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Maharashtra HSC Sociology study materials
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Maharashtra HSC Sociology practice questions

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Question 1Introduction to Sociology

Auguste Comte is credited with coining the term 'sociology'. In his framework, the discipline was to be the final and most developed stage of human knowledge. Which term did Comte use for this highest stage of intellectual development?

  1. The theological stage
  2. The positive stage Correct answer.
  3. The metaphysical stage
  4. The evolutionary stage

Explanation

Comte described a law of three stages through which human thought passes: theological, metaphysical, and positive. The positive stage relies on observation and scientific reasoning, and Comte therefore named his new science 'sociology' as a positive science of society.

Question 2Introduction to Sociology

Emile Durkheim argued that sociology must study 'social facts' as things. Which of the following best captures what he meant by a social fact?

  1. A biological instinct shared by all human beings
  2. An external constraint on behaviour that is general throughout a society Correct answer.
  3. A psychological trait measurable only in the laboratory
  4. A personal habit that an individual chooses freely

Explanation

For Durkheim, social facts are ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that are external to the individual and exercise a constraint over him or her, and that are general in a given society. Examples include legal rules, moral norms, and rates of behaviour such as suicide.

Question 3Introduction to Sociology

Max Weber introduced the concept of 'verstehen' into sociological method. What does this concept require the researcher to do?

  1. Interpret the subjective meanings that actors attach to their own actions Correct answer.
  2. Observe behaviour externally without asking what it means to the actor
  3. Measure social behaviour with the same instruments used in physics
  4. Reject all value judgements in order to remain perfectly neutral

Explanation

Verstehen means interpretive understanding: the sociologist tries to grasp the meaning an actor gives to his or her own conduct. Weber combined this interpretive grasp with causal explanation, which is why his approach is called interpretive sociology.

Question 4Introduction to Sociology

Karl Marx used the term 'alienation' to describe the condition of workers under capitalism. In his account, which situation most directly produces alienation?

  1. Workers owning the product of their labour and selling it themselves
  2. Workers selling their labour power while others own the means of production and the product Correct answer.
  3. Workers sharing equally in the profits of the enterprise they run
  4. Workers choosing their own tools and controlling the pace of work

Explanation

Marx held that when workers must sell their labour power and do not own the means of production or the product, their labour becomes an external thing that confronts and dominates them. This separation underlies alienation from the product, from the labour process, and from human species-being.

Question 5Introduction to Sociology

Herbert Spencer compared society to a living body in which different parts perform different functions for the whole. Which term is used for this analogy?

  1. Social mobility
  2. Social organism Correct answer.
  3. Social contract
  4. Social control

Explanation

Spencer's organic analogy treats society as an organism whose institutions, like organs, are interdependent and serve the survival and growth of the whole. This analogy later fed into functionalist thinking in sociology.

Question 6Introduction to Sociology

A researcher studies a village by living in it for a year, participating in daily activities, and recording detailed field notes. Which research approach does this illustrate?

  1. Qualitative fieldwork Correct answer.
  2. Statistical sampling
  3. Experimental design
  4. Survey research

Explanation

Prolonged immersion in a setting with detailed field notes is the hallmark of qualitative fieldwork, often associated with participant observation and ethnography. It aims at depth of understanding rather than numerical generalisation.

Question 7Introduction to Sociology

The sociological imagination, a phrase coined by C. Wright Mills, asks us to connect personal troubles with public issues. Which example best illustrates this connection?

  1. A rise in local unemployment is linked to a plant closure and regional economic change Correct answer.
  2. A person attributes unemployment entirely to his own laziness
  3. One worker's job loss is explained only by his poor interview skills
  4. A student's low marks are explained only by the difficulty of the syllabus

Explanation

Mills argued that personal troubles must be understood in relation to public issues and historical-structural conditions. Linking an individual job loss to a plant closure and wider economic change shows exactly this shift from personal biography to social structure.

Question 8Introduction to Sociology

Sociology is often distinguished from common sense. Which statement best expresses that distinction?

