The arguments given for and against the village as a subject of sociological research by M.N. Srinivas and Louis Dumont are stated below –

1) M.N. Srinivas favoured Indian villages as a subject of sociological research because –

i) The village is an important social entity serving as a united identity.

ii) The villages were never self-sufficient and had been a part of several social, economic and political relationships at the regional level.

iii) The villages as a site of research have offered many advantages to Indian sociology.

2) Louis Dumont believed that social institutions like caste were more important subject than village because –

i) It was just a collection of people living in a particular place.

ii) Villages are not permanent and not even the people residing there but social institutions like caste have existed in past, exists in present will continue to exist in future.

iii) Villages cannot be treated as a category.