[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-167340-en":3,"doc-seo-167340-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":89},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},167340,962075114765,"Quinn","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd",4,"Exam","Sociology Paper 1 2026 - UPSC CSE Mains Examination Questions","Sociology Paper I for the 2026 UPSC CSE Mains Examination is structured into two sections containing multiple short-answer and critical-examination questions. The questions cover intersections of class and caste in social structure, women’s position in the informal economy, and the role of geography in social change. It further asks about social movements and revolution, capitalist modes of production, social hierarchy versus exclusion, and the statement on theory and data. Additional prompts address religion and science, interpretativism versus positivism, Durkheim’s view of religion as a social fact, power theories, migration impacts, and methods of sociology.","UPSC CSE Sociology Paper I of 2026 Mains Examination  \nSECTION‘A’  \nQ1 (10 ×5=50 Marks)  \n• (a) In what ways do class and caste intersect and overlap in shaping social structure? (10 Marks)  \n• (b) Critically examine the position of women in the informal economy. (10 Marks)  \n• (c) Discuss the role of geographical factors in social change and development. (10 Marks)  \n• (d) Although sociology, as a subject of study, overarches all disciplines in social sciences yet it maintains its distinctiveness. Comment. (10 Marks)  \n• (e) Explain in brief the relationship between social movement, collective action and revolution in bringing about social and political changes. (10 Marks)  \nQ2  \n• (a) Describe the impact of capitalist mode of production on society. (20 Marks)  \n• (b) Differentiate between social hierarchy and social exclusion and substantiate your answer with reference to the caste system. (20 Marks)  \n• (c)‘Data without theory is blind and theory without data is empty.’Comment. (10 Marks)  \nQ3  \n• (a) Discuss the relationship between religion and science in modern society. Do they necessarily remain in conﬂict? (20 Marks)  \n• (b) Is ‘interpretativism’more effective than ‘positivism’in analysing social reality? Discuss. (20 Marks)  \n• (c) How does Emile Durkheim conceptualize religion as a‘social fact’? Explain. (10 Marks)  \nQ4  \n• (a) Elaborate major sociological theories of power. How do power elite shape the political process in modern societies? (20 Marks)  \n• (b) Evaluate the socio-economic impacts of migration on rural households.(20 Marks)  \n• (c)‘The methods of sociology are inadequate in understanding the complex social phenomena’. Discuss. (10 Marks)  \nSECTION ‘B’  \nQ5 (10 ×5=50 Marks)  \n• (a) The major challenge for sociology researchers is to analyze social reality objectively. Critically analyze. (10 Marks)  \n• (b) Explain the concept of‘deﬁnition of the situation’and its signiﬁcance in sociology. (10 Marks)  \n• (c) In what way the concept of ‘patriarchal bargain’be applied to the institution of marriage? Comment. (10 Marks)  \n• (d) How does Max Weber’s‘theory of authority’shape bureaucracy? Analyse.(10 Marks)  \n• (e) How do different theories explain social dimensions of social movements? Discuss. (10 Marks)  \nQ6  \n• (a) Discuss the intellectual origins of sociology and the historical antecedents of its evolution as a distinct ﬁeld of study. (20 Marks)  \n• (b) Critically analyse the mode of production debate from different perspectives. (20 Marks)  \n• (c) How does the rise of new‘cults’ and‘sects’ inﬂuence intercaste relations?(10 Marks)  \nQ7  \n• (a) Compare and critically assess‘the grounded theory’with‘theory-driven research method’in sociology. (20 Marks)  \n• (b) According to Weber how do class, status and power interact to produce and sustain social inequality? (20 Marks)  \n• (c) Compare the social organisation of work in industrial capitalism and platform capitalism. (10 Marks)  \nQ8  \n• (a) How are the concepts of nation, state and citizenship interrelated in a democracy? Elaborate. (20 Marks)  \n• (b) Critically evaluate the relevance of the cyclical theory of social change in  \nunderstanding contemporary societies. (20 Marks)  \n• (c) Discuss the signiﬁcance and limitations of ‘intersectionality’in social research. (10 Marks)  \nSociology answerkey and Course  \n1.  For Optional Answerkeys, plz watch [https://www.youtube.com/watch?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?)[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?)v=pusGp7SLsvs  \n2.  Deepak Kumar Singh sir’s Sociology course at Unacademy [https://unacademy.com/@deepak.nnpp-2509/courses?type=latest](https://unacademy.com/@deepak.nnpp-2509/courses?type=latest) ( discount Code:‘[Mrunal.or](Mrunal.org)[g](Mrunal.org)’)","cbCaiqtapoV68Lyr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqtapoV68Lyr","pdf",40211,1,3,"English","en",105,"# Section A\n## Q1\n## Q2\n## Q3\n## Q4\n# Section B\n## Q5\n## Q6\n## Q7\n## Q8","[{\"question\":\"What topics are covered in Section A of the Sociology Paper I 2026 exam?\",\"answer\":\"Section A includes questions on intersections of class and caste, women in the informal economy, geography and social change, sociology’s distinctiveness among disciplines, and the links among social movement, collective action, and revolution.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper ask to compare social hierarchy and social exclusion?\",\"answer\":\"The paper requires differentiating social hierarchy from social exclusion and supporting the answer with references to the caste system.\"},{\"question\":\"Which methodological or epistemological approaches are addressed in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"The paper includes questions on interpretativism versus positivism for analyzing social reality, Durkheim’s conceptualization of religion as a social fact, Weber’s views on authority and bureaucracy, and the adequacy of sociological methods.\"}]","Sociology Paper 1 2026 - UPSC CSE Mains Examination Questions | PDF",1788211897,8,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":84,"head_meta":86,"extra_data":88,"updated_unix":28},"sociology-paper-1-2026-upsc-cse-mains-examination-questions","",{"@graph":36,"@context":83},[37,52,66],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/sociology-paper-1-2026-upsc-cse-mains-examination-questions/167340/",{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":60,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":61,"interactionStatistic":62},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":41,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-31",true,{"@type":63,"interactionType":64,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":65},"ViewAction",{"@type":67,"mainEntity":68},"FAQPage",[69,75,79],{"name":70,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":72},"What topics are covered in Section A of the Sociology Paper I 2026 exam?","Question",{"text":73,"@type":74},"Section A includes questions on intersections of class and caste, women in the informal economy, geography and social change, sociology’s distinctiveness among disciplines, and the links among social movement, collective action, and revolution.","Answer",{"name":76,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":77},"How does the paper ask to compare social hierarchy and social exclusion?",{"text":78,"@type":74},"The paper requires differentiating social hierarchy from social exclusion and supporting the answer with references to the caste system.",{"name":80,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":81},"Which methodological or epistemological approaches are addressed in the paper?",{"text":82,"@type":74},"The paper includes questions on interpretativism versus positivism for analyzing social reality, Durkheim’s conceptualization of religion as a social fact, Weber’s views on authority and bureaucracy, and the adequacy of sociological methods.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":85,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":87,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":90},[91,95,99,102,107,112,117,121,126,129,133],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},70,"exam",{"id":103,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":108,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":125},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":127,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":128},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":130,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":131,"show_sort_weight":130,"slug":132},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":134,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":135,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":136},19,"General","general"]