BSOE-142 Solved Question Paper June 2026 gives complete answers to all 8 questions of the IGNOU June 2026 term-end paper on BSOE-142 Indian Sociological Traditions.
BSOE-142 Indian Sociological Traditions key facts, June 2026
- Course code: BSOE-142
- Course title: Indian Sociological Traditions
- Programme: Bachelor of Arts (General) BAG and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Sociology BASOH; Discipline Specific Elective, Semester VI
- Credits: 6 (IGNOU assignment booklet 2026-27)
- Blocks and units: 3 blocks, 12 units; Units 3 to 12 each cover one Indian sociologist
- Maximum marks: 100
- Duration: 3 hours
- Questions in the paper: 8 (attempt any 5, 20 marks each); no compulsory question
- Printed vs attempted marks: 8 × 20 = 160 printed, 5 × 20 = 100 attempted
- Printed word limit: about 400 words per 20-mark answer, 20 words per mark
- Assessment: term-end exam 70 per cent; three assignments 30 per cent
- Language: bilingual, English followed by Hindi (Bharatiya Samajshastriya Paramparayen)
- Sample answers on this page: 2 (Q5 and Q8)
- Questions in the paid file: All 8, including the 6 not answered on this page
What the BSOE-142 Solved Question Paper June 2026 covers
BSOE-142 Indian Sociological Traditions is a 6-credit IGNOU sociology course, taken in the Bachelor of Arts (General) and BA (Honours) Sociology programmes, that studies how Indian thinkers from Ghurye to Leela Dube explained caste, tribe, kinship, village and nation. Its paper has eight 20-mark questions, and you answer any five in about 400 words each.
The June 2026 paper is a thinker-by-thinker paper. Seven of its eight questions name a sociologist: Leela Dube, Ramkrishna Mukherjee, Irawati Karve, Radhakamal Mukerjee, G. S. Ghurye, D. P. Mukerji and M. N. Srinivas. Only Question 1, on the structure of modern education in India, comes from the history block of the course.
Our subject experts took the official IGNOU BSOE-142 Question Paper of June 2026 and wrote full answers for all eight questions. Before writing, they read the earlier official papers of June 2022, June 2023 and December 2023, so the file also shows which thinkers IGNOU keeps returning to.
This page shows two of those answers in full so you can judge the quality yourself. The other six are listed below as question text only and are sent as a PDF on WhatsApp.
8 questions × 20 marks = 160 marks printed; any 5 × 20 = 100 attempted. 180 minutes ÷ 5 = 36 minutes per answer.
BSOE-142 sample solved questions: Radhakamal Mukerjee and M. N. Srinivas
Two BSOE-142 answers are shown below in full, Question 5 and Question 8, and the remaining six questions are answered only in the full file.
Both samples are written at the length the June 2026 paper asks for, about 400 words, with an introduction, headed points, a short critique and a conclusion. Question numbers and wording are exactly as printed on the official paper.
Asked in 3 of 4 papers Block 2, Unit 3 20 marks
Question 5 (20 marks)
Q5. Explain the view of Radhakamal Mukherjee [Mukerjee] on social ecology. 20
Introduction. Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889 to 1968) was one of the founders of the Lucknow school of sociology, along with D. P. Mukerji and D. N. Majumdar. Trained as an economist, he refused to keep economics, ecology and sociology in separate boxes. His idea of social ecology, built up in Regional Sociology (1926), Man and His Habitation (1940) and Social Ecology (1945), is one of the earliest Indian attempts to study society together with its natural setting.
Meaning of social ecology. For Mukerjee, social ecology is the study of the two-way relationship between human groups and the physical environment of a region. Soil, water, climate, plants and animals shape how people settle, farm and organise their institutions. Human activity, in turn, reshapes the land. Society and nature therefore form one connected web of life.
Region as the unit of study. His basic unit was the region, not the nation or the isolated village. Every region, such as the Gangetic plain he studied closely, has its own balance of population, resources, crops and customs. Regional sociology studies how this balance is formed, maintained and broken.
