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Kerala Plus Two Sociology (DHSE) study materials
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Kerala Plus Two Sociology (DHSE) practice questions

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Question 1Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

In the Plus Two Sociology course, the systematic study of human society, social institutions and social relationships is best described as the subject matter of:

  1. Political science
  2. Psychology
  3. Economics
  4. Sociology Correct answer.

Explanation

Sociology is defined by its focus on society, social institutions, groups and patterned social relationships rather than on individual mental processes, state power or the allocation of scarce resources. The other disciplines study narrower segments of human life. This broad societal focus is what distinguishes the discipline in the higher secondary curriculum.

Question 2Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

The term 'sociology' is generally traced to Auguste Comte, who coined it by combining a Latin and a Greek root. The resulting meaning of the word is:

  1. The study of the state
  2. The study of the individual mind
  3. The study of the soul
  4. The study of society or companionship Correct answer.

Explanation

Comte joined the Latin 'socius' (companion or associate) with the Greek 'logos' (study or knowledge), giving the sense of reasoned knowledge about society and human association. This etymology reflects the discipline's concern with collective life. It does not refer to the soul, the state or the individual mind.

Question 3Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

A student argues that sociology should be counted as a science because it uses systematic observation, comparison and generalisation about social life. Which feature of sociology most directly supports this claim?

  1. Its exclusive use of philosophical speculation
  2. Its refusal to compare societies across time and place
  3. Its use of systematic methods of observation and verification Correct answer.
  4. Its reliance on personal opinion and common sense

Explanation

A discipline qualifies as scientific when it observes phenomena systematically, tests claims against evidence and builds generalisations that others can verify. Sociology employs surveys, fieldwork, comparison and statistical analysis in this way. Personal opinion, pure speculation and refusal to compare would all undermine a scientific claim.

Question 4Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Which statement best captures the relationship between sociology and common sense?

  1. Sociology and common sense are identical because both describe social life
  2. Sociology tests everyday assumptions against systematic evidence and can confirm, qualify or refute them Correct answer.
  3. Sociology simply repeats whatever common sense already tells us
  4. Sociology rejects all everyday knowledge as worthless

Explanation

Sociology begins from the social world people already interpret, but it subjects those everyday understandings to systematic testing and may confirm, refine or overturn them. This critical testing is what distinguishes the discipline from taken-for-granted knowledge. It neither merely repeats nor wholly dismisses common sense.

Question 5Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

The 'sociological imagination', a phrase associated with C. Wright Mills, refers to the ability to:

  1. Predict individual behaviour through personality tests
  2. See the connection between personal troubles and wider public issues Correct answer.
  3. Replace empirical research with imaginative speculation
  4. Memorise the names of classical theorists

Explanation

Mills argued that the sociological imagination links biography with history, enabling us to see how personal troubles are connected to broader public issues and social structures. It is a way of thinking relationally, not a memory exercise or a substitute for evidence. The other options misread the concept.

Question 6Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Sociology is often said to have emerged in Europe during the nineteenth century. Which set of developments is most commonly cited as the background to its emergence?

  1. The growth of information technology and social media
  2. The invention of writing and the earliest cities
  3. The discovery of the printing press and the Renaissance alone
  4. The Industrial Revolution, urbanisation and the French Revolution Correct answer.

Explanation

Sociology arose as thinkers tried to understand the massive social upheavals produced by industrialisation, rapid urban growth and the political disruption of the French Revolution. These changes created new social problems and new forms of social organisation that demanded systematic study. Earlier or much later developments are not the standard account.

Question 7Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

How does sociology differ from psychology in terms of the unit of analysis?

  1. Sociology focuses on social structures and groups, while psychology focuses mainly on individual behaviour and mental processes Correct answer.
  2. Sociology studies only past societies, while psychology studies only present ones
  3. Sociology studies individuals in isolation, while psychology studies groups
  4. Both study only biological processes

Explanation

Psychology primarily examines individual behaviour, cognition and personality, whereas sociology examines groups, institutions, structures and patterned social relations. The two overlap in social psychology but their central units of analysis differ. Neither is confined to biology or to a single time period.

Question 8Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Sociology and social anthropology are closely related. A key difference often noted is that social anthropology traditionally:

  1. Confined itself to the study of modern industrial economies
  2. Relied exclusively on large-scale national sample surveys
  3. Studied small-scale, pre-literate communities through intensive fieldwork Correct answer.
  4. Rejected participant observation as a method

Explanation

Social anthropology traditionally focused on small-scale, often pre-literate or non-industrial communities and developed intensive fieldwork methods such as participant observation. Sociology historically studied larger, complex and industrial societies. The two have increasingly borrowed each other's methods.

