I85PREP
⌘ K
UPMSP Intermediate Sociology study materials
UPMSP Intermediate Sociology study resources

UPMSP Intermediate Sociology practice questions

One question at a time. Build your UPMSP Intermediate Sociology understanding.

First 50 of 200 questions. Each one lists the choices, the correct answer, and an explanation. The checker at the top of this page saves progress in this browser when it is available.

Continue in the practice tool above to load more questions, 50 at a time.

Question 1Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

According to Census 2011, the population of India was approximately

  1. 1.02 billion
  2. 1.21 billion Correct answer.
  3. 1.44 billion
  4. 0.84 billion

Explanation

Census 2011 recorded India's population at about 1.21 billion, or roughly 1,210.8 million people. This figure is the standard baseline used in Indian sociology and demography for discussing population size, growth and composition.

Question 2Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

As per Census 2011, India's sex ratio stood at how many females per 1,000 males?

  1. 943 Correct answer.
  2. 927
  3. 933
  4. 960

Explanation

Census 2011 reported a sex ratio of 943 females per 1,000 males for India as a whole, an improvement from 933 in 2001. The sex ratio is a key demographic indicator of gender balance and varies considerably across states and between rural and urban areas.

Question 3Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

A Hindu family forbids its members from marrying within the same gotra. Sociologically, this rule illustrates

  1. endogamy
  2. exogamy Correct answer.
  3. hypergamy
  4. polygyny

Explanation

Exogamy is the rule that a person must marry outside a specified social group, and gotra exogamy requires marrying outside one's patrilineal clan. Endogamy works in the opposite direction by requiring marriage within a group such as caste or sub-caste.

Question 4Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

Which statement correctly distinguishes varna from jati in the Indian social structure?

  1. Varna and jati are identical terms and sociologists use them interchangeably.
  2. Varna is a local endogamous birth-group, while jati is the fourfold textual order.
  3. Varna is a pan-Indian textual order; jati denotes local endogamous groups. Correct answer.
  4. Varna refers only to tribal communities, while jati refers only to urban caste groups.

Explanation

Varna refers to the fourfold textual classification of Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, while jati refers to the many local, endogamous birth-groups found in practice. The two are related but not identical, and sociologists treat jati as the operative unit of caste in everyday life.

Question 5Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

Which feature is most characteristic of the traditional Hindu joint family?

  1. Bilateral descent and inheritance
  2. Neolocal residence after marriage
  3. Common property and a shared kitchen Correct answer.
  4. Marriage decided by the individual alone

Explanation

The traditional Hindu joint family is characterised by patrilineal descent, common residence, a shared kitchen and common property under a patriarchal head. Members typically live together across two or more generations and pool economic resources.

Question 6Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

In demography, India's 'demographic dividend' refers to

  1. a rise in the number of dependants relative to working-age people
  2. the migration of Indian workers to the Gulf countries for jobs
  3. the surplus of foodgrain produced after the Green Revolution
  4. economic gain from a rising working-age share relative to dependants Correct answer.

Explanation

The demographic dividend is the potential economic boost that occurs when the working-age population grows faster than the dependent population, lowering the dependency ratio. India's large youth population is often described in these terms, though the gain depends on education, health and employment opportunities.

Question 7Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

According to Census 2011, which community is the second largest religious group in India, and what is its approximate share?

  1. Christians, about 2.3%
  2. Buddhists, about 0.7%
  3. Sikhs, about 1.7%
  4. Muslims, about 14.2% Correct answer.

Explanation

Census 2011 recorded Hindus at about 79.8 per cent and Muslims at about 14.2 per cent of the population, making Muslims the largest religious minority. Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains follow with much smaller shares.

Question 8Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India presently recognises how many languages?

  1. 25
  2. 22 Correct answer.
  3. 18
  4. 14

Explanation

The Eighth Schedule currently lists 22 languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Sindhi was added in 1967, and Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali were added in 2003.

Question 9Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

In M. N. Srinivas's analysis, which caste in a village is called 'dominant'?

  1. The caste that is officially listed as a Scheduled Caste
  2. The caste with the highest ritual rank, regardless of wealth
  3. The caste that has produced the most government officials
  4. The caste combining numbers, land and local political power Correct answer.