Critique of the Chicago school. Mukerjee accepted the human ecology of Robert Park and Ernest Burgess only in part. The Chicago scholars explained city life mainly through competition for space. Mukerjee found this too narrow and too Western. In Indian regions, cooperation, kinship, caste rules and religious values also decide how land and water are shared, so ecology must include values and not only competition.
Ecological balance and imbalance. The central idea is equilibrium. When population, forests, rivers and farming stay in balance, a region prospers. Deforestation, soil erosion, overcrowding, unplanned towns and overuse of rivers disturb this balance and lead to poverty, disease and social disorganisation. Ecological problems are therefore social problems.
Planning guided by values. Mukerjee held that science alone cannot restore the balance. Regional planning must be guided by values such as cooperation, restraint and respect for nature, ideas he later developed in his theory of values. This links his ecology to his moral philosophy.
Evaluation. His approach was interdisciplinary and anticipated present-day environmental sociology. Critics, however, find his writing more philosophical than empirical and feel that his faith in traditional Indian values sometimes romanticises village life.
Conclusion. Mukerjee showed that Indian society cannot be understood apart from its land, water and climate. By treating the region as a living balance of nature, economy and values, he gave Indian sociology an ecological vision decades before environmental concerns became mainstream.
Hall length: this answer runs to about 440 words. If time is short, merge the planning and evaluation points into two lines.
Asked in December 2023 and June 2026 Block 3, Unit 10 20 marks
Question 8 (20 marks)
Q8. Discuss the structural-functional approach of M. N. Srinivas. 20
Introduction. M. N. Srinivas (1916 to 1999) studied under G. S. Ghurye in Bombay and then at Oxford with A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and E. E. Evans-Pritchard. He brought British structural-functionalism into Indian sociology, but he also reshaped it to suit a changing Indian society.
Meaning of the approach. Structural-functionalism sees society as a structure, that is, a network of relations between persons and groups. Each institution, such as family, caste or religion, performs a function that helps keep the whole system going. The sociologist studies how these parts fit together.
The Coorg study. Srinivas applied this method in Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India (1952). He showed how rituals, ideas of purity and pollution and the Coorg patrilineal joint family, the okka, worked together to bind households, villages and castes. Religion was explained by the social unity it produced. The same book introduced the concept of Sanskritisation.
Field view over book view. Srinivas argued that India must be studied through fieldwork, the field view, rather than only through ancient texts, the book view of Indologists. His fieldwork in Rampura village near Mysore in 1948 later became The Remembered Village (1976).
Concepts built from the approach. Village fieldwork gave him the idea of the dominant caste, a caste with numerical strength, land, political power and reasonable ritual rank. In Social Change in Modern India (1966) he explained Sanskritisation and Westernisation as processes through which groups move within the structure.
How he modified Radcliffe-Brown. Radcliffe-Brown's model was static and ignored history. Srinivas kept the idea of structure but treated it as something that changes. He used history, caste mobility and political power to explain how the system adjusts. Scholars therefore describe his work as a dynamic or modified functionalism.
Criticism. Marxist scholars such as A. R. Desai argued that functionalism underplays conflict, class and exploitation. Others said the approach leans on village studies and on upper-caste informants, and that Sanskritisation takes the Brahmin model as the norm.
Conclusion. Srinivas made structural-functionalism Indian by joining it with long fieldwork and with an interest in change. Concepts such as dominant caste, Sanskritisation and Westernisation, all born from this approach, remain central to the study of Indian society.
Questions answered only in the full file
Q1. Discuss the structure of modern education in India. 20
Q2. Examine Leela Dube's view on gendered identity of women in families. 20
Q3. Explain Ram Krishna [Ramkrishna] Mukherjee's analysis of 'Sociology of Indian Sociology'. 20
Q4. Discuss Iravati [Irawati] Karve's contribution to the study of Indian society. 20
Q6. Discuss Ghurye's understanding of rural-urbanization process of India. 20
Q7. Describe D. P. Mukerjee's [Mukerji's] contribution to economic sociology. 20
Each of these six answers follows the same pattern as the samples above, built around the specific thinker or theme the question names.
