Merits and Demerits of Community Approach in the Study of Rural Society

There are two major approaches to the study of rural society, namely (1) the Community Approach and (2) the regional Approach. The style of life and the types of inhabitants of a rural area are the major factors on which the suitability and importance of these two approaches rest. An analysis of the nature of these approaches is essential for evaluating the relative merits and demerits of these two approaches.

The Community Approach

The community approach studies various aspects of village life, both from historical and contemporary perspectives. The unit of study under this approach is a village. A fine example of the study of a village community approach is, the study conducted by Dr. S.C. Dube of the Shamirpet village in Telegu speaking area. Dr. Dube attempts a round study of the village, namely its historical, geographical, cultural, social, and economic, aspects of life. In another study, Dr. S.C. Dube found that “160 out of 189 farmer families in a village hold less than five acres of land. Thus, the farmers have hardly spare sufficient marketing.”
 

The studies carried on by Dr. Dube and other sociologists establish at the very outset that Indian culture in ancient times was a highly rich culture in the world. The villages in general like the village studied by Dr. Dube, are inhabited by a large number of Hindu castes and enjoy a particular type of complex migration. The village studied through this approach comes out as a unit of the wide social spectrum and political security.  Traditions, both regional and local influence the life of villagers. Every aspect of the village life including the dress, festivals, speech, manner, and even the construction of the house clearly reflects the culture of the area. However, Dr. Dube stresses that in every case, the village represents the cultural area.
 

The study of Indian villages conducted through a community approach reveals the following facts:

• A village is a distinct unity and the term village signifies territorial, ritual, and economic unit.
• A village has a composite population inhabiting individuals belonging to different religions and castes.
•  The village people feel as well as exert mutual obligation towards one another.

Merits of the Community Approach

The merits of the community approach are as under:

1. A study conducted through a community approach gives us a comprehensive picture of the life of village people in a particular village.
2. The varieties of village culture and its diversities are discovered through this method. 
3. The approach facilitates several small-scale studies of many villages which may be compared to find out the common elements and uniformity in their life.
4. The position of a village in its region is easily established through this method.
5. This approach is the most suitable for studying villages in remote areas and isolated environments.

Demerits of the community Approach

The community approach suffers from certain drawbacks. Some of these weaknesses are:

1. The village community approach is time-consuming, expensive, and lengthy.
2. The laws of rural development are not supplied by the approach. It only provides the particular position of these laws.
3. It fails to give the picture of life quickly.
4. The approach is based on the wrong presumptions that a village is representative of a region or area. It is not always true to presume it.

Reference
Rural Sociology by Dr. G. Das