Explanation

Srinivas coined the term 'dominant caste' to describe a caste that is numerically strong, owns most land and wields decisive local political power, even if it is not the highest in ritual rank. The concept shows that caste dominance rests on multiple resources, not only ritual purity.

Question 10Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

Census 2011 shows that about 68.8 per cent of Indians live in villages. Which conclusion follows most directly from this figure?

  1. India remained a predominantly rural society in 2011. Correct answer.
  2. India's urban population has declined since 2001.
  3. Rural-to-urban migration had stopped by 2011.
  4. Agriculture employs exactly 68.8 per cent of the workforce.

Explanation

Census 2011 recorded 68.8 per cent of the population as rural and 31.2 per cent as urban, so India remained predominantly rural despite rapid urban growth. The figure does not show that the urban population declined, that agriculture employs exactly that share, or that migration stopped.

Question 11Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

In the theory of demographic transition, the first (pre-transitional) stage of a population is marked by which combination of vital rates?

  1. High birth rate together with low death rate
  2. Low birth rate together with low death rate
  3. Low birth rate together with high death rate
  4. High birth rate together with high death rate Correct answer.

Explanation

In the first stage both fertility and mortality are high, so the population grows only slowly and life expectancy is short. The second stage begins when the death rate falls while the birth rate stays high, which produces the rapid growth India experienced during the twentieth century. Low birth and low death rates together belong to the late or post-transitional stage.

Question 12Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

According to Census 2011, the effective literacy rate of India for the population aged seven years and above was approximately

  1. 91 per cent
  2. 82 per cent
  3. 64 per cent
  4. 74 per cent Correct answer.

Explanation

Census 2011 recorded an effective literacy rate of about 74 per cent for persons aged seven and above, with male literacy near 82 per cent and female literacy near 65 per cent. Literacy is calculated only for the seven-plus population, which is why the figure differs from crude literacy rates for the whole population. The gap between male and female literacy remains a standard indicator of gender inequality in Indian society.

Question 13Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

As per Census 2011, the proportion of India's population living in urban areas was about

  1. 11 per cent
  2. 51 per cent
  3. 31 per cent Correct answer.
  4. 21 per cent

Explanation

Census 2011 classified roughly 31 per cent of Indians as urban, which still left about 69 per cent in villages. The urban share has risen steadily since independence but India remains a predominantly rural society in demographic terms. This balance between rural and urban population underlies much of the sociological discussion of migration and social change.

Question 14Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

In the traditional jajmani system of an Indian village, the household that receives goods and services from hereditary occupational specialists and gives them grain or other payments in return is called the

  1. jajman Correct answer.
  2. balutedar
  3. kamin
  4. zamindar

Explanation

In the jajmani arrangement the patron household, usually a landholding family, is termed the jajman, while the servicing families of priests, barbers, carpenters, potters and washermen are the kamins. The relationship is hereditary and binds specific families to one another across generations, giving the village economy its characteristic interdependence. Sociologists treat this system as a form of caste-based occupational exchange rather than a purely market transaction.

Question 15Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

M. N. Srinivas used the term 'sanskritisation' to describe

  1. a lower caste adopting upper-caste customs to claim higher status Correct answer.
  2. the movement of upper-caste families from villages to towns for education and jobs
  3. the replacement of hereditary caste panchayats by elected statutory village courts
  4. the legal abolition of caste discrimination through constitutional safeguards

Explanation

Sanskritisation refers to the process in which a caste placed low in the local hierarchy adopts the rituals, diet, dress and customs of a higher caste in order to improve its position over time. It is a form of social mobility that works within the caste system rather than against it, because the aspiring group claims a higher rank rather than rejecting hierarchy itself. Srinivas distinguished it from westernisation, which involves the adoption of Western ideas and institutions.

Question 16Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

A group of Dalit labourers in a village is stopped from drawing water from the common well on the plea that they would pollute it. Which constitutional provision is most directly directed against this practice?