BSOE-142 Indian Sociological Traditions block and unit wise syllabus
BSOE-142 has 3 blocks and 12 units on eGyanKosh, and units 3 to 12 are each built around one Indian sociologist.
Block 1 sets out how sociology took root in India; Blocks 2 and 3 then move thinker by thinker. Unit numbers and block titles below are taken from the official eGyanKosh course page for BSOE-142; the topics column lists what IGNOU papers and assignments have actually asked from each unit.
| Block | Unit | Topics asked in IGNOU papers and assignments |
|---|---|---|
| Block 1 History and Development of Indian Sociological Traditions | Unit 1 Major Influences on Indian Sociological Traditions | Social antecedents of sociological thought in India; colonial rule and the structure of modern education |
| Block 1 History and Development of Indian Sociological Traditions | Unit 2 Major Schools of Indian Sociological Traditions | The Lucknow school; emergence of sociology and social anthropology in India |
| Block 2 Sociologists in India-1 | Unit 3 Radhakamal Mukerjee | Social ecology; regional sociology; theory of moral values |
| Block 2 Sociologists in India-1 | Unit 4 G. S. Ghurye | Caste and race; tribes and the Elwin-Ghurye debate; rural-urbanisation |
| Block 2 Sociologists in India-1 | Unit 5 Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji | Tradition and modernity; unity in diversity; middle class |
| Block 2 Sociologists in India-1 | Unit 6 N. K. Bose | Civilisational view of India; methods of field study; classification of tribes |
| Block 2 Sociologists in India-1 | Unit 7 Verrier Elwin | Tribal identity; cultural autonomy of tribes; protection versus integration |
| Block 3 Sociologists in India-2 | Unit 8 Irawati Karve | Kinship organisation in India; caste and kinship |
| Block 3 Sociologists in India-2 | Unit 9 A. R. Desai | Marxist reading of Indian society; social background of Indian nationalism; the state and capitalist change |
| Block 3 Sociologists in India-2 | Unit 10 M. N. Srinivas | Structural-functional fieldwork; Sanskritisation and Westernisation; social mobility |
| Block 3 Sociologists in India-2 | Unit 11 Ramkrishna Mukherjee | Sociology of Indian sociology; rural economy of six Bengal villages |
| Block 3 Sociologists in India-2 | Unit 12 Leela Dube | Gendered identity of women in families; caste and gender |
If you are revising from the official books, our BSOE-142 Study Material follows the same unit order, so you can move from a unit to its exam answer quickly.
BSOE-142 question paper pattern and marks distribution
The BSOE-142 paper sets 8 questions of 20 marks each, and you answer any 5 in about 400 words for a total of 100 marks in 3 hours.
Because there is no compulsory question, your marks depend on picking five thinkers you know well. In June 2026, Block 3 alone supplied four questions, so a student who prepared only Block 2 had just three safe choices.
| Item | BSOE-142 June 2026 |
|---|---|
| Questions set | 8 essay questions, no internal choice |
| Questions to attempt | Any 5 |
| Marks per question | 20 |
| Answer length asked | About 400 words each |
| Maximum marks and time | 100 marks in 3 hours |
| June 2026: Block 1 questions | 1 (Q1 modern education) |
| June 2026: Block 2 questions | 3 (Q5 Radhakamal Mukerjee, Q6 Ghurye, Q7 D. P. Mukerji) |
| June 2026: Block 3 questions | 4 (Q2 Leela Dube, Q3 Ramkrishna Mukherjee, Q4 Karve, Q8 Srinivas) |
| Paper language | Bilingual: English followed by Hindi |
Students of the Honours programme can compare this pattern with other papers in our BASOH Question Paper collection, where most core courses also carry five 20-mark answers.
Term-end marks carry 70 percent weightage in the final result and the three assignments carry 30 percent, as stated in IGNOU's BSOE-142 assignment booklet.
Block arithmetic: 1 + 3 + 4 = 8. Block 3 alone gives four answers, so any one Block 2 thinker completes the paper. Blocks 2 and 3 together give seven, two to spare, and Block 1 could be skipped. Block 2 alone gives only three.