  1. Sociology accepts popular beliefs because they reflect collective experience
  2. Sociology rejects everyday knowledge as completely worthless
  3. Sociology relies on the authority of respected elders rather than data
  4. Sociology tests claims systematically using evidence and explicit method Correct answer.

Explanation

Common sense is unsystematic and often contradictory, whereas sociology subjects claims about society to systematic evidence, transparent method, and critical scrutiny. This does not mean everyday knowledge is worthless; it means sociological claims must be tested.

Question 9Introduction to Sociology

The family, education, religion, and the economy are all studied by sociologists as major institutions. What makes an institution 'social' in the sociological sense?

  1. It is any relationship between two individuals
  2. It is organised around shared norms and roles that meet a recurring social need Correct answer.
  3. It is a building constructed for public use by the state
  4. It is a group formed for a single short-term event

Explanation

A social institution is a relatively stable pattern of norms, roles, and organisations centred on meeting a recurring need of society, such as reproduction or socialisation. Buildings and one-off gatherings do not by themselves constitute institutions.

Question 10Introduction to Sociology

In the study of culture, sociologists distinguish norms from values. Which pairing is correct?

  1. Norms are rules of conduct; values are shared ideals about what is desirable Correct answer.
  2. Norms are laws of the state; values are customs of a family
  3. Norms are material objects; values are non-material beliefs
  4. Norms are abstract ideals; values are specific rules of conduct

Explanation

Values are broad shared conceptions of what is good and desirable, while norms are more specific rules that prescribe or prohibit particular behaviour. Norms are often justified by values, for example a norm of queueing expresses a value of fairness.

Question 11Introduction to Sociology

A sociologist studying a community notes that members share a common language, dress, and food habits. Which term best describes this way of life?

  1. Social structure
  2. Culture Correct answer.
  3. Social stratification
  4. Social mobility

Explanation

Culture refers to the shared way of life of a group, including language, customs, beliefs, and material objects. Language, dress, and food habits are classic markers of a group's culture.

Question 12Introduction to Sociology

In sociology, the process by which individuals learn the norms, values, and skills needed to participate in society is called socialisation. Which statement about socialisation is most accurate?

  1. It occurs only through formal schooling
  2. It is completed entirely in early childhood and never occurs later
  3. It is a lifelong process involving both primary and secondary socialisation Correct answer.
  4. It is purely a biological process of maturation

Explanation

Socialisation begins in the family, where primary socialisation occurs, and continues through school, work, and other settings as secondary socialisation. It is a lifelong process that also includes resocialisation in new roles.

Question 13Introduction to Sociology

Charles Horton Cooley used the phrase 'looking-glass self' to describe how the self develops. What does this concept claim?

  1. We inherit our self-image genetically from our parents
  2. We develop our self-image only through formal education
  3. We form our self-image by imagining how others see and judge us Correct answer.
  4. We build our self-image by comparing our income with others'

Explanation

Cooley argued that the self is a social product formed through the imagined judgements of others: we imagine how we appear, imagine their judgement, and develop a self-feeling such as pride or shame. The 'looking glass' is thus the social mirror of other people's reactions.

Question 14Introduction to Sociology

A student is repeatedly told by teachers that she is 'the studious type', and over time she studies more diligently and comes to see herself as studious. Which concept best describes this outcome?

  1. Social mobility
  2. Labelling and self-concept Correct answer.
  3. Anomie
  4. Cultural lag

Explanation

When others apply a label and the person comes to accept and act on it, the label shapes self-concept and behaviour. This is a central insight of symbolic interactionism, where definitions and expectations help produce the conduct they describe.

Question 15Introduction to Sociology

In symbolic interactionism, a gesture such as a raised hand in class becomes a 'significant symbol'. What makes a symbol significant in Mead's sense?

  1. It is used only by one person in isolation
  2. It is a legal sign enforced by the state
  3. It evokes the same meaning in the person making it and the person responding to it Correct answer.
  4. It is a natural reflex that requires no interpretation

Explanation

For Mead, a significant symbol is one that arouses in the actor the same response it is expected to arouse in the other. This shared meaning allows individuals to take the role of the other and coordinate action.