  1. Article 356, which deals with the failure of constitutional machinery in a State
  2. Article 17, which abolishes untouchability in any form Correct answer.
  3. Article 46, which directs the State to promote the interests of Scheduled Castes
  4. Article 15(4), which permits special arrangements for backward classes

Explanation

Article 17 abolishes untouchability and forbids its practice in any form, and the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 provides for its punishment. Denial of access to a public well on the ground of pollution is a textbook instance of untouchability, which is why Article 17 is the directly relevant provision. The other articles mentioned deal with advancement of backward classes or with emergencies, not with the prohibition of untouchability.

Question 17Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

A country's population is distributed as follows: 0-14 years, 30 per cent; 15-59 years, 62 per cent; 60 years and above, 8 per cent. Its dependency ratio is approximately

  1. 38 per cent
  2. 48 per cent
  3. 82 per cent
  4. 61 per cent Correct answer.

Explanation

The dependency ratio expresses the non-working population as a percentage of the working-age population, here (30 + 8) divided by 62, multiplied by 100, which gives about 61 per cent. In other words, every 100 persons of working age carry roughly 61 dependents. A falling dependency ratio of this kind is what underlies discussion of India's demographic dividend.

Question 18Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

Which of the following is the standard sociological criterion that separates a tribe from a caste in India?

  1. An occupational guild recognised and regulated by the state
  2. A territorial community with a shared language, customs and common descent Correct answer.
  3. A ranked hierarchy of endogamous groups ordered by purity and pollution
  4. A class of landowners who employ labourers on daily wages

Explanation

Tribes are conventionally described as territorial communities claiming common descent, with their own language, customs and political organisation, and they are not arranged against one another in a single ritual hierarchy. Caste society, by contrast, is built on graded inequality expressed through ideas of purity and pollution. This is why tribal groups are treated as distinct from caste groups in the constitutional schedules as well as in sociological writing.

Question 19Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

A man born into a Scheduled Caste family becomes a senior civil servant and settles in a metropolitan city. Which statement best captures what his career shows about the relation between caste and class in India?

  1. Class position can change while caste remains an ascribed identity Correct answer.
  2. Caste and class are identical because both are inherited at birth
  3. Upward class mobility automatically ends all experience of caste discrimination
  4. Class has fully replaced caste as the basis of social stratification

Explanation

Caste is an ascribed status fixed at birth, whereas class position is achieved and can move upwards through education and occupation. The example shows that the two dimensions are related but not identical: a person's class location may change substantially while caste identity and the possibility of caste prejudice persist. Sociologists therefore study caste and class as overlapping but analytically distinct forms of stratification.

Question 20Introducing Indian Society: structure and demographic profile

The Census of India treats a settlement as a 'census town' when, besides being outside the statutory urban bodies, it meets which combination of conditions?

  1. Population of 5,000 or more, density of 400 per sq km, and majority of workers in agricultural work
  2. Population of 2,000 or more, density of 200 per sq km, and 50 per cent of male main workers in non-agricultural work
  3. Population of 5,000 or more, density of 400 per sq km, and 75 per cent of male main workers in non-agricultural work Correct answer.
  4. Population of 10,000 or more, density of 1,000 per sq km, and 90 per cent of male main workers in non-agricultural work

Explanation

A settlement that is not a statutory town becomes a census town only if it has at least 5,000 inhabitants, a density of at least 400 persons per square kilometre, and at least three-fourths of its male main workers engaged in non-agricultural pursuits. The three tests together identify places that are functionally urban even though they have no municipal body. Since 2011 the number of census towns has grown sharply, which explains why India's measured urbanisation is sensitive to how towns are defined.

Question 21Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In the classical four-fold varna scheme of Hindu society, which sequence lists the varnas in descending order of ritual status?

  1. Vaishya, Brahmin, Kshatriya, Shudra
  2. Brahmin, Vaishya, Kshatriya, Shudra
  3. Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra Correct answer.
  4. Kshatriya, Brahmin, Vaishya, Shudra

Explanation

The textual varna order places the Brahmin (priest and scholar) at the top, followed by the Kshatriya (ruler and warrior), the Vaishya (trader and cultivator) and the Shudra (service) at the bottom. This four-fold model is an ideal-typical textual hierarchy and must be distinguished from the many endogamous jatis found on the ground.

Question 22Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In Indian sociology, which combination of features is most commonly used to define a tribe?

