Write short notes on ALL of the following (each answer should not exceed 200 words)

(a) Alienation in modern society. 

Karl Marx introduced the concept of alienation. In a capitalist society, the worker experiences alienation because of loss of control over production process and the product. Because of this he loses interest in the work.

So according to Marx, in modern society, the alienation is expected because the mode of production is capitalistic but all the sociologist are of not the same view. Some sociologists like Herbert Blauner concluded that skilling and automation of workers lead to less alienation. Others like Mills report the alienation in white collar jobs as well. Also alienation is found to be different in different industries.

There are many things which have changed since Marx had written about alienation. Todays workers don't work under too bad conditions. They have reasonable social security. The welfare state has helped in this respect. Similarly, majority of workers are knowledge workers whose jobs are innovative and interesting so they are less likely to feel alienation.

So the alienation as a concept is still applicable to some sectors and industries in modern society also but the workers are unlikely to redeem themselves off by revolution as suggested by Marx.

(b) 'Value Problem' in sociological research. 

Values are the guiding force for an action. Values are the perception of a person about right & wrong for an object or situation. Positivist thinker like August Comte, Spencer argue that values of social researcher should be unbiased, neutral & should be based on facts alone while doing research. But this is difficult to be value neutral in sociology as for ex. a researcher studying family is probably get influenced by his values as he himself is a member of the family. In different sociological research like phenomenology i.e. from researcher point of view & ethnomethodological perspective i.e. from the view of the society being researched, researcher should take care of not to get engulfed in the ethnocentric view.

Further interpretationist like Weber said it is not possible to study the complete objective reality of subjective thing. As researcher uses his values to decide about research topic, make generalisation but as research is funded by the elite section of society so that may also influence by the conservative values of elite class. For ex a govt. conducting research may deliberately try to show that condition of women improved in society.

Value problem can be overcome by the researcher by getting an outside view i.e by seeing research through the eyes of others. By providing information of social background of researcher, by enlisting the points the researcher has followed so that other can follow that and see whether the result are same or not. Thus the problem of values in sociology can be minimised.

(c) Social Action and Pattern variables. 

Social action as per Talcott parson are those action which full fill the following condition

1. It is towards attainment of goals
2. It is occur in situation
3. It is according to the values & norms of society
4. It needs some energy or motivation to invest.

For example a lady going to temple by car for worshipping it is a social action as it toward attainment of goal of worshipping, it consist of situation of driving on road, it is as per norms of society, the lady is also investing her energy in driving to reach temple.

Patter variables provide the different ways of acting in situation as given by Talcott parson, he provided following pattern variable

Collectivistic v/s specific orientation

Diffuseness v/s specificity

Affectivity v/s affective neutrality

Universalism v/s particularism

Ascription v/s achivement

For example a mother child relationship is more guide by affectivity, diffuseness whereas doctor patient relationship is guided by affective neutrality, specificity.

(d) Socialization and the Self.

Society is the product of self and self is the product of society said G.H Mead.With an entirely different approach from that of his predecessors , Mead argued studying the presentation of self is the subject matter of sociology.

Society helps in creating one's self is through the process of socialization for which family is the foundation. For instance a child in a family learns to take the role of others during his growth . In play stage he takes single roles in sequence , whereas in game stage he goes on to take multiple roles simultaneously.

Mead further argues that , by presenting the self and through interaction with his co-actors, an individual in evaluating oneself constantly. Consequently , he modifies his action according to the situation.This happens with all the individuals making way for action and interaction. Such multiple interactions form society and hence society is also product of selves.

Thus, in his words, socialization through family helps a person to be reflexive of ones action which is not present in case of animals. It further nurtures the I ( Innovative ) and Me (Conformist ) parts of ones self which is both a subject - in the form of future anticipations - as well as object - in the form of continuous evaluation in pursuit of achieving subjective goals.