Question 16Introduction to Sociology

A sociologist argues that the economy shapes family life, while another argues that family values shape economic behaviour. This disagreement is best described as a debate about which issue?

  1. Whether sociology should be value-free
  2. The direction of causal influence between social institutions Correct answer.
  3. Whether culture is material or non-material
  4. Whether quantitative or qualitative methods are better

Explanation

The dispute concerns which institution is causally primary and in which direction influence runs, a recurring theme in sociological theory. It is a question about causal relations among institutions, not about method or values.

Question 17Introduction to Sociology

Which of the following best describes a 'role' in sociological terms, as distinct from a 'status'?

  1. The position a person occupies in a social structure
  2. The movement of a person from one position to another
  3. The expected behaviour attached to a particular position Correct answer.
  4. The amount of prestige a person enjoys in a community

Explanation

A status is a social position, such as student or parent, while a role is the set of expectations about how a person in that position should behave. The two are linked but conceptually distinct.

Question 18Introduction to Sociology

A caste is described in sociology as an ascriptive form of stratification. Which feature is most characteristic of ascription?

  1. Position is fixed at birth and generally cannot be changed Correct answer.
  2. Position depends on the person's current income
  3. Position is achieved through individual effort and competition
  4. Position is determined by examination results

Explanation

Ascription means that a social position is assigned at birth on the basis of attributes such as caste, family, or sex, rather than earned. In caste systems, membership and its associated rank are inherited and traditionally endogamous.

Question 19Introduction to Sociology

A person born into a working-class family becomes a doctor after years of education and training. Which term describes this movement?

  1. Cultural reproduction
  2. Intergenerational mobility Correct answer.
  3. Social control
  4. Ascribed status

Explanation

Intergenerational mobility refers to change in social position between one generation and the next, for example a child moving to a higher class than the parents. Here the comparison is between the doctor's class origin and destination.

Question 20Introduction to Sociology

Durkheim's study of suicide argued that suicide rates reflect social conditions rather than merely individual psychology. Which pattern did he associate with low social integration?

  1. Altruistic suicide
  2. Fatalistic suicide
  3. Egoistic suicide Correct answer.
  4. Anomic suicide

Explanation

Durkheim linked egoistic suicide to weak integration of the individual into society, as in groups where ties are loose and individual autonomy is great. Altruistic suicide, by contrast, arises from excessive integration of the individual into the group.

Question 21Introduction to Sociology

A functionalist analysis of education asks what function schools serve for society as a whole. Which claim is most consistent with that perspective?

  1. Schools exist primarily to discipline bodies in institutional spaces
  2. Schools are arenas where students negotiate meanings with teachers
  3. Schools transmit shared values and allocate people to occupational roles Correct answer.
  4. Schools reproduce class inequality through hidden practices of domination

Explanation

Functionalism treats institutions by their contribution to the maintenance and integration of society. From this view, schools transmit shared norms and values and sort individuals into roles needed by the occupational structure.

Question 22Introduction to Sociology

The 'hidden curriculum' is a concept used in the sociology of education. Which example best illustrates it?

  1. The unstated lessons about punctuality, obedience, and competition learned at school Correct answer.
  2. The published syllabus listing subjects and examination schemes
  3. The list of textbooks prescribed by the education board
  4. The formal rules printed in the school's official handbook

Explanation

The hidden curriculum consists of informal lessons about values, norms, and attitudes that are not part of the official syllabus, such as punctuality, obedience, and competition. These are conveyed through the routines and organisation of schooling.

Question 23Introduction to Sociology

In the study of religion, sociologists distinguish the sacred from the profane. What does the sacred refer to in this distinction?

  1. The organisational hierarchy of a religious body
  2. Beliefs that can be scientifically verified
  3. Objects and practices set apart as extraordinary and treated with reverence Correct answer.
  4. Everyday utilitarian activities and objects of ordinary use

Explanation

Durkheim defined the sacred as things set apart and forbidden, treated with awe and reverence, in contrast with the profane, the realm of ordinary, utilitarian life. The sacred is defined by social attitudes of respect and separation rather than by scientific verification.

