This page reproduces both papers of the UPSC Sociology Optional 2020 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 each question as it was set and then see how it can be answered. For every other year, see the complete set of Sociology Optional question papers.
Quick Answer
The 2020 Sociology Optional exam had two papers of 250 marks each, with eight questions in two sections, Q1 and Q5 compulsory and five to be answered. Paper-1 returned to the foundations: the emergence of sociology, value neutrality, methodology, positivism and phenomenology, alongside Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Robert K. Merton, Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills. Paper-2 tested A. R. Desai, Louis Dumont and André Béteille, colonial India, and pandemic-era issues such as migrant workers, labour codes and the National Education Policy 2020.
Model answers for this paper. 54 of the 56 questions in the 2020 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 2020: 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 (2020)
Section A
Q1. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
- (a) How did the intellectual forces lead to the emergence of sociology? Discuss. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Is sociology a value-free science? Discuss. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Methodology is a system of rules, principles and procedures, which forms scientific investigation. Comment. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) ‘Ideal Types’ of Max Weber are mental constructs, they do not correspond to the reality. Give your views. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Analyse the relevance of ‘Pattern variables’ in the study of social change. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q2.
- (a) What are the reactions of R. K. Merton to the functionalism of social anthropologists? Bring out the limitations of latent functions.
Solved answer → - (b) How are Hierarchy and Exclusion the major impediments in the transformation of societies? Discuss.
Solved answer → - (c) Explain democracy as an order of society. What are the factors preventing people’s participation in politics?
Solved answer →
Q3.
- (a) Capitalism has brought increasing informalisation of work in society. Substantiate your answer.
Solved answer → - (b) Critically analyse Durkheim’s views on elementary forms of religious life and role of religion. Also discuss the consequences of religious revivalism in contemporary society.
Solved answer → - (c) Discuss the consequences of Across Region marriage on kinship system in modern Indian society.
Solved answer →
Q4.
- (a) Is humanity at the mercy of Nature, Science and Technology? Comment in the light of pandemic situation.
Solved answer → - (b) According to Durkheim, “The major function of education is the transmission of society’s norms and values.” Discuss.
Solved answer → - (c) Critically assess social mobility in closed and open systems.
Solved answer →
Section B
Q5. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
- (a) In the context of globalisation, has the scope of sociology been changing in India? Comment. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Discuss the importance and sources of hypothesis in social research. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) What are the problems in observing social facts in Durkheim’s views? (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) State the reasons for the various religious beliefs and practices in pre-modern societies. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) Does the institution of marriage continue to be sacred in Indian society? Comment. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q6.
- (a) Discuss the new labour codes and their impact on formal and informal labour in India.
Solved answer → - (b) According to Mills, “Elites rule in institutional terms rather than psychological terms.” Comment.
Solved answer → - (c) Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of social survey method in social research.
Solved answer →
Q7.
- (a) Technology has accelerated the process of development and dependency. Discuss.
Solved answer → - (b) Phenomenological perspectives in sociology reject many of the assumptions of positivism. Comment.
Solved answer → - (c) Critically assess the Marxian theory of ‘Alienation’.
Solved answer →
Q8.
- (a) How does Marx view social conflict as an essential element in social change?
Solved answer → - (b) What is the impact of gender division of labour on the development of society?
Solved answer → - (c) Examine how social movements come to an end. Illustrate with examples.
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 (2020)
Section A
Q1. Write short answers, with a sociological perspective, of the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
- (a) Elaborate A. R. Desai’s perspective to the study of Indian society. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) “Banning practice of ‘Sati’ is attributed to annihilation of a major social evil in colonial India.” Comment. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) How do you justify Dumont’s deliberate stress on ideology that produce intellectualized account of Indian society? (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) Explain the definitional problems concerning the tribal communities in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (e) “Secularism was an outcome of 20th century humanistic radicalism.” Comment on this statement. (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q2.
- (a) “Indian caste system is unique and has been unhealthy for the growth of sociology of India.” How far do you agree with this view?
- (b) Discuss Whitehead’s contention that caste has potential to displace class and colonial contradiction.
Solved answer → - (c) “Indian rural society is a faction-ridden society.” Discuss.
Solved answer →
Q3.
