The critical self-analysis in sociology that can show how one looks like to others, and teaches how to look at oneself 'from the outside' is called :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Self-reflexivity
Option (1) Positivism — Incorrect. Positivism, the approach of Auguste Comte, holds that society should be studied with the methods of the natural sciences, by observing and measuring social facts. It is about how to study society, not about looking at oneself from the outside.
Option (2) Value Neutrality — Incorrect. Value neutrality, a principle stressed by Max Weber, asks the researcher to keep personal values and likes out of the findings of research. It concerns objectivity in research, not seeing how one looks to others.
Option (3) Empathy — Incorrect. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s feelings by imagining oneself in that person’s place. It turns attention towards others, while the question describes turning the gaze back on oneself.
Option (4) Self-reflexivity — Correct. Sociology can show you what you look like to others and teach you how to look at yourself ‘from the outside’. This is called self-reflexivity, or just reflexivity: the ability to reflect upon yourself, to turn back your gaze, usually directed outward, towards yourself. This self-inspection must be critical, quick to criticise and slow to praise oneself.
Note: The concepts in Options (1), (2) and (3), ‘Positivism’, ‘Value Neutrality’ and ‘Empathy’, are not in NCERT (2025-26); explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2025-26): “What may be of even more interest to you is that sociology can show you what you look like to others; it can teach you how to look at yourself ‘from the outside’, so to speak. This is called ‘self-reflexivity’, or sometimes just reflexivity. This is the ability to reflect upon yourself, to turn back your gaze (which is usually directed outward) back towards yourself. But this self-inspection must be critical – i.e., it should be quick to criticise and slow to praise oneself.” |