Karnataka II PUC Sociology (KSEAB) cheat sheet

Sociology is the systematic, empirical study of human social life, groups, and societies; it treats social behaviour as patterned and externally constrained, not merely personal.

Coined as a term by Auguste Comte in 1838, who proposed a hierarchy of sciences with sociology at the apex (the 'queen of sciences').

Nature: sociology is empirical (evidence-based), theoretical (concept-building), cumulative (builds on prior work), and generalising (seeks patterns, not unique cases).

Scope covers social institutions, social stratification, social change, social processes, deviance, and small-group interaction; it is a 'general' rather than 'special' social science.

Sociology is a science in method (systematic observation, hypothesis testing) but differs from natural science because subjects are conscious and interpret their own actions.

Significance: contributes to social policy, welfare planning, social work, management, and critical self-understanding of one's own society.

Distinguish sociology from psychology (individual mental processes), history (past events), economics (production/distribution), and political science (power) - overlaps exist but focus differs.

Distinguish sociology from common sense: sociological claims are tested and falsifiable; common-sense claims are anecdotal and often self-contradictory.

Sociology's emergence is linked to the Industrial Revolution, French Revolution, and Enlightenment, which disrupted traditional social order and prompted systematic study.

Society: a web of ongoing social relationships among people sharing a territory, culture, and institutions; it is not merely a collection of individuals.

Community: a group sharing a locality, common ties, and social interaction (e.g., a village); society is broader and need not be locality-bound.

Association: a deliberately formed group pursuing a specific interest, with formal membership, rules, and goals (e.g., a trade union, a club).

Institution: an established, normative pattern of behaviour organised around a basic social need (family, education, religion, economy, polity).

Social group: two or more people interacting on the basis of shared expectations; primary groups (face-to-face, affective) versus secondary (formal, instrumental).

Culture: the total way of life of a group - material culture (artefacts) and non-material culture (norms, values, beliefs, language, symbols).

Social structure: the relatively stable, patterned arrangement of roles, statuses, groups, and institutions that persists across individuals.

Status is a position in a social structure (ascribed or achieved); role is the set of expectations attached to a status - role conflict arises when expectations clash.

Norms are shared rules of conduct (folkways, mores, laws); values are the general, shared standards of what is desirable, which norms express.

Socialisation: the lifelong process by which individuals acquire culture, norms, and a self, through agents such as family (primary), school, peers, and media (secondary).

Family: a universal, kinship-based institution; functions include reproduction, socialisation, economic support, emotional security, and regulation of sexuality.

Nuclear family: two-generation unit of parents and children; extended/joint family: three or more generations or multiple married siblings with shared residence and property.

Residence patterns: patrilocal (with husband's family), matrilocal (with wife's family), neolocal (independent residence); descent may be patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral.

Marriage: a socially sanctioned union that establishes rights and obligations between spouses and between them and their kin, and legitimises offspring.

Forms of marriage: monogamy (one spouse), polygyny (one husband, several wives), polyandry (one wife, several husbands); endogamy (marry within a group) versus exogamy (marry outside).

Kinship: relationships based on blood (consanguineal), marriage (affinal), or adoption; kin terms classify relatives and prescribe behaviour such as rules of avoidance.

Cross-cousin versus parallel-cousin marriage is a key distinction: parallel cousins (children of siblings of the same sex) are typically forbidden, cross-cousins often preferred in parts of South India.

Dowry (gifts from bride's family) is distinguished from bride-price (payment to bride's family); dowry is legally prohibited in India under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

Social stratification: the hierarchical ranking of social groups based on unequal access to valued resources (wealth, power, prestige), persisting across generations.

Systems of stratification: slavery, estate/feudal, caste (closed, ascribed), class (relatively open, achieved), and gender and race/ethnicity as cross-cutting axes.

Caste in India: a closed, endogamous, hierarchically ranked system traditionally linked to ritual purity and occupation; varna (four-fold textual model) differs from jati (local endogamous groups).

Caste discrimination is prohibited by Articles 15 and 17 of the Indian Constitution; Article 17 abolishes 'untouchability'.

Class: a category of people sharing similar economic position; Marx distinguished class-in-itself (objective position) from class-for-itself (conscious, organised).

Gender stratification refers to unequal power, resources, and status between women and men; patriarchy is the systemic male dominance in family and society.

Race is a socially constructed category based on perceived physical traits, not a biologically meaningful division of humanity; ethnicity refers to shared culture, language, or ancestry.

Social mobility: vertical (up or down in rank) versus horizontal (lateral change); intergenerational versus intragenerational mobility.

Caste and class often coexist in India; 'dominant caste' (M.N. Srinivas) describes a caste exercising local economic and political power.

Social change: alteration in the structure and functioning of social institutions, norms, and patterns of interaction over time; not every short-term fluctuation is social change.