Question 9Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

A researcher studying how caste and class shape access to education in Kerala draws on both sociological theory and economic data on household expenditure. This illustrates that sociology:

  1. Must ignore economic factors to remain purely social
  2. Overlaps with and borrows from other social sciences while retaining its own perspective Correct answer.
  3. Is identical to economics in all respects
  4. Has no relationship with any other discipline

Explanation

Sociology is an interdisciplinary field that draws on economics, history, political science and psychology while keeping its distinctive focus on social structure and relations. Using economic data to study caste and class does not make it identical to economics. The other options misstate the relationship between disciplines.

Question 10Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Which statement best describes the relationship between sociology and history?

  1. Sociology has nothing to learn from historical evidence
  2. Sociology studies only the present and history only the past, with no overlap
  3. Sociology and history are mutually exclusive disciplines
  4. History supplies the temporal and comparative context that sociological analysis often needs Correct answer.

Explanation

Sociology and history are complementary: historical evidence provides the temporal depth and comparative context needed to understand how social structures develop and change. Sociologists frequently use historical material, and historians draw on social concepts. The disciplines overlap rather than exclude each other.

Question 11Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Sociology is sometimes distinguished from political science by noting that political science focuses primarily on:

  1. Patterns of religious ritual
  2. Kinship and family structures
  3. The distribution of power, government and the state Correct answer.
  4. The internal workings of the human mind

Explanation

Political science centres on power, authority, government and the state, while sociology studies these as part of the wider social structure along with many other institutions. Kinship, mind and ritual are the concerns of anthropology, psychology and the sociology of religion respectively. The distinction lies in the primary focus of each discipline.

Question 12Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Which of the following best explains why sociology cannot simply be reduced to biology or psychology?

  1. Because social phenomena have properties, such as norms and institutions, that cannot be explained by individual biology alone Correct answer.
  2. Because biology and psychology do not study human beings
  3. Because social life is entirely random and unpredictable
  4. Because sociology rejects all scientific methods

Explanation

Sociology argues that social structures, norms and institutions have emergent properties that cannot be fully explained by individual biological or psychological traits. This is why sociologists insist on analysing society at its own level. The other options misrepresent the disciplines or the nature of social life.

Question 13Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

A sociologist studying why a particular village in Kerala has high literacy while another nearby village does not would most likely focus on:

  1. Random chance as the sole explanation
  2. The genetic intelligence of the villagers
  3. The personality traits of individual schoolteachers alone
  4. Historical, institutional and community factors shaping educational access Correct answer.

Explanation

Sociological explanation looks to historical legacies, institutional arrangements, community organisation and social inequality to explain differences in outcomes such as literacy. Individual traits or chance cannot account for patterned differences between villages. This reflects sociology's concern with social structure.

Question 14Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Which of the following is a defining feature of sociology as an academic discipline?

  1. It relies solely on philosophical argument
  2. It confines itself to the study of individual behaviour
  3. It studies only primitive societies
  4. It studies human social life using systematic and empirical methods Correct answer.

Explanation

Sociology is defined by its systematic and empirical study of human social life, including groups, institutions and societies. It is not limited to primitive societies, pure philosophy or individual behaviour. These features separate it from neighbouring disciplines and from everyday speculation.

Question 15Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

The claim that sociology is a 'value-free' science, associated with Max Weber's discussion of objectivity, is best understood as arguing that sociologists should:

  1. Endorse only the values of the dominant group
  2. Refuse to study controversial social issues
  3. Strive to keep their personal biases from distorting research while recognising values shape the choice of topics Correct answer.
  4. Abandon all moral concern about their findings

Explanation

Weber's argument is about objectivity in analysis: researchers should prevent personal values from distorting findings, even though values legitimately influence which problems are chosen for study. It does not demand moral indifference, endorsement of dominant values or avoidance of controversy. This nuance is central to the debate on value freedom.

Question 16Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

The debate about whether sociology should model itself on the natural sciences is often described using the terms:

  1. Nomothetic and idiographic
  2. Positivism and interpretivism Correct answer.
  3. Capitalism and socialism
  4. Structuralism and functionalism

Explanation

Positivism holds that sociology should adopt the methods of the natural sciences, seeking general laws, while interpretivism argues that social life requires understanding meaning and thus differs from natural-science explanation. Capitalism and socialism are economic-political doctrines, and the other pairs are theoretical or methodological distinctions of a different kind.

