions are patriarchal, and the feminist claim that new media is masculine. Paper-2 added patriarchy in the Indian family, gendered elder care and the POSH Act.
Indian thinkers in Paper-2 Section A
Section A of Paper-2 named Srinivas on the Coorgs, Ghurye on caste, Dube on Indian villages and Ranajit Guha on the subaltern class. These were direct, perspective-based questions that required knowing each scholar’s work rather than general arguments.
Policy-driven Section B
Section B of Paper-2 was built on current events: demonetisation, Swachh Bharat, the inter-linking of rivers, green cover and global warming, active ageing and social security. Answers needed a sociological frame over what could otherwise read as a general studies topic.
Contemporary hooks in Paper-1 too
Paper-1 was not purely theoretical. Judicial rulings on live-in relationships, terrorism as asymmetrical warfare, civil society and science policy, and regulation of informal labour all asked candidates to apply theory to recent developments.
Practise the 2019 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 2019 paper under timed conditions, then open the linked answers and compare structure, not just content.
Sociology Optional Question Paper 2019: FAQs
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