  1. A universal practice of dowry regulated by caste councils
  2. Membership acquired only through Vedic initiation rites
  3. Shared descent, a common territory and a distinct dialect Correct answer.
  4. Ranked occupational groups with hereditary ritual status

Explanation

Tribes are generally identified by common descent, a shared territory, a distinct dialect and relatively communal ownership of resources, with social life organised mainly through kinship rather than caste ranking. These features together distinguish tribal communities from caste society in the sociological literature.

Question 23Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

A newly married couple goes to live in the household of the groom's father. This rule of residence is called:

  1. avunculocal
  2. patrilocal Correct answer.
  3. matrilocal
  4. neolocal

Explanation

Patrilocal, also called virilocal, residence means the couple settles with or near the husband's parents, which is the most widespread pattern among North Indian caste communities. Matrilocal residence places the couple near the wife's parents, neolocal residence means a separate new household, and avunculocal residence means living with the husband's maternal uncle.

Question 24Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In many parts of South India a man is expected to marry his mother's brother's daughter. Sociologically this form is classified as:

  1. sororate
  2. cross-cousin marriage Correct answer.
  3. parallel-cousin marriage
  4. levirate

Explanation

Marriage between the children of a brother and a sister is cross-cousin marriage, and it is permitted and often preferred in many South Indian castes. The mother's brother's daughter is a cross-cousin, whereas the children of two sisters or of two brothers are parallel cousins, whose marriage is generally prohibited.

Question 25Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

A family belonging to a low-ranking caste gives up meat and alcohol, adopts vegetarian food and begins worshipping a deity favoured by high castes. M. N. Srinivas used which term for this kind of status mobility?

  1. Tribalisation
  2. Sanskritisation Correct answer.
  3. Westernisation
  4. Dominant caste formation

Explanation

Sanskritisation is Srinivas's term for the process by which a low or middle caste adopts the rituals, diet, dress, deities and customs of a higher caste in order to claim a higher ritual status. The change is typically in ritual and lifestyle practices and need not be accompanied by any real gain in economic or political power.

Question 26Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Where the mother's sister is addressed by the same term as the mother, and all men of the father's generation by the same term as the father, the kinship terminology is described as:

  1. descriptive
  2. affinal
  3. classificatory Correct answer.
  4. bilateral

Explanation

In classificatory terminology a single term covers a whole category of relatives, so that several aunts are 'mother' and several uncles are 'father'. Descriptive terminology, by contrast, gives a separate term to each distinct relative. Most Indian kinship systems are heavily classificatory.

Question 27Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Which of the following is the most widely noted effect of urbanisation on the Indian family?

  1. The complete disappearance of the dowry system
  2. The replacement of kinship by caste in urban social life
  3. A return to large joint households within cities
  4. A rise in nuclear households and a narrowing of the family's economic functions Correct answer.

Explanation

Urbanisation and industrialisation are associated with a shift from joint to nuclear households, greater occupational mobility, and the transfer of many earlier family functions such as production, schooling and care to factories, schools and state agencies. The joint family does not vanish, but it is no longer the typical urban household form.

Question 28Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

A caste that is not the highest in ritual rank but owns most of the land and controls local labour and village politics is best described by Srinivas's concept of:

  1. the reference group
  2. the scheduled caste
  3. the twice-born varna
  4. the dominant caste Correct answer.

Explanation

Srinivas used 'dominant caste' for a caste that, whatever its ritual rank, holds the bulk of the land and therefore commands local economic and political power, setting the terms of village life for others. Ritual precedence and practical dominance may thus belong to different castes in the same village.

Question 29Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

The Government of India replaced the category 'Primitive Tribal Groups' with 'Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups' (PVTGs) mainly because:

  1. these communities had by then been fully assimilated into the surrounding caste society
  2. the category was merged with the list of Other Backward Classes for reservation purposes
  3. the Constitution had withdrawn all educational and land safeguards earlier granted to them
  4. the word 'primitive' was seen as pejorative, and special provisions were retained Correct answer.

Explanation

The category, created during the Fifth Five Year Plan for groups with pre-agricultural technology, very low literacy and declining population, was renamed in 2006 because 'primitive' was regarded as pejorative. The special development provisions for these groups continued under the new label, so the change was one of nomenclature and dignity rather than of policy substance.

