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WBCHSE HS Sociology study materials
WBCHSE HS Sociology study resources

WBCHSE HS Sociology practice questions

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Question 1Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Auguste Comte coined the term 'sociology' and placed it at the summit of a hierarchy of sciences. What did he call the final, most complex stage of this hierarchy?

  1. Economic science of production
  2. Theological doctrine of providence
  3. Metaphysical philosophy of history
  4. Positive science of society Correct answer.

Explanation

Comte arranged the sciences in order of increasing complexity, moving from mathematics and astronomy through biology to the study of society. He named this most complex and most dependent level the positive science of society, which he also called sociology. The word 'positive' refers to knowledge based on observation and reason rather than speculation.

Question 2Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

In the classification of the social sciences, which feature is most commonly used to distinguish sociology from political science?

  1. The study of human beings living in groups
  2. The concern with the causes of social change
  3. The focus on the distribution and exercise of power and authority Correct answer.
  4. The use of systematic observation and comparison

Explanation

Sociology and political science share methods and often share subject matter, so the clearest distinction lies in the central organising concern of each discipline. Political science concentrates on power, authority, governance and the state. Sociology studies social relationships and institutions more broadly, including power but not as its defining focus.

Question 3Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

A scholar argues that sociology should be treated as a 'residual' or 'leftover' discipline that studies whatever the other social sciences leave unexamined. What is the main weakness of this view?

  1. It overstates the role of statistics in sociological research
  2. It claims that sociology is older than all the other social sciences
  3. It denies that sociologists ever study institutions such as the family
  4. It ignores the fact that sociology has its own distinctive perspective on all social relations Correct answer.

Explanation

The residual view treats sociology as a collection of topics abandoned by other disciplines, which misrepresents its character. Sociology is defined by a distinctive perspective, the study of social relationships and institutions as an interconnected whole, not by a leftover subject matter. It therefore examines the same institutions that economics, politics or law examine, but from a relational and holistic standpoint.

Question 4Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which statement best describes the relationship between sociology and history as social sciences?

  1. History studies the past and sociology studies only the present, so they never overlap
  2. Both study human society, but history focuses on the sequence of past events while sociology seeks general patterns and comparisons Correct answer.
  3. Sociology supplies the facts and history supplies the theories
  4. History is a natural science while sociology is a social science

Explanation

History and sociology both deal with human society, and each borrows from the other: historians use sociological concepts, and sociologists use historical material. They differ in emphasis, since history reconstructs particular events in their temporal sequence while sociology looks for recurrent patterns, generalisations and comparisons. Neither discipline is confined to a single time period.

Question 5Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

The 'sociological imagination', a phrase associated with C. Wright Mills, refers most precisely to which capacity?

  1. The ability to compare societies using economic indicators alone
  2. The ability to connect personal troubles with public issues and wider social structures Correct answer.
  3. The ability to collect survey data without sampling error
  4. The ability to predict individual behaviour using psychological tests

Explanation

Mills used the phrase to describe a quality of mind that links biography with history and personal troubles with public issues. It enables the analyst to see how individual experiences are shaped by social structure and by changes in society. This is why the perspective is regarded as the core of sociological thinking rather than a research technique.

Question 6Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which of the following best explains why sociology is described as a 'generalising' science rather than a purely 'individualising' one?

  1. It refuses to study unique historical events
  2. It treats every society as identical in structure
  3. It relies only on qualitative interviews
  4. It aims to formulate statements about recurring social relationships and institutions that hold beyond a single case Correct answer.

Explanation

A generalising science seeks regularities and patterns that can be stated beyond a single instance, and sociology aims at such statements about social relationships, institutions and change. It does not deny the uniqueness of particular events; it looks for what recurs across cases. Generalisation therefore concerns the form of its propositions, not a claim that all societies are the same.

Question 7Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which pair correctly matches a social science with its central concern?