Word limit check: 400 words ÷ 11.5 words a minute ≈ 35 minutes of writing, against 36 minutes per answer. The limit can be met, but only just. Any 5 of 8 gives 56 legal combinations; a sixth answer earns nothing.
Most repeated BSOE-142 Important Questions topics
Verrier Elwin on tribal identity was asked in all three earlier official papers we checked and was skipped in June 2026. Radhakamal Mukerjee on social ecology, asked in two of the three, came back as Q5.
We counted questions from four official IGNOU BSOE-142 papers: June 2022, June 2023, December 2023 and June 2026. Ghurye appeared in every one of these four sessions, through caste, rural-urbanisation or the tribal debate with Elwin, which makes Unit 4 the safest single unit to prepare.
| Topic | Unit | Earlier sessions asked | Times asked (of 3) | In June 2026? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verrier Elwin on tribal identity, cultural autonomy and the Elwin-Ghurye debate | Unit 7 | June 2022, June 2023, December 2023 | 3 | No |
| Radhakamal Mukerjee on social ecology | Unit 3 | June 2022, December 2023 | 2 | Yes, Q5 |
| Ghurye's notion of caste | Unit 4 | June 2022, December 2023 | 2 | No |
| A. R. Desai on Indian nationalism | Unit 9 | June 2022, December 2023 | 2 | No |
| N. K. Bose's methods and civilisational view | Unit 6 | June 2022, June 2023 | 2 | No |
| Block 1 history: social antecedents, Lucknow school, Coomaraswamy, sociology and social anthropology | Units 1 and 2 | June 2022, December 2023 | 2 | Yes, Q1 modern education |
| Ghurye on rural-urbanisation in India | Unit 4 | June 2023 | 1 | Yes, Q6 |
| M. N. Srinivas and the structural-functional approach | Unit 10 | December 2023 | 1 | Yes, Q8 |
| Ramkrishna Mukherjee's sociology of Indian sociology | Unit 11 | June 2023 | 1 | Yes, Q3 |
| Irawati Karve on caste, kinship and Indian society | Unit 8 | June 2022 | 1 | Yes, Q4 |
| D. P. Mukerji (unity in diversity, economic sociology) | Unit 5 | June 2023 | 1 | Yes, Q7 |
Block 1 history questions also recur in a new form each time: social antecedents and the Lucknow school in June 2022, Ananda Coomaraswamy and sociology versus social anthropology in December 2023, and modern education in June 2026.
For a wider list of likely questions across courses, see our IGNOU Solved Guess Paper page.
Hit rate: 7 of the 11 tracked topics came back in June 2026 = 64%, all as full 20-mark questions. The four that did not, Elwin, Ghurye on caste, Desai and Bose, add up to 9 earlier appearances.
The skipped thinkers and the empty units agree exactly. Units 6 (Bose), 7 (Elwin) and 9 (Desai) gave nothing in June 2026, and they are the units of three of the four skipped topics. The fourth, Ghurye on caste, sits in Unit 4, which June 2026 used only for rural-urbanisation. Unit 2 on the schools of Indian sociology also gave nothing.
This record is thin: four papers checked out of the nine sessions from June 2022 to June 2026, with December 2022, June 2024, December 2024, June 2025 and December 2025 missing. Three earlier papers (two June, one December) are too few for any June-against-December reading.
Topics to revise first for December 2026
The thinkers June 2026 left out, whose units gave nothing, come first.
- Verrier Elwin (Unit 7): in all three earlier papers, skipped in June 2026, unit empty. The top pick.
- A. R. Desai on Indian nationalism (Unit 9): 2 of 3 earlier papers, skipped, unit empty.
- N. K. Bose (Unit 6): 2 of 3 earlier papers, skipped, unit empty.
- Ghurye on caste (Unit 4): 2 of 3 earlier papers. Ghurye has been asked in every paper we checked, and June 2026 took his rural-urbanisation side, which leaves caste for next time.
- Schools of Indian sociology (Unit 2): empty in June 2026, and a Block 1 history question has come in three of the four papers we checked.
How our BSOE-142 answers on Indian sociologists are written and checked
Every BSOE-142 answer is written from the official eGyanKosh units and checked against the exact wording of the June 2026 question.
