Identify the sociologist who argued that the rate of suicide had to be explained by social causes even though each instance of suicide may have individual reasons.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Emile Durkheim
NCERT (2025-26): “…Even though country-level or state-level statistics like the number of deaths per 1,000 population – or the death rate – are made up by aggregating (or adding up) individual deaths, the death rate itself is a social phenomenon and must be explained at the social level. Emile Durkheim’s famous study explaining the variation in suicide rates across different countries was a good example of this. Durkheim argued that the rate of suicide (i.e., number of suicides per 100,000 population) had to be explained by social causes even though each particular instance of suicide may have involved reasons specific to that individual or her/his circumstances.…” |