Question 30Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Among many adivasi communities of central India, the groom's family makes a customary transfer to the bride's family at marriage. This transfer is known as:

  1. mehr
  2. dowry
  3. bride price Correct answer.
  4. stridhan

Explanation

Bride price, also called bride wealth, is a transfer from the groom's kin to the bride's kin and is common in many tribal and some lower-caste communities. It serves to legitimise the marriage and to compensate the bride's family, in contrast to dowry, which moves in the opposite direction.

Question 31Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In the sociological analysis of the caste system, which feature is regarded as its most fundamental and defining characteristic?

  1. Endogamy practised within the caste group Correct answer.
  2. Residence in a single village
  3. Occupational choice left entirely to individual merit
  4. Membership gained through personal achievement

Explanation

Caste is above all a closed, hereditary group, and the rule that members must marry within it is what reproduces the group across generations. Occupation, rank and customs may change, but caste endogamy has persisted even where other restrictions have weakened. This is why sociologists treat endogamy, rather than occupation or residence, as the core marker of caste.

Question 32Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

A child is born into the father's lineage and inherits the family name and ancestral property through the male line. Which rule of descent does this describe?

  1. Double descent
  2. Patrilineal descent Correct answer.
  3. Cognatic descent
  4. Matrilineal descent

Explanation

Patrilineal descent traces membership of the lineage, clan name and rights of inheritance through the father's line. Most caste-Hindu communities in India are patrilineal. Matrilineal and cognatic rules track the mother's line or both lines respectively, so they do not fit this description.

Question 33Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

A woman is simultaneously married to two or more brothers, a practice once reported among communities such as the Toda. This form of marriage is called:

  1. Group marriage
  2. Fraternal polyandry Correct answer.
  3. Levirate
  4. Sororal polygyny

Explanation

Polyandry is marriage of one woman to more than one man; when the husbands are brothers it is specifically called fraternal or adelphic polyandry. The Toda of the Nilgiris and some Himalayan communities are the classic Indian examples. Polygyny, by contrast, is one man with several wives.

Question 34Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

The argument that caste hierarchy rests on a shared ideology of purity and pollution, expressed in the opposition of the pure and the impure, is associated with:

  1. Louis Dumont Correct answer.
  2. M. N. Srinivas
  3. B. R. Ambedkar
  4. André Béteille

Explanation

Louis Dumont's study of the caste system made the pure–impure opposition the ideological foundation of hierarchy, with the Brahmin at the pure pole and the untouchable at the impure pole. Srinivas is known for sanskritisation and the dominant caste, not for this thesis. Ambedkar analysed caste through the practice of endogamy and the critique of graded inequality.

Question 35Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In Indian sociology, the notion of a 'tribe–caste continuum' is used to describe:

  1. Complete isolation of tribes from neighbouring caste society
  2. Legal deletion of a tribe from the Scheduled Tribe list
  3. Gradual absorption of tribal groups into local caste hierarchies Correct answer.
  4. Migration of caste groups into tribal areas in search of forest produce

Explanation

The concept points to an unbroken range of social forms between fully tribal and fully caste societies, as tribal groups take up caste occupations, adopt Hindu practices and are ranked within local caste hierarchies. It rejects the older picture of tribes as isolated survivals untouched by surrounding society. The movement is typically from tribe towards caste, not the reverse.

Question 36Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Among the Khasi of Meghalaya, which statement correctly describes the matrilineal system?

  1. Property is divided equally among sons only
  2. The father's lineage decides the clan name of the children
  3. Descent, clan membership and inheritance pass through the mother's line Correct answer.
  4. Marriage is patrilocal and the bride joins the husband's clan

Explanation

In Khasi society children belong to the mother's clan, the clan name and ancestral property pass through the female line, and the youngest daughter usually inherits the family house. Matriliny, however, is not matriarchy: public authority and the role of the maternal uncle remain important. This distinguishes it sharply from the patrilineal pattern common among caste-Hindu communities.

Question 37Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Which statement accurately contrasts the traditional conception of Hindu marriage with that of Muslim marriage under classical personal law?