The writer first maps each question to its unit, for example Question 2 to Unit 12 on Leela Dube and Question 3 to Unit 11 on Ramkrishna Mukherjee. The answer then uses that thinker's own key books and years, so an examiner sees real sources rather than general remarks about Indian society.
Questions that use a verb such as examine, explain or discuss are handled differently. An examine question on Leela Dube needs a weighed judgement at the end, while a describe question on D. P. Mukerji's economic sociology needs clear description first.
Our reviewer, Sheetal Kirola, then checks names, dates and book titles. Spelling of thinkers follows the question paper where it matters for the examiner, so the file keeps both forms seen on IGNOU papers, Mukerjee and Mukherjee, where the question uses them.
BSOE-142 solved file index for the June 2026 paper
The BSOE-142 solved file answers all 8 June 2026 questions: 2 are shown on this page and 6 are in the full file only.
Use this index to see which unit each question comes from before you decide which five to revise first.
| No. | Question as printed | Course unit | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Discuss the structure of modern education in India. | Block 1, Unit 1 Major Influences on Indian Sociological Traditions | Full file only |
| Q2 | Examine Leela Dube's view on gendered identity of women in families. | Block 3, Unit 12 Leela Dube | Full file only |
| Q3 | Explain Ram Krishna [Ramkrishna] Mukherjee's analysis of 'Sociology of Indian Sociology'. | Block 3, Unit 11 Ramkrishna Mukherjee | Full file only |
| Q4 | Discuss Iravati [Irawati] Karve's contribution to the study of Indian society. | Block 3, Unit 8 Irawati Karve | Full file only |
| Q5 | Explain the view of Radhakamal Mukherjee [Mukerjee] on social ecology. | Block 2, Unit 3 Radhakamal Mukerjee | On this page |
| Q6 | Discuss Ghurye's understanding of rural-urbanization process of India. | Block 2, Unit 4 G. S. Ghurye | Full file only |
| Q7 | Describe D. P. Mukerjee's [Mukerji's] contribution to economic sociology. | Block 2, Unit 5 Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji | Full file only |
| Q8 | Discuss the structural-functional approach of M. N. Srinivas. | Block 3, Unit 10 M. N. Srinivas | On this page |
Programmes that include BSOE-142 Indian Sociological Traditions
BSOE-142 is studied in Semester VI of two IGNOU programmes, BAG and BASOH, and both sat the same June 2026 paper.
BSOE-142 is a 6-credit Discipline Specific Elective placed in Semester VI for both BAG (Sociology) and BASOH students. The June 2026 paper prints B.A. (General) and B.A. (Honours) Sociology together on its header, so a single solved file serves students of both programmes.
| Programme | Code | Place of BSOE-142 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Arts (General) | BAG | Discipline Specific Elective, Semester VI | BSOE-142 printed on the June 2026 paper header; BAG and BASOH share the 2026-27 assignment booklet |
| Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Sociology | BASOH | Discipline Specific Elective, Semester VI | Listed under BASOH Semester VI on eGyanKosh |
If you are enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Sociology programme, BSOE-142 comes in Semester VI alongside other electives such as BSOE-144 Reading Ethnographies.
How to get the full BSOE-142 Solved Question Paper on WhatsApp
Send the message BSOE 142 June 2026 to WhatsApp 9899436384 and our team will share the price and send all 8 answers as a PDF.
The IGNOU BSOE-142 Solved Question Paper file contains the two answers on this page plus the six answers you cannot see here, on Leela Dube, Ramkrishna Mukherjee, Irawati Karve, Ghurye, D. P. Mukerji and the structure of modern education.
Want to see how BSOE-142 was set in earlier sessions too? Our IGNOU Previous Year Question Paper section collects past papers course by course.
BSOE-142 FAQs
What does the full BSOE-142 Solved Question Paper June 2026 contain and how do I get it?
The full file contains complete answers to all 8 questions of the IGNOU June 2026 BSOE-142 paper, which is 6 more answers than this page shows. Each answer is written to the paper's limit of about 400 words. Message us on WhatsApp at 9899436384 with the course code BSOE 142 and our team will share the price and send the PDF after confirmation.