Question 17Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Which of the following best illustrates the application of the sociological perspective to a contemporary Indian issue?

  1. Describing the chemical composition of a new fertiliser
  2. Predicting election results from a single voter's opinion
  3. Analysing how changing family structures and migration affect care for the elderly Correct answer.
  4. Explaining a rise in diabetes purely by individual diet choices

Explanation

The sociological perspective connects individual experiences to wider social structures such as family, migration and demographic change. Analysing elderly care through family and migration patterns illustrates this structural focus. Individual diet, single opinions and chemical composition fall outside sociological analysis.

Question 18Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Which statement about the scope of sociology is most accurate?

  1. Sociology studies only industrial societies
  2. Sociology studies only contemporary urban life
  3. Sociology studies all forms of human society, past and present, simple and complex Correct answer.
  4. Sociology studies only rural societies

Explanation

Sociology's scope is broad: it examines all forms of human society, from small-scale communities to complex industrial and post-industrial societies, across past and present. Limiting it to rural, industrial or urban life alone would misrepresent its reach. This breadth is one of its defining features.

Question 19Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

A researcher argues that because human beings interpret their own actions, social science must understand meanings rather than merely measure behaviour. This argument most closely reflects:

  1. A purely biological view of human behaviour
  2. A view that social research requires no method at all
  3. A positivist view that social science should imitate physics
  4. An interpretivist view emphasising understanding of social meaning Correct answer.

Explanation

Interpretivism stresses that human action is meaningful and that social inquiry must grasp the meanings actors attach to their conduct, unlike the causal explanation of physical events. This differs from positivism, which seeks natural-science-style laws. The other options misstate the position.

Question 20Sociology and Society: nature, scope and relationship with other social sciences

Sociology and economics both study aspects of social life. Which statement best distinguishes their central concerns?

  1. Economics studies society as a whole, while sociology studies only prices
  2. Economics studies production and distribution of resources, while sociology studies the wider social relations and institutions within which economic activity occurs Correct answer.
  3. Both study only individual consumer choices
  4. Sociology studies only markets, while economics studies only families

Explanation

Economics concentrates on the production, distribution and consumption of resources, while sociology situates economic activity within broader social relations, institutions and inequalities. The disciplines overlap in economic sociology but differ in their central questions. The other options reverse or distort this relationship.

Question 21Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

In sociology, which term refers to a group of people who share a common territory and culture and who interact on the basis of mutual awareness and interdependence?

  1. Institution
  2. Society Correct answer.
  3. Aggregate
  4. Association

Explanation

A society is a relatively self-sufficient, enduring collectivity whose members share a territory, culture and institutions and interact on the basis of mutual awareness. It is broader than any single association or institution, which are organised parts within it.

Question 22Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

Which feature most clearly distinguishes a community from an association?

  1. A community exists only in rural areas, while an association exists only in cities
  2. A community is always larger in population than an association
  3. A community has written rules, while an association relies only on custom
  4. A community is based on shared territory and sentiment, while an association is deliberately created for a specific purpose Correct answer.

Explanation

Community rests on territorial locality, common sentiment and enduring ties that arise rather than being formally created. Association is a consciously formed group with a defined purpose, explicit membership and often written rules.

Question 23Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

A trade union, a political party and a football club are all best described as examples of:

  1. Associations Correct answer.
  2. Institutions
  3. Crowds
  4. Communities

Explanation

Each of these is a formally organised group with a stated purpose, defined membership and rules, which is the sociological mark of an association. Members join deliberately to pursue a shared interest.

Question 24Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

Which of the following best defines a social institution?

  1. A temporary arrangement formed for a single event
  2. Any group of people who meet regularly for recreation
  3. An established system of norms, roles and procedures organised around a basic social need Correct answer.
  4. A building where social services are delivered to the public

Explanation

In sociology an institution is an enduring pattern of norms and roles, such as family, education or religion, that fulfils a basic social need. It is a way of doing things rather than a physical structure or a casual gathering.

Question 25Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

A person is a daughter at home, a student in college and a part-time employee at a shop. These positions illustrate that:

  1. A person can hold only one status in a society
  2. An individual occupies multiple statuses at the same time Correct answer.
  3. Status is fixed at birth and cannot change
  4. Role conflict never occurs in modern life

Explanation

Status refers to the position a person occupies in a group or society, and everyone holds several statuses simultaneously. The set of statuses a person occupies is called a status set, which is why the same individual appears differently in different contexts.