  1. Economics - the study of kinship and marriage systems
  2. Anthropology - the study of the state and public administration
  3. Psychology - the study of individual mental processes and behaviour Correct answer.
  4. Political science - the study of the allocation of scarce resources through markets

Explanation

Psychology is concerned with the mental processes, emotions and behaviour of the individual, which is why it is often described as an individual-centred discipline. Sociology shares its interest in human behaviour but studies it in social context. Matching each discipline to its core concern helps clarify how the social sciences divide their labour.

Question 8Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

A researcher studies how a village's caste relations shape its patterns of land ownership and political representation. Which justification best explains why this is a sociological rather than a purely economic study?

  1. It uses only qualitative data
  2. It examines how a social institution and social relationships shape economic and political arrangements together Correct answer.
  3. It was conducted by a sociologist rather than an economist
  4. It studies a village rather than a nation

Explanation

Sociology is distinguished by its holistic and relational perspective, examining how institutions such as caste, economy and polity interlock. The study above treats land ownership and representation as embedded in social relationships rather than as isolated economic variables. The identity of the researcher or the scale of the setting does not by itself determine the discipline.

Question 9Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which statement correctly captures the relationship between sociology and social psychology?

  1. Both study the interaction between the individual and society, but social psychology focuses more on individual behaviour in social situations Correct answer.
  2. The two disciplines have no shared concepts or methods
  3. Social psychology is a branch of the natural sciences and has no link with sociology
  4. Social psychology studies only group-level institutions, while sociology studies only individual attitudes

Explanation

Social psychology examines how individual thoughts, feelings and behaviour are influenced by others, while sociology examines social structures and collective life. Their fields overlap in the study of interaction, attitudes and group influence. The distinction is one of emphasis rather than of mutually exclusive subject matter.

Question 10Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which of the following is the strongest reason for saying that sociology is a science, despite studying human beings?

  1. It produces exact predictions that are always confirmed
  2. It can conduct controlled laboratory experiments on whole societies
  3. It relies on the personal intuition of the researcher
  4. It uses systematic methods of observation, comparison and verification to build testable knowledge Correct answer.

Explanation

The scientific character of a discipline rests on its methods and its commitment to evidence rather than on the certainty of its predictions. Sociology uses systematic observation, comparison, statistical analysis and verifiable evidence to test propositions about social life. Its findings are provisional and open to revision, as in any empirical science.

Question 11Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which feature of human behaviour creates the main methodological difficulty for sociology compared with the natural sciences?

  1. Human behaviour cannot be counted or measured
  2. Societies never change over time
  3. Social facts are entirely independent of human meanings
  4. Human beings interpret their own actions and can change their behaviour in response to being studied Correct answer.

Explanation

People give meanings to their actions and may react to research by altering their behaviour, which introduces reflexivity and reactivity into sociological inquiry. This is why sociology cannot simply copy the methods of physics and must interpret meanings as well as measure behaviour. The difficulty concerns meaning and reactivity, not an absence of measurable data.

Question 12Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Anthropology and sociology are often distinguished by their traditional emphasis. Which contrast is most accurate?

  1. Anthropology traditionally studied small-scale, non-industrial societies through intensive fieldwork, while sociology traditionally studied modern industrial societies Correct answer.
  2. Anthropology is a natural science while sociology is a social science
  3. Anthropology studies only biological evolution, while sociology studies culture
  4. Sociology uses fieldwork while anthropology uses only statistical surveys

Explanation

Historically, anthropology developed through intensive participant observation of small-scale and non-industrial communities, while sociology developed in response to industrialisation and urbanisation in Europe. The contrast is one of traditional emphasis rather than a fixed boundary, since both now study modern as well as non-industrial societies. Their methods have also converged considerably.

Question 13Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which statement best explains why sociology is sometimes described as an 'interdisciplinary' or 'bridging' discipline?