Which two BSOE-142 questions are solved in full on this page?
Question 5 on Radhakamal Mukherjee's view of social ecology and Question 8 on the structural-functional approach of M. N. Srinivas are solved in full here. We chose them because both topics repeat in IGNOU papers. The other six questions, on Leela Dube, Ramkrishna Mukherjee, Irawati Karve, Ghurye, D. P. Mukerji and modern education, are answered only in the full file.
How many questions do I have to attempt in the BSOE-142 term-end exam?
You attempt any five of the eight questions in the BSOE-142 term-end exam. Each question carries 20 marks and asks for about 400 words, so the paper totals 100 marks in 3 hours. There is no compulsory question, which means smart selection matters. Thinkers from Block 2 and Block 3 supplied seven of the eight questions in June 2026.
How many credits and blocks does BSOE-142 Indian Sociological Traditions have?
BSOE-142 Indian Sociological Traditions is a 6-credit course. IGNOU's 2026-27 assignment booklet confirms the credits and asks for three tutor marked assignments. On eGyanKosh the course is split into 3 blocks: History and Development of Indian Sociological Traditions, Sociologists in India-1 and Sociologists in India-2, covering 12 units, with units 3 to 12 each devoted to one sociologist.
Which BSOE-142 topics repeat most often in IGNOU papers?
Radhakamal Mukerjee on social ecology is one of the two most repeated BSOE-142 topics, asked in June 2022, December 2023 and June 2026. Ghurye on caste, Ghurye on rural-urbanisation, A. R. Desai on nationalism, Ramkrishna Mukherjee's sociology of Indian sociology and Srinivas on structural-functionalism each appeared twice in the four official papers we checked. Verrier Elwin on tribal identity appeared in three sessions.
Are the BSOE-142 answers written to IGNOU's 400-word limit?
Yes, every BSOE-142 answer in our file is planned for about 400 words, the length the June 2026 paper asks for. Each answer opens with a short introduction to the thinker, explains the main ideas under clear headings, names key books with their years, adds a brief critique and ends with a conclusion. This is the descriptive structure IGNOU's own BSOE-142 assignment booklet recommends.
Is this BSOE-142 solved paper useful for both BAG and BASOH students?
Yes, the same BSOE-142 paper was set for both programmes in June 2026, since the question paper header prints BAG and BASOH together. Students of the Bachelor of Arts (General) taking the Sociology elective and students of BA (Honours) Sociology, both in Semester VI, answer identical questions, so one solved file serves both. Check your hall ticket for the exact course code before ordering.
Is the BSOE-142 June 2026 question paper available in Hindi as well?
Yes, the official BSOE-142 June 2026 paper is bilingual, with all eight questions printed in English and then in Hindi under the title Bharatiya Samajshastriya Paramparayen. eGyanKosh also hosts Hindi study material for the course. Our solved answers are written in English; if you are writing the exam in Hindi, ask on WhatsApp at 9899436384 before ordering.
Who wrote and reviewed this page
This page was prepared by the Unnati Educations sociology team, which writes solved papers, guess papers and study notes for IGNOU BAG and BASOH Sociology learners, including the companion elective BSOE-141.
Prateek Talwar, Academic Head, led the analysis on this page: the repeat table restated over the three earlier papers, which showed Verrier Elwin in every one of them and skipped in June 2026; the unit check showing that the empty Units 6, 7 and 9 belong to exactly the skipped thinkers; the block arithmetic showing Block 3 plus any one Block 2 thinker could clear the paper; and the December 2026 shortlist.
Sheetal Kirola reviewed the page. She checked Radhakamal Mukerjee's dates (1889 to 1968) and the years of Regional Sociology (1926), Man and His Habitation (1940) and Social Ecology (1945); M. N. Srinivas's dates (1916 to 1999), his Oxford teachers, the Coorg study (1952), the Rampura fieldwork of 1948 and The Remembered Village (1976), and Social Change in Modern India (1966); the spellings of each thinker against the printed paper; the 3-block, 12-unit structure; and the session lists in all 11 repeat-table rows.