  1. Hindu marriage is a sacrament, while Muslim marriage is a contract Correct answer.
  2. Both are purely civil contracts, dissolvable at will
  3. Hindu marriage is a contract, while Muslim marriage is a sacrament
  4. Both are sacraments that can never be dissolved

Explanation

Traditional Hindu marriage is described as a samskara or sacred rite, indissoluble in principle and involving the giving of the bride. Classical Muslim marriage is a nikah, a civil contract that requires offer and acceptance and allows divorce. The two models therefore rest on different foundations, sacred duty in one case and contractual agreement in the other.

Question 38Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

The jajmani system in Indian villages is best described as:

  1. A form of caste-based reservation in local employment
  2. A system of elected village councils
  3. A land revenue settlement introduced by the British
  4. A hereditary patron–client exchange between caste groups Correct answer.

Explanation

Jajmani refers to hereditary, caste-linked economic ties in which service castes such as barbers, potters and washermen served landowning patron households and received grain or other payments in return. These ties were hierarchical and tied to caste rank and landholding. The system weakened with marketisation, migration and the growth of alternative occupations.

Question 39Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Which statement best distinguishes caste from class as a form of social stratification?

  1. Both caste and class ultimately rest on ritual purity
  2. Caste groups are always wealthier than class groups
  3. Caste is achieved and open, whereas class is ascribed and closed
  4. Caste is ascribed and closed, whereas class is achieved and open Correct answer.

Explanation

Caste is a hereditary, endogamous and ritually ranked order into which a person is born, so it is ascribed and relatively closed. Class position depends largely on income, occupation and education, can in principle change, and does not carry ritual ranking. Sociologists also note that caste and class frequently intersect, for example when higher castes enjoy better access to education and jobs.

Question 40Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Under the Indian Constitution, a community is legally recognised as a Scheduled Tribe when:

  1. It is declared a tribe by a resolution of the Gram Panchayat
  2. It is recorded as such in the census through self-declaration
  3. It is included in the list notified by the President for a state Correct answer.
  4. It is recommended by the National Commission for Women

Explanation

Article 342 empowers the President to specify, by public notification, the tribes or tribal communities deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to a state. The list is state-specific and can be changed only by an Act of Parliament. Self-declaration, local bodies and commissions cannot by themselves confer Scheduled Tribe status.

Question 41Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

A clan whose members trace descent from a common ancestor forbids marriage between any two of its members. The rule that a person must therefore marry outside his or her own clan is an example of:

  1. Monogamy
  2. Endogamy
  3. Hypergamy
  4. Exogamy Correct answer.

Explanation

Exogamy is the rule that a person must marry outside a defined kin group such as a clan or gotra, and the gotra rule is the classic Indian example. It is one of the two boundary rules - the other being endogamy - through which Indian kinship regulates whom a person may wed.

Question 42Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Kinship ties that arise through marriage rather than through descent from a common ancestor are called:

  1. Fictive kin
  2. Affinal kin Correct answer.
  3. Bilateral kin
  4. Consanguineal kin

Explanation

Affinal kin are relatives created by the marriage bond, such as a spouse's parents, brothers and sisters. Consanguineal kin, by contrast, are relatives connected by blood or descent, and the two categories together make up the kin universe of most societies.

Question 43Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

A custom under which a widow is expected to marry her deceased husband's younger brother is known as:

  1. Levirate Correct answer.
  2. Polyandry
  3. Sororate
  4. Cross-cousin marriage

Explanation

Levirate is the custom that a widow marries a brother of her dead husband, keeping her within the husband's family and lineage. It is often paired with sororate, where a widower marries his dead wife's sister, and both are ways of maintaining the marriage alliance between two groups.

Question 44Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In much of traditional India a marriage was approved when the groom's caste rank was equal to or slightly above the bride's, while a bride marrying a man of lower rank was strongly condemned. This one-sided pattern is called:

  1. Isogamy
  2. Endogamy
  3. Hypergamy Correct answer.
  4. Hypogamy

Explanation

Hypergamy is marriage in which the wife's status is lower than the husband's, so that the woman effectively marries upwards; it was widely permitted inside the endogamous boundary of caste. The reverse pattern, in which the wife outranks the husband, is hypogamy and was traditionally the more strongly censured of the two.

Question 45Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In sociological usage, which set of features is used to identify a joint family in India?

  1. A common surname and joint ownership of agricultural land vested in the eldest male
  2. A common residence, a common kitchen, common property and a common family deity Correct answer.
  3. A household headed by the eldest male in which each married son keeps a separate kitchen
  4. Consanguineal ties among members, irrespective of their residence or property

Explanation

The Indian joint family is conventionally identified by the combination of common residence, a common hearth or kitchen, common property, and shared ritual obligations such as a common family deity. No single criterion is sufficient; it is the co-presence of these features that distinguishes the joint family from other household forms.

Question 46Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

A group of families is prevented from entering a village temple because of their caste. Which constitutional provision is most directly aimed at abolishing this practice?

  1. Article 341, which empowers the President to specify the castes to be treated as Scheduled Castes
  2. Article 46, a directive principle directing the State to promote the welfare of Scheduled Castes
  3. Article 17, which abolishes untouchability and makes its practice an offence Correct answer.
  4. Article 15(4), which permits special provision for socially and educationally backward classes

Explanation

Article 17 abolishes untouchability in any form and makes its practice punishable by law, which is why enforced exclusion from a temple or other public space on caste grounds falls squarely under it. The other provisions listed deal with protective quotas, policy directives and the legal listing of castes rather than with the abolition of untouchability itself.

Question 47Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

Among many adivasi communities a clan treats a particular animal or plant as its founding ancestor and forbids its members to kill or eat it. This practice is known as:

  1. Fetishism
  2. Animism
  3. Ancestor worship
  4. Totemism Correct answer.

Explanation

Totemism is the organisation of clans around a natural species or object treated as an ancestral emblem that must be respected and normally not consumed. It is a common feature of tribal religion in central and eastern India and also serves to mark clan exogamy, since members of the same totem may not marry.

Question 48Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

M. N. Srinivas distinguished the vertical from the horizontal dimension of caste. Which statement correctly captures that distinction?

  1. Vertical refers to service ties between castes within a village, while horizontal refers to a caste's ties with its own members across villages. Correct answer.
  2. Both terms describe caste endogamy, viewed at the village level and the regional level respectively.
  3. Vertical refers to caste associations across villages, while horizontal refers to jajmani ties inside a single village.
  4. Vertical refers to the varna hierarchy, while horizontal refers to the rules of purity and pollution.

Explanation

For Srinivas, vertical solidarity is the interdependence of castes ranked by service and patron–client relations inside a village, whereas horizontal solidarity is the bond of a single caste with its own members spread across villages, expressed for example in caste associations and caste panchayats. The two dimensions pull in different directions and together explain both caste unity and caste competition in modern India.

Question 49Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In the traditional matrilineal system of the Nayar of Kerala, which statement is correct?

  1. The couple set up a neolocal household, and property was divided equally among sons and daughters
  2. The husband moved into the wife's household, became its head and controlled the taravad property
  3. Descent passed through the father, and the eldest son inherited the taravad from his father
  4. Descent and property passed through the female line, and the husband was a visiting spouse with little authority over the wife's children Correct answer.

Explanation

The Nayar taravad was a matrilineal joint household in which descent, residence and property rights ran through women, and a woman's brother rather than her husband exercised authority over her children. The husband's role was that of a visiting spouse, so the system combined matriliny with a very limited conjugal household.

Question 50Social institutions: caste, tribe, family, marriage and kinship

In the sociology of marriage, dowry is best understood as:

  1. A purely religious ritual offering that carries no economic content
  2. A transfer from the bride's family to the groom's, understood as the daughter's share of family wealth and as status competition Correct answer.
  3. A payment by the groom's family to compensate the bride's family for the loss of a worker
  4. A voluntary gift with no social expectation attached, given out of affection for the bride

Explanation

Sociologists read dowry both as a form of pre-mortem inheritance, in which a daughter receives her share of family wealth at marriage, and as a field of status competition between families that inflates the amounts demanded. This dual character explains why dowry persists and even grows among propertied and upwardly mobile groups despite being legally prohibited.