  1. It has no subject matter of its own
  2. It confines itself to the study of industrial societies
  3. It draws on and contributes to other social sciences while maintaining a distinct holistic perspective on social relationships Correct answer.
  4. It replaces economics, history and political science

Explanation

Sociology borrows concepts and methods from history, economics, psychology and anthropology, and in turn informs them, which is why it is described as bridging. It nevertheless retains a distinctive perspective, studying social relationships and institutions as an interconnected whole. Borrowing from other disciplines does not mean lacking a subject matter.

Question 14Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which of the following was a key historical condition that contributed to the emergence of sociology as a separate discipline in the nineteenth century?

  1. The invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century
  2. The discovery of the structure of the atom
  3. The decline of urban life in medieval Europe
  4. The industrial revolution and the social upheavals that followed it Correct answer.

Explanation

Sociology emerged in response to the profound social changes produced by industrialisation, urbanisation and political revolution in Europe. These transformations raised urgent questions about order, class, poverty and social change that existing disciplines did not address. The discipline was therefore born as an attempt to understand modern society systematically.

Question 15Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

A sociologist studies how legal rules are actually enforced differently for rich and poor litigants. Which relationship between sociology and law does this illustrate?

  1. Sociology has no interest in legal institutions
  2. Sociology replaces legal doctrine with moral philosophy
  3. Sociology examines the social context and consequences of law, complementing the study of legal rules Correct answer.
  4. Sociology is concerned only with ancient legal systems

Explanation

The sociology of law studies how legal institutions operate in society, how law shapes and is shaped by social inequality, and what consequences legal rules have in practice. This complements legal scholarship, which concentrates on the content and interpretation of rules. The two approaches are complementary rather than mutually exclusive.

Question 16Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which statement about the scope of sociology is most defensible?

  1. Sociology is limited to the study of deviance and crime
  2. Sociology studies only the institutions that other disciplines ignore
  3. Sociology studies only the economic aspects of society
  4. Sociology's scope is broad, covering social relationships, institutions, culture and social change, but it does not claim to explain everything about human life Correct answer.

Explanation

Sociology has a wide scope, examining family, religion, education, economy, polity, stratification and social change, but it does not claim a monopoly over the study of human life. It offers one perspective among several social sciences, each with its own central questions. Claims of either extreme, an all-embracing or a leftover discipline, misrepresent its scope.

Question 17Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

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

  1. Sociology and common sense are identical because both describe social life
  2. Common sense is always more reliable than sociological research
  3. Sociology tests ideas systematically against evidence, whereas common sense rests on unexamined assumptions and anecdote Correct answer.
  4. Sociology rejects all everyday knowledge as false

Explanation

Sociology begins with questions that may look familiar from everyday life but subjects them to systematic evidence, comparison and criticism. Common sense relies on inherited assumptions, selective experience and anecdote, and it can be contradictory. The difference lies in method and openness to refutation, not in a wholesale rejection of everyday knowledge.

Question 18Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

A government wants to understand why a welfare scheme is underused by eligible families. Which contribution is most characteristic of a sociological approach?

  1. Calculating the exact budget required for the scheme
  2. Measuring the scheme's effect on national income alone
  3. Examining how stigma, social networks and administrative practices shape whether eligible families claim benefits Correct answer.
  4. Determining the constitutional validity of the scheme

Explanation

Sociology examines how social meanings, networks, institutions and practices shape behaviour, which is precisely what explains gaps between formal eligibility and actual take-up. Budget calculation belongs to public finance, constitutional validity to law, and national income effects to economics. The sociological contribution is the analysis of social processes and their consequences.

Question 19Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Which of the following best describes the relationship between sociology and economics?

  1. Sociology studies markets while economics studies culture
  2. Economics is a natural science while sociology is a social science
  3. The two disciplines have no overlapping concerns
  4. Economics studies production and distribution, while sociology studies how economic activity is embedded in social relations and institutions Correct answer.