Question 24Introduction to Sociology

A sociologist studying a new social movement argues that its members are motivated by shared grievances and by the availability of networks and resources. Which theoretical approach does this most resemble?

  1. The three-stage law of Comte
  2. Resource mobilisation theory Correct answer.
  3. Spencer's organic analogy
  4. Durkheim's typology of suicide

Explanation

Resource mobilisation theory explains social movements by the resources, networks, and organisational capacity that groups can draw on, alongside grievances. It shifts attention from individual discontent to the practical means of collective action.

Question 25Basic Concepts in Sociology

Which sociologist is credited with first using the term 'sociology' to describe the systematic study of society?

  1. Emile Durkheim
  2. Herbert Spencer
  3. Auguste Comte Correct answer.
  4. Max Weber

Explanation

Auguste Comte coined the term sociology in the 1830s to name a new positive science of society, which he arranged at the top of his hierarchy of sciences. The other thinkers developed the discipline later, so the origin of the label belongs to Comte.

Question 26Basic Concepts in Sociology

In sociology, the term 'society' is best understood as:

  1. The total number of persons recorded in a census
  2. A formal organisation registered under a law of the state
  3. A web of social relationships among people sharing a territory and culture Correct answer.
  4. A collection of individuals who happen to live in one city

Explanation

Society refers to the enduring patterns of interaction and relationships that bind people together, usually within a shared territory and culture. A mere aggregate of people or a legal entity does not capture these relational and cultural bonds.

Question 27Basic Concepts in Sociology

A student follows the college rule of wearing an identity card because she believes it is a sensible safety measure. According to the classification of social processes, her conduct is an example of:

  1. Assimilation
  2. Cooperation Correct answer.
  3. Competition
  4. Accommodation

Explanation

Cooperation occurs when individuals work together or conform to shared arrangements for a common purpose they accept as worthwhile. Here the student voluntarily supports a collective norm, which is cooperative in character.

Question 28Basic Concepts in Sociology

Which of the following is an example of a primary group?

  1. An audience gathered at a cricket stadium
  2. A family sharing daily life and affection Correct answer.
  3. A political party's state committee
  4. A large industrial workforce

Explanation

Primary groups are small, face-to-face and marked by intimate, personal ties, of which the family is the classic case. The other examples are large, impersonal or temporary collectivities.

Question 29Basic Concepts in Sociology

A village community's norms are passed to children through stories, rituals and everyday example. This process of transmitting culture is called:

  1. Social stratification
  2. Social mobility
  3. Socialisation Correct answer.
  4. Social control

Explanation

Socialisation is the lifelong process through which individuals learn the norms, values and skills of their society. Stories, rituals and example are agencies of this transmission.

Question 30Basic Concepts in Sociology

Which of the following best describes a social institution?

  1. A group of persons who meet occasionally for recreation
  2. A government scheme for financial assistance
  3. A building constructed for public use
  4. An established pattern of norms and roles organised around a basic social need Correct answer.

Explanation

Institutions are enduring complexes of norms, roles and procedures that fulfil basic needs such as family, education or religion. They are not buildings, occasional gatherings or specific schemes.

Question 31Basic Concepts in Sociology

A person moves from being a clerk to becoming a manager in the same organisation. This is an instance of:

  1. Geographical mobility
  2. Vertical mobility Correct answer.
  3. Intergenerational mobility
  4. Horizontal mobility

Explanation

Vertical mobility is movement upward or downward in the social hierarchy, as in a promotion from clerical to managerial rank. The other forms refer to sideways movement, change across generations, or spatial movement.

Question 32Basic Concepts in Sociology

According to Emile Durkheim, the division of labour in modern industrial society produces which type of solidarity?

