Explain the meaning of the following terms/words :

(i) Antithesis (ii) Thesis

(iii) Synthesis (iv) Variable

(v) Bureaucracy (vi) Organic Analogy

(vii) Capitalism

(ii) Thesis : Original state / theme / proposition.

(iii) Synthesis : A resultant of interaction between thesis and antithesis.

(iv) Variable : A social factor such as age, social class etc. which can be observed to affect other measures, such as income level.

(v) Bureaucracy : Type of organisation in which administration is based upon impersonal, written rules and a hierarchy of offices.

(vi) Organic Analogy : Comparison made to show a degree of similarity between living organs.

(vii) Capitalism : Free economy operating according to market forces (e.g. demand and supply etc.), private ownership (i.e. factors of production, such as land, factory, capital, means of transportation and communication etc.

(ii) Nomothetic : A science that attempts to make generalization (e.g. Sociology)

(iii) Conjectural : Balance of forces, particular ideologies, class interest etc. that in combination make up a particular pattern of social and economic contradictions.

(iv) Cross-Cultural Method : Comparisons of contemporary cultures.

(v) Dialectical : A process which sees forces of change from thesis (original states) to antithesis (opposite state) to synthesis (combination of first two states i.e. thesis and antithesis).

(vi) Materialism : Relation of production which correspond to a definite stage of the development of their productive forces.

(vii) Equilibrium : A state of balance between parts within a social system.

(viii) Manifest Functions : Functions of a social system which are intended and / or overtly recognized by the participants in that social system.

(ix) Ethnographic : Written record of small society based on direct observation.

(ii) Latent Functions : Functions, which are hidden and remain unacknowledged by participants,

(iii) Integration : The extent to which an individual experience a sense of belonging to a social group by virtue of sharing its norms, values, beliefs, etc.

(iv) Ideographic : Study of unique and unrepeatable events (e.g. History).

(v) Functionalism : It is a doctrine, which asserts that the principal task of sociology and social anthropology is to examine the contribution, which social items make to the social and cultural life of human collectivities.

1. Historical data have some limitations, which arise mainly because historians cannot describe all the happenings in time and space available at the time of writing history.

2. Personal biases and private interpretations, generally, enter unconsciously, even when, honest attempts are made to select and interpret pertinent facts. This can be illustrated by reference to the current controversy that raging on the writing of Later Medieval Indian history particularly the Babri Masjid versus Ram Janam Bhoomi dispute.