Question 26Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

Which of the following is an example of an achieved status?

  1. Being a doctor Correct answer.
  2. Being a teenager
  3. Being a member of a particular caste by birth
  4. Being a son

Explanation

An achieved status is one a person attains through effort, choice or competition, such as becoming a doctor after training. Ascribed statuses are assigned by birth or biology without the individual's choice.

Question 27Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

The dynamic aspect of a status, that is, the behaviour expected of a person holding that status, is called:

  1. Role Correct answer.
  2. Value
  3. Norm
  4. Rank

Explanation

Role is the behavioural counterpart of status: status is the position, while role is what the occupant is expected to do in it. The two are often described as the static and dynamic sides of the same social position.

Question 28Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

A working mother is expected at the office to stay late for a meeting and at home to be present for her child's evening needs. This situation is best described as:

  1. Social mobility
  2. Status set
  3. Role conflict Correct answer.
  4. Role set

Explanation

Role conflict arises when the expectations attached to two or more statuses held by the same person make incompatible demands. Here the demands of the occupational role clash with those of the parental role.

Question 29Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

The concept of role set, introduced by Robert K. Merton, refers to:

  1. The conflict between the demands of work and family
  2. The complement of role relationships in which a person is involved by virtue of occupying a single status Correct answer.
  3. The process by which a person learns the norms of a new role
  4. The total number of statuses a person occupies in a lifetime

Explanation

Merton used role set to describe the several role relationships that a single status involves, for example a student who relates to teachers, classmates and administrators. It is tied to one status, unlike a status set which spans several statuses.

Question 30Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

Which pair correctly matches the criteria commonly used by sociologists to classify social groups?

  1. Primary and secondary groups on the basis of size; in-groups and out-groups on the basis of territory
  2. In-groups and out-groups on the basis of duration; primary and secondary groups on the basis of kinship
  3. Primary and secondary groups on the basis of the nature of relationships; in-groups and out-groups on the basis of a sense of belonging Correct answer.
  4. Reference groups on the basis of kinship; primary groups on the basis of formal rules

Explanation

Charles Horton Cooley's distinction between primary and secondary groups rests on the closeness and intimacy of relationships, while the in-group and out-group classification rests on whether members feel a sense of belonging and loyalty. Each criterion captures a different dimension of group life.

Question 31Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

A family in which members interact face to face, share intimate and enduring ties and treat the relationship as an end in itself is an example of:

  1. A secondary group
  2. A formal organisation
  3. An aggregate
  4. A primary group Correct answer.

Explanation

Primary groups, as Cooley described them, involve face-to-face interaction, emotional intimacy and enduring, diffuse relationships valued for their own sake. The family is the classic illustration of such a group.

Question 32Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

A student who compares their own academic performance with that of a high-achieving senior and adjusts their study habits accordingly is using that senior as a:

  1. Reference group Correct answer.
  2. Secondary group
  3. Statistical aggregate
  4. Out-group

Explanation

A reference group is one that an individual uses as a standard of comparison and a source of norms for evaluating their own behaviour. The senior is not necessarily a member's own group but guides self-evaluation and conduct.

Question 33Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

Which statement best captures the relationship between society, community and association?

  1. Society is the widest web of relationships, community is a territorially rooted part of it, and association is a purpose-specific group within it Correct answer.
  2. Community and society are identical, and association is a type of institution
  3. Association is the widest category, within which community and society are contained
  4. Society is a temporary group, community is a formal organisation, and association is a crowd

Explanation

Society is the most inclusive system of social relationships, community is a locality-based grouping with shared sentiment within it, and associations are deliberately organised groups formed for particular purposes. The three concepts thus form a widening-to-narrowing order of inclusiveness.

Question 34Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

A person waiting with strangers on a railway platform, with no interaction or shared sense of belonging, constitutes:

  1. An aggregate Correct answer.
  2. An institution
  3. A secondary group
  4. A community

Explanation

An aggregate is a set of people who are physically together but lack interaction, shared norms and a sense of belonging. The mere co-presence of strangers does not create a social group.

Question 35Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

Which of the following is the clearest example of an institution in the sociological sense, as distinct from an association?

  1. Marriage Correct answer.
  2. A registered marriage bureau
  3. A group of friends attending a wedding
  4. A wedding reception hall

Explanation

Marriage is an established pattern of norms and roles regulating family life and is therefore an institution. The other items are an organisation, a physical setting and a small informal group respectively.