- (a) Examine the colonial policy of segregation of tribes under the Government of India Act, 1935.
Solved answer → - (b) Discuss the dynamics of ‘migrant workers’ in India in the context of Corona pandemic.
Solved answer → - (c) How does André Béteille justify ‘middle class’ in India?
Solved answer →
Q4.
- (a) Discuss the conceptual issues about lineage and descent in India. Give suitable illustrations.
Solved answer → - (b) Analyze household dimensions of family in India.
Solved answer → - (c) Write a note on cultural pluralism in multi-religious society like India.
Solved answer →
Section B
Q5. Write short answers, with a sociological perspective, of the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50
- (a) Point out the benefits of ‘green chemistry’ for agrarian transformation in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (b) Analyze the issues related to the citizenship in contemporary India. Give suitable illustrations. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (c) Give an account of the consequences and remedies of chronic malnutrition in India. (10 marks)
Solved answer → - (d) How does the New Education Policy, 2020 aim to eradicate disparities in the system of education in India? (10 marks)
- (e) What do you understand by democratic federalism? How does it promote decentralization of power in India? (10 marks)
Solved answer →
Q6.
- (a) Discuss in detail the main issues of development planning in mixed economy like India.
Solved answer → - (b) Do you think MSP (Minimum Support Price) Scheme for agricultural produce can help in rural development? Elaborate your response with suitable examples.
Solved answer → - (c) How can skill development programme induce social change? Illustrate.
Solved answer →
Q7.
- (a) Elaborate the causes, consequences and other concerns of growth of urban settlements in India.
Solved answer → - (b) Evaluate the nature and scope of anthropogenic influence on climate in India and also analyze the environmental movements arising out of it.
Solved answer → - (c) Are the contemporary farmers’ movements in India changing their course? Discuss.
Solved answer →
Q8.
- (a) Colonial administrators helped to construct the very traditionalism which marked the Indian society as ‘backward’. Comment critically.
Solved answer → - (b) What were the salient features of the India’s Population Policy (2000)? How far its goals have been achieved?
Solved answer → - (c) Point out the main causes of ‘child labour’ in India. How far the State policies have succeeded in its elimination?
Solved answer →
What the 2020 Sociology Optional papers tested
The 2020 papers combined a strong return to disciplinary basics in Paper-1 with a Paper-2 shaped by the COVID-19 year and new legislation. Most questions were direct, but several asked candidates to apply theory to the pandemic.
Syllabus units in the 2020 papers
Counts are based on the 54 questions with a linked model answer; a question filed under two units is counted in both.
Foundations and methods back in focus
Paper-1 opened with the intellectual forces behind sociology, value-free science and methodology, and later asked about globalisation and the scope of sociology in India, hypothesis, the social survey method and phenomenology versus positivism. Seven of the 28 parts came from the first three units of the syllabus.
Durkheim across three units
Émile Durkheim was asked on the elementary forms of religious life, on social facts and on the function of education. Marx appeared twice (alienation and social conflict), with Weber’s ideal types, Merton on functionalism, Parsons’s pattern variables and Mills on elites completing the list.
The pandemic as a hook
Paper-1 Q4(a) asked whether humanity is at the mercy of nature, science and technology in the light of the pandemic, and Paper-2 Q3(b) asked about migrant workers during the Corona pandemic. The new labour codes and the National Education Policy 2020 added further recent policy angles.
Colonial India tested from both ends
Paper-2 asked about the banning of sati, the colonial segregation of tribes under the Government of India Act, 1935, and the claim that colonial administrators constructed Indian traditionalism as ‘backward’. Together these gave the colonial-impact unit unusual weight.
Caste through the lens of theory
Rather than asking about caste as a system in general, Paper-2 asked about Dumont’s stress on ideology, Whitehead’s argument about caste displacing class, and whether the uniqueness of caste has hindered Indian sociology. These reward familiarity with specific debates.
Agrarian and rural change from new angles
Rural questions moved beyond land reforms to green chemistry, the MSP scheme, factionalism in rural society and contemporary farmers’ movements. The farmers’ movement and MSP questions tied the syllabus directly to the debates of that year.
Practise the 2020 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 2020 paper under timed conditions, then open the linked answers and compare structure, not just content.
Sociology Optional Question Paper 2020: FAQs
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