Factors of social change: technological innovation, demographic shifts, ideological movements, education, urbanisation, and contact with other cultures.

Evolutionary theories (Comte, Spencer) see change as gradual, directional differentiation; cyclical theories (Sorokin, Spengler) see rise and decline; conflict theories (Marx) locate change in contradiction and class struggle.

Modernisation: the transition toward industrial, rational, secular, achievement-based, and differentiated social structures; it is not identical with 'Westernisation'.

Sanskritisation (M.N. Srinivas): a lower caste adopting the ritual practices and lifestyle of a higher caste to improve its status, usually without structural change.

Westernisation: adoption of Western cultural practices, technologies, and institutions; modernisation is broader and concerns structural rationalisation.

Globalisation: increasing interconnectedness of economies, cultures, and politics through trade, capital flows, information technology, and migration; effects include cultural homogenisation and hybridisation debates.

Social movements: organised, sustained collective action to promote or resist change; types include reform, revolutionary, reactionary, and identity-based movements.

Distinguish social movement from mob or crowd: a movement is sustained, organised, and goal-directed with some continuity of membership and ideology.

Unity in diversity: India has linguistic, religious, regional, and ethnic diversity held together by constitutional citizenship, common political institutions, and shared cultural threads.

Tribal society: often characterised by distinct language, territory, kinship-based organisation, and relative geographic isolation; 'tribe' is a contested, historically constructed category.

Rural society: agrarian economy, close face-to-face ties, stronger community control; urban society: occupational diversity, anonymity, formal regulation, and greater mobility.

Social control: the mechanisms by which society enforces conformity - formal (law, police, courts) and informal (custom, folkways, mores, gossip, ridicule).

Social deviance: behaviour violating significant social norms; it is relative to context and not always criminal. Durkheim argued deviance is normal and can foster solidarity and change.

Merton's anomie theory: deviance arises from a gap between culturally prescribed goals and institutionally available means; adaptations include conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion.

Major Indian social problems: caste discrimination, gender inequality and violence, dowry, child labour, unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, communalism, and urban slums.

Protective legislation includes the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961), Protection of Civil Rights Act (1955), SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (1989), and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2006).

Juvenile justice and child rights in India are governed by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which emphasises rehabilitation over punishment.

Functionalism (Durkheim, Parsons, Merton): society is a system of interdependent parts; each institution contributes to stability. Merton distinguished manifest (intended) from latent (unintended) functions and noted dysfunctions.

Durkheim's study of suicide (1897) linked individual acts to social integration and regulation; types: egoistic, altruistic, anomic, fatalistic - a model of using social facts to explain individual behaviour.

Conflict perspective (Marx, later Dahrendorf, Coser): society is marked by inequality and struggle over scarce resources; Marx's base (economy) shapes the superstructure (law, religion, ideology).

Symbolic interactionism (Mead, Blumer, Goffman): social reality is produced through face-to-face interaction and shared symbols; Blumer coined the term and set out its three premises.

Weber's interpretive sociology (Verstehen): social action must be understood from the actor's subjective meaning; he identified four types of action and the ideal type as a methodological tool.

Weber's Protestant Ethic thesis linked Calvinist asceticism to the rise of rational capitalism; his concept of bureaucracy described rational-legal authority with hierarchy and written rules.

Auguste Comte: founder of positivism and the law of three stages (theological, metaphysical, positive). Herbert Spencer applied evolutionary 'survival of the fittest' ideas to society.

Indian sociological thinkers: G.S. Ghurye (caste and race), M.N. Srinivas (Sanskritisation, dominant caste), A.R. Desai (Marxist analysis of Indian society), Irawati Karve (kinship).

Perspectives are complementary lenses, not mutually exclusive: a single phenomenon (e.g., education) can be analysed functionally, in terms of conflict, and through interaction.

Quantitative research uses numerical measurement, statistics, and large samples; qualitative research uses meanings, words, and small, in-depth samples.

Observation: direct watching and recording of behaviour; participant observation involves joining the setting, non-participant observation stays external. Risk: observer effect and loss of objectivity.

Interview: a guided conversation to elicit information; structured (fixed schedule), unstructured (open), and semi-structured (both). Rapport and confidentiality are essential.

Questionnaire: a written set of questions administered to respondents; advantages include standardisation and reach; risks include low response rates and ambiguous items.

Survey: systematic collection of data from a sample to describe or explain a population; a census covers the whole population, a sample survey a selected subset.

Case study: intensive, holistic study of a single case (person, group, institution, event) using multiple sources; strong on depth, weak on generalisation.

Sampling: probability methods (random, systematic, stratified, cluster) permit generalisation; non-probability methods (purposive, quota, convenience, snowball) do not.

Reliability means consistency of measurement; validity means the instrument measures what it claims to measure. A study can be reliable but invalid.

Research ethics: informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, no harm to participants, and honest reporting of findings.