Question 36Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

Which feature is characteristic of secondary groups rather than primary groups?

  1. Relationships are formal, impersonal and oriented towards specific goals Correct answer.
  2. Relationships are intimate and valued for their own sake
  3. Membership is based on kinship and emotional attachment
  4. Members interact face to face over long periods as whole persons

Explanation

Secondary groups are larger and more impersonal, with relationships that are formally organised around specific purposes and limited to particular aspects of members' lives. Primary groups, by contrast, involve whole-person, enduring and affective ties.

Question 37Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

A person who is a Brahmin by birth and later becomes a Member of Parliament holds both an ascribed and an achieved status. Which statement about these statuses is sociologically accurate?

  1. Both statuses are purely biological and cannot change
  2. Ascribed status is always more prestigious than achieved status in modern societies
  3. Ascribed status is assigned by birth or inheritance, while achieved status is acquired through effort and choice Correct answer.
  4. Achieved status is fixed at birth, while ascribed status is earned

Explanation

The ascribed-achieved distinction turns on how a status is acquired: assignment at birth or by inheritance versus attainment through effort, competition or choice. Caste by birth is ascribed, while an elected office is achieved.

Question 38Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

In a hospital, a nurse who is simultaneously expected by doctors to follow orders quickly and by patients to spend time explaining procedures experiences:

  1. Upward social mobility
  2. Role strain arising from conflicting expectations within a single role Correct answer.
  3. Role exit from the nursing profession
  4. A status set with no role obligations

Explanation

Role strain refers to difficulty in meeting the multiple, sometimes conflicting expectations attached to one role, as with the nurse's single occupational role. Role conflict, by contrast, involves expectations of two different statuses.

Question 39Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

Which statement best explains why a social group is not the same as a social category?

  1. A category has shared norms and roles, whereas a group has none
  2. A category has face-to-face interaction, whereas a group is defined only by a shared trait
  3. A group must be formally registered, whereas a category is always informal
  4. Members of a group interact and are conscious of membership, whereas a category is a statistical collection sharing a trait without interaction Correct answer.

Explanation

A social group requires interaction, mutual awareness and a sense of membership, whereas a social category is a classificatory collection such as all persons aged eighteen, which need not involve any interaction. The distinction rests on interaction and consciousness of membership.

Question 40Basic Concepts: society, community, association, institution, social group, status and role

A sociologist argues that institutions persist because they are transmitted across generations through socialisation and are reinforced by sanctions. Which conclusion follows most directly from this argument?

  1. Institutions are permanent and incapable of any change
  2. Institutions are relatively enduring patterns that can nonetheless change when socialisation and sanctions change Correct answer.
  3. Institutions exist only where written laws are enforced by the state
  4. Institutions are identical to the physical buildings in which they operate

Explanation

If institutions are sustained by socialisation and sanctions, they are stable but not immutable, since changes in those processes can reshape them. This captures the sociological view of institutions as enduring yet historically changing patterns.

Question 41Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

In sociology, the term 'family of orientation' refers to the family in which a person is born and raised. Which statement best describes the family of orientation?

  1. The family a person establishes through marriage or by becoming a parent
  2. A residential group that shares a common kitchen but not kinship ties
  3. The family into which a person is born and in which early socialisation occurs Correct answer.
  4. A lineage traced only through the mother's side of the family

Explanation

The family of orientation is the natal family in which an individual is born and grows up, and it is the primary site of early socialisation. It is contrasted with the family of procreation, which a person forms later by marrying and having children. The distinction is central to sociological analysis of kinship and household structure.

Question 42Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

A newly married couple in Kerala lives in the husband's ancestral home along with his parents and younger brother's family. Sociologically, this household arrangement is an example of which residence pattern?

  1. Matrilocal residence
  2. Patrilocal residence Correct answer.
  3. Avunculocal residence
  4. Neolocal residence

Explanation

Patrilocal residence means the couple settles with or near the husband's paternal kin, which matches the couple living in the husband's ancestral home. Neolocal residence would mean a new independent home, and matrilocal residence would place them with the wife's kin. Avunculocal residence involves residence with the husband's maternal uncle.

Question 43Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

Which of the following is a defining feature of endogamy as a rule of marriage?