Explanation

Economics centres on the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, often through market analysis. Sociology examines how economic activity is embedded in social relations, institutions, culture and power, which is why economic sociology is a recognised field. The disciplines overlap but differ in their central questions.

Question 20Sociology: Nature, Scope and Relationship with Other Social Sciences

Why is it misleading to say that sociology simply 'borrows' its methods from the natural sciences?

  1. Because sociology adapts scientific methods to social subject matter and also develops interpretive methods suited to meaning and context Correct answer.
  2. Because sociology has no methods of its own
  3. Because natural science methods are always invalid
  4. Because sociologists never use statistics

Explanation

Sociology does use observation, comparison and statistical analysis, but it adapts these methods to human subjects and also develops interpretive approaches such as participant observation and life history. The issue is not simple borrowing but the adaptation of methods to the distinctive character of social life. This is why sociology is neither a copy of natural science nor its opposite.

Question 21Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

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

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

Explanation

A society is a relatively self-sufficient group of people occupying a common territory, sharing a culture, and interacting through mutual awareness. It is broader than an association, which is a deliberately formed group with a specific purpose. Institutions and roles are components within a society, not the whole.

Question 22Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Which feature most clearly distinguishes a community from an association?

  1. A community has written rules while an association has none
  2. A community is based on spontaneous, enduring social relationships, whereas an association is deliberately formed for a specific purpose Correct answer.
  3. A community is always larger in population than an association
  4. A community exists only in rural areas while an association exists only in cities

Explanation

A community grows out of shared locality and enduring, often face-to-face relationships, so membership is largely spontaneous. An association is consciously created by people to achieve a defined objective and is held together by that purpose. Size, written rules, and rural-urban location do not define the distinction.

Question 23Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

A person occupies the position of a son in the family and the position of a student in college. In sociological language, these positions are called:

  1. Statuses Correct answer.
  2. Roles
  3. Institutions
  4. Values

Explanation

A status is a position a person occupies in a social structure, such as son or student. A role is the behaviour expected of someone holding that position. Values and institutions are broader cultural and structural concepts, not personal positions.

Question 24Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

When a person's duties as a working professional conflict with the duties expected of a parent, sociologists describe this situation as:

  1. Role conflict Correct answer.
  2. Role taking
  3. Cultural lag
  4. Status inconsistency between two institutions

Explanation

Role conflict arises when the expectations attached to two or more roles held by the same person make incompatible demands. Here the professional role and the parental role compete for the same time and commitment. Status inconsistency refers to mismatched ranks, role taking is imagining another's perspective, and cultural lag concerns uneven change in culture.

Question 25Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Ascribed status differs from achieved status because an ascribed status is:

  1. Always higher in prestige than any achieved status
  2. Assigned to a person by birth or social circumstance without personal effort Correct answer.
  3. Granted only by formal written appointment
  4. Earned through individual effort and competition

Explanation

Ascribed status is given to a person by birth or circumstance, for example sex assigned at birth, caste, or kinship position. Achieved status is acquired through effort, choice, or competition, such as becoming a doctor. Prestige and formality are separate matters.

Question 26Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Norms that are considered so essential to a society's well-being that their violation brings strong social condemnation are best described as:

  1. Folkways
  2. Fashions
  3. Mores Correct answer.
  4. Fads

Explanation

Mores are norms regarded as vital to the group's welfare, so breaches provoke serious disapproval or punishment. Folkways are ordinary customary norms whose violation brings only mild correction. Fashions and fads are passing styles of behaviour, not categories of moral obligation.

Question 27Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Which statement best captures the relationship between norms and values?

  1. Norms and values are identical because both are enforced by the state
  2. Values are concrete rules of conduct while norms are abstract ideals
  3. Values are general standards of what is good, and norms are specific rules of conduct that express those standards Correct answer.
  4. Norms are the shared standards of desirability from which values are derived

Explanation

Values are broad shared conceptions of what is desirable, such as honesty or respect for elders. Norms translate those values into specific prescriptions and prohibitions that guide behaviour in particular situations. Norms are therefore the more concrete level of the two.