  1. Charismatic solidarity
  2. Organic solidarity Correct answer.
  3. Segmentary solidarity
  4. Mechanical solidarity

Explanation

Durkheim argued that in modern societies, occupational interdependence creates organic solidarity, in which specialised parts depend on one another. Mechanical solidarity, by contrast, rests on similarity and shared conscience in simpler societies.

Question 33Basic Concepts in Sociology

'Ascribed status' refers to a position that an individual:

  1. Attains only after formal education
  2. Occupies by birth or inheritance Correct answer.
  3. Acquires through voluntary association
  4. Achieves through effort and competition

Explanation

Ascribed status is assigned at birth or on the basis of attributes such as sex, caste or kinship, independent of individual effort. Achieved status, in contrast, is earned through effort or qualification.

Question 34Basic Concepts in Sociology

Which of the following pairs correctly matches a thinker with a key sociological concept?

  1. Herbert Spencer - class conflict
  2. Max Weber - alienation
  3. Karl Marx - Verstehen
  4. Emile Durkheim - social fact Correct answer.

Explanation

Durkheim defined sociology's subject matter as social facts, external and constraining patterns of behaviour. The other pairings misattribute concepts to the wrong thinkers.

Question 35Basic Concepts in Sociology

A sociologist studies how a family's rituals, roles and authority patterns change over three generations. Which theme of the sociology of family does this study most directly address?

  1. Family as a biological unit
  2. Family as a leisure activity
  3. Family as a changing institution Correct answer.
  4. Family as a legal contract

Explanation

Studying change in rituals, roles and authority across generations treats the family as a social institution that adapts over time. Biological, legal and leisure aspects do not capture this institutional analysis.

Question 36Basic Concepts in Sociology

Which statement correctly distinguishes a 'crowd' from a 'public' in sociological terms?

  1. A crowd is based on kinship, while a public is based on caste
  2. A crowd is dispersed and reflective, while a public is physically gathered
  3. A crowd is physically gathered and temporary, while a public is dispersed and linked by shared communication Correct answer.
  4. A crowd is always formally organised, while a public is always unorganised

Explanation

A crowd consists of people physically present together for a short time, whereas a public is a dispersed body of people connected through communication about a shared issue. This distinction separates temporary physical collectivities from mediated opinion groups.

Question 37Basic Concepts in Sociology

The belief that one's own culture is superior and that other cultures should be judged by its standards is known as:

  1. Cultural lag
  2. Cultural relativism
  3. Ethnocentrism Correct answer.
  4. Cultural diffusion

Explanation

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to evaluate other cultures by the standards of one's own and to regard them as inferior. Cultural relativism, by contrast, requires understanding a culture in its own terms.

Question 38Basic Concepts in Sociology

A new smartphone becomes common in a village within a year, but the local norms about its use in the presence of elders change only gradually. This gap best illustrates:

  1. Cultural pluralism
  2. Cultural relativism
  3. Cultural lag Correct answer.
  4. Cultural assimilation

Explanation

Cultural lag, a term associated with William Ogburn, describes the delay of non-material culture such as norms and values behind rapid material change. The slow adjustment of etiquette to the new device is a textbook instance.

Question 39Basic Concepts in Sociology

Which of the following is a characteristic of a secondary group?

  1. Permanent and total involvement of members
  2. Relations based mainly on kinship
  3. Formal and impersonal interaction Correct answer.
  4. Intimate face-to-face relations

Explanation

Secondary groups are larger, relatively impersonal and organised around specific, often formal, purposes. Intimacy, kinship and total involvement are features of primary groups.

Question 40Basic Concepts in Sociology

In sociological usage, 'social control' refers to:

  1. The means by which a society enforces conformity to its norms Correct answer.
  2. The legal abolition of customary practices
  3. The transfer of authority from one generation to the next
  4. The elimination of all deviance from a society

Explanation

Social control covers the formal and informal mechanisms, such as law, custom, praise and ridicule, through which groups secure conformity. It regulates behaviour rather than eliminating deviance entirely.

Question 41Basic Concepts in Sociology

A child learns the language, food habits and religious practices of her community within her family. Which agency of socialisation does this describe?