  1. A person must marry outside a specified group such as a clan or village
  2. A widow is permitted to marry her deceased husband's younger brother
  3. A person must marry within a specified group such as a caste or religious community Correct answer.
  4. A marriage is arranged between two persons who have never met before the wedding

Explanation

Endogamy prescribes marriage within a defined group, such as a caste, religious community or class, and it is the rule that underpins caste endogamy in India. Exogamy is its opposite, requiring marriage outside a group. Arranged marriage and levirate are separate customs that do not define endogamy.

Question 44Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

In a matrilineal system of descent, which of the following is true?

  1. Property and group membership pass from father to son
  2. Descent and inheritance are traced through the mother's line Correct answer.
  3. Authority in the household rests exclusively with the father
  4. The couple must live in a new house away from both families

Explanation

Matrilineal descent traces group membership and often inheritance through the mother's line, so a person belongs to the mother's lineage. This is distinct from matrilocal residence, which concerns where the couple lives rather than how descent is reckoned. Systems such as the Nayar and Khasi illustrate matrilineal organisation.

Question 45Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

Durkheim argued that religion functions to bind a society together by reinforcing shared beliefs and collective sentiments. This position is best described as which approach to religion?

  1. Interactionist
  2. Functionalist Correct answer.
  3. Conflict
  4. Postmodern

Explanation

Durkheim's account of religion emphasises its integrative function, treating shared rituals and sacred symbols as reinforcing collective conscience and social solidarity. Conflict theorists instead stress how religion legitimises inequality, while interactionists focus on everyday meaning-making. His idea of the sacred and the collective effervescence of rituals is central to this functionalist reading.

Question 46Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

According to the sociology of education, which of the following best illustrates the 'hidden curriculum'?

  1. The competitive entrance examinations for professional courses
  2. The tuition classes a student attends after school hours
  3. The prescribed syllabus and textbooks issued by the state board
  4. The informal lessons pupils learn about punctuality, discipline and deference to authority Correct answer.

Explanation

The hidden curriculum refers to the unofficial lessons transmitted through school routines, such as punctuality, obedience and hierarchy, which shape values and behaviour beyond formal subjects. It operates through the organisation of schooling rather than through the stated syllabus. This concept is associated with the sociology of education and with conflict analyses of schooling.

Question 47Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

In economic sociology, the term 'division of labour' refers to which of the following?

  1. The transfer of ownership of industries from private to public hands
  2. The movement of workers from rural areas to urban centres
  3. The allocation of different tasks and occupations among members of a society Correct answer.
  4. The equal distribution of income among all working households

Explanation

Division of labour refers to the specialisation by which different tasks, occupations and roles are assigned to different people or groups, as analysed by Durkheim and Adam Smith. It is distinct from distribution of income, nationalisation and migration. Durkheim linked increasing division of labour with organic solidarity in modern societies.

Question 48Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

A society in which kinship relationships are the primary basis of social organisation and where political authority is embedded in lineage and age-set structures is best described as which type of polity?

  1. A federal parliamentary democracy
  2. A totalitarian regime
  3. A modern bureaucratic state
  4. A stateless or acephalous political system Correct answer.

Explanation

Stateless or acephalous political systems lack centralised state institutions, and order is maintained through kinship, lineage and age-set arrangements. In such societies authority is diffuse and embedded in social relationships rather than in an office of government. This concept is contrasted with centralised bureaucratic states.

Question 49Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

Which statement most accurately distinguishes a household from a family in sociological usage?

  1. A family is a kin group defined by blood, marriage or adoption, whereas a household is a co-residential domestic unit Correct answer.
  2. A household refers only to the married couple, while a family includes all relatives everywhere
  3. A family necessarily lives together, while a household need not share a residence
  4. A household is always a family, since only kin can share a dwelling

Explanation

A family is defined by kinship ties of blood, marriage or adoption, whereas a household is a domestic unit of people who share a residence and often a kitchen. The two overlap but are not identical, since a household may include non-kin such as servants or lodgers. This distinction matters in census and family studies in India.

Question 50Social Institutions: family, marriage, kinship, religion, education, economy and polity

A couple in Kerala, both in salaried employment, share cooking, childcare and household cleaning without fixed gender roles. Sociologically, this pattern illustrates which of the following?

  1. A patrilocal residence rule
  2. A matrilineal descent system
  3. An egalitarian conjugal role relationship Correct answer.
  4. A patriarchal extended family with clear male authority

Explanation

Egalitarian conjugal roles describe a marriage in which domestic tasks and authority are shared relatively equally between partners rather than allocated by gender. The example shows joint performance of chores and childcare, which is the hallmark of this pattern. It does not by itself establish descent or residence rules.