Question:medium

What is Psephology?

Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
  • Statistical study of elections, voting, etc.
  • Study of rainfall pattern
  • Study of gene disorder
  • Study of female prisoners
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The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

"Psephology" comes from the Greek word "psephos," meaning pebble, since ancient Greek citizens used pebbles to cast their votes. The question tests what the term means today.

  1. Statistical study of elections, voting, etc.: Correct. Psephology is the scientific study of elections, covering voting trends, opinion polls, and election forecasting.
  2. Study of rainfall pattern: This describes meteorology, not psephology.
  3. Study of gene disorder: This falls under genetics, a life-science field with no connection to the word's root.
  4. Study of female prisoners: No recognised field of study is defined this way, and the term shares no root with "psephos."

Since the word's Greek root and its modern academic use both point to elections, the correct answer is Statistical study of elections, voting, etc..

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Approach Solution -2

Another way to answer this is to sort each option into the broader academic discipline it belongs to, then see which discipline actually matches the word "psephology."

  1. Statistical study of elections, voting, etc.: This falls squarely under political science and applied statistics, the exact combination of fields that psephology as a term was coined to describe in the mid-twentieth century.
  2. Study of rainfall pattern: This belongs to the earth and atmospheric sciences, a discipline concerned with climate and precipitation, not politics or voting behaviour.
  3. Study of gene disorder: This belongs to biological and medical sciences, dealing with heredity and disease, a field completely separate from social or political studies.
  4. Study of female prisoners: This would fall, if it existed as a defined field, under criminology or sociology, but there is no recognised discipline using this description, and it has no connection to the term in question.

Since psephology was specifically coined within political science to describe the statistical analysis of elections, only the first option lines up with the correct discipline.

Therefore, the correct answer is Statistical study of elections, voting, etc..

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Questions Asked in CLAT exam

Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the 'haves' have to yield place to the 'have-nots'. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held back by a big dam, once the barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others.

According to the passage, egalitarianism will not survive if
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Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. This unfinished part of his experiment was perhaps even more difficult to achieve than the achievement of political freedom. In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. In establishing a social order on this pattern, there was a strong possibility of a conflict arising between diverse groups and classes of our own people.

According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhi's experiment?
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Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct.

Which of the following statements is 'not true' in the context of the passage?
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