  1. Mass media
  2. Family Correct answer.
  3. Workplace
  4. Peer group

Explanation

The family is the primary agency of socialisation, transmitting language, food habits, religion and basic values in early life. Peer groups, media and workplaces exert influence later or in different contexts.

Question 42Basic Concepts in Sociology

Which of the following best explains why sociology is described as a 'science of society'?

  1. It relies exclusively on philosophical speculation about ideal societies
  2. It uses systematic methods of observation and reasoning to study social life Correct answer.
  3. It studies only individual psychological traits
  4. It aims only to reform society through political action

Explanation

Sociology is called a science because it employs systematic observation, comparison and reasoning to arrive at verifiable knowledge about social life. It is not mere speculation, political activism or individual psychology.

Question 43Basic Concepts in Sociology

A person simultaneously occupies the positions of daughter, student, employee and friend. In sociological terms, this set of positions is called:

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

Explanation

A status set is the combination of all the statuses a person holds at a given time. Role conflict and role strain refer to difficulties in performing roles, not to the collection of positions itself.

Question 44Basic Concepts in Sociology

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

  1. Being the elder son in a family
  2. Being a woman in a patriarchal society
  3. Being born into a particular caste
  4. Becoming a doctor after qualifying in medicine Correct answer.

Explanation

Achieved status is a position attained through individual effort, choice or qualification, such as becoming a doctor. Birth-based attributes like caste, sex and birth order are ascribed statuses.

Question 45Basic Concepts in Sociology

A sociologist argues that the caste system in India has been changing because of education, urbanisation and legal measures. This analysis is primarily concerned with:

  1. The linguistic structure of caste names
  2. The geography of caste distribution
  3. Social change in a stratification system Correct answer.
  4. The biological basis of caste

Explanation

Examining how education, urbanisation and law alter a system of social ranking is an analysis of social change within a stratification system. It is not about biology, geography or language.

Question 46Basic Concepts in Sociology

Max Weber's concept of 'Verstehen' requires the sociologist to:

  1. Understand the subjective meanings that actors attach to their actions Correct answer.
  2. Measure social behaviour with statistical formulas only
  3. Reject all interpretation of social action
  4. Apply the methods of physics to social life

Explanation

Verstehen means interpretive understanding of the meanings and motives that individuals attach to their conduct. It complements, rather than replaces, causal explanation in Weber's methodology.

Question 47Basic Concepts in Sociology

Durkheim's study of suicide argued that suicide rates are influenced by social integration and regulation. Which conclusion follows from this argument?

  1. Suicide rates are shaped by the condition of society, not only by personal motives Correct answer.
  2. Suicide is purely an individual psychological phenomenon
  3. Suicide rates are identical in every society
  4. Suicide is caused only by economic deprivation

Explanation

Durkheim treated suicide rates as social facts whose variation reflects levels of social integration and regulation. This shows that collective social conditions shape rates even though individual motives vary.

Question 48Basic Concepts in Sociology

A community resists a proposed highway that would displace its residents, and after negotiations the authorities agree to compensation and a modified route. This outcome best illustrates:

  1. Accommodation Correct answer.
  2. Assimilation
  3. Segregation
  4. Amalgamation

Explanation

Accommodation is the process by which conflicting parties adjust to each other through negotiation and mutual concession, as with the modified route and compensation. Assimilation and amalgamation involve merging, while segregation means separation.

Question 49Social Institutions

In the sociological study of institutions, which term refers to the pattern of expected behaviour attached to a person's position in a group?

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

Explanation

A role is the dynamic, behavioural side of a position: it is what a person is expected to do while occupying that position. Status names the position itself, whereas norms and values are broader standards of conduct and ideals.

Question 50Social Institutions

A family consisting of a married couple and their unmarried children living in one household is described in sociology as which type of family?

  1. Nuclear family Correct answer.
  2. Extended family
  3. Joint family
  4. Consanguineous family

Explanation

The nuclear family is defined by a couple and their dependent children forming a single household unit. A joint or extended family adds other relatives such as grandparents, married sons or cousins to the same household.