Question 28Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

A student stands up and offers a seat to an elderly passenger on a crowded bus. This act is best explained as conformity to:

  1. A folkway of everyday courtesy Correct answer.
  2. A scientific law of social behaviour
  3. A formal organisational rule of the bus company
  4. A legal statute enforceable by police

Explanation

Offering a seat to an elder is an everyday customary norm of politeness, that is, a folkway. It is learned through socialisation and enforced by mild approval or disapproval rather than by law. Legal statutes, formal organisational rules, and scientific laws operate differently.

Question 29Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

The term 'institution' in sociology most accurately refers to:

  1. A building where people are kept or treated
  2. An established and organised pattern of norms and procedures centred on a basic social need Correct answer.
  3. A written constitution governing a state
  4. A temporary gathering of people in one place

Explanation

Sociologically, an institution is a stable cluster of norms, roles, and procedures organised around a fundamental need such as family, education, or religion. It is a pattern of social organisation, not a physical structure. Buildings, crowds, and legal documents are not institutions in this sense.

Question 30Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

The family, education, religion, economy, and polity are usually called basic institutions because they:

  1. Each satisfy a fundamental and enduring need of every society Correct answer.
  2. Operate without any norms or roles
  3. Are created by the state through legislation
  4. Are found only in industrial societies

Explanation

Basic institutions are those organised around universal and persistent human needs such as reproduction, socialisation, meaning, production, and order. Because these needs recur in every society, the institutions are found in all types of society. They are not state creations, and they certainly rest on norms and roles.

Question 31Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Which of the following is the best example of material culture?

  1. A folk song sung at harvest
  2. A rule that guests must be offered water
  3. A belief that hard work brings success
  4. A handloom used by weavers in a village Correct answer.

Explanation

Material culture consists of the physical objects and technologies that people make and use, such as tools, machines, and buildings. A handloom is a tangible artefact of production. Beliefs, rules, and songs belong to non-material culture.

Question 32Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Sociologists distinguish culture from society by saying that:

  1. Culture refers to territory while society refers to beliefs
  2. Culture and society are two names for exactly the same thing
  3. Culture is biological while society is learned
  4. Culture refers to the shared way of life of a people while society refers to the organised collectivity of people who share it Correct answer.

Explanation

Culture is the learned, shared way of life, including knowledge, beliefs, norms, values, and artefacts. Society is the organised collectivity of interacting people who carry that culture. The two are inseparable in practice but analytically distinct.

Question 33Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

The tendency to judge another culture by the standards of one's own culture is known as:

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

Explanation

Ethnocentrism is the practice of evaluating other cultures using the standards of one's own, often treating one's own as superior. Cultural relativism does the opposite by understanding a culture on its own terms. Diffusion and lag describe cultural change, not evaluation.

Question 34Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

A sociologist studying a remote community refuses to rank its customs as superior or inferior to her own and instead tries to understand them in the context of that community's history and environment. She is applying:

  1. Xenocentrism
  2. Ethnocentrism
  3. Cultural relativism Correct answer.
  4. Cultural universalism

Explanation

Cultural relativism requires understanding and evaluating a culture in terms of its own context rather than by external standards. The researcher's refusal to rank the community's customs reflects that methodological stance. Ethnocentrism and xenocentrism involve biased preference, and cultural universalism asserts traits common to all cultures.

Question 35Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Culture is described as 'learned' rather than 'inherited' because:

  1. It is carried in the genes of each individual
  2. It is transmitted through socialisation and communication across generations Correct answer.
  3. It appears spontaneously without any social interaction
  4. It is fixed at birth and cannot change

Explanation

Culture is acquired through socialisation, imitation, language, and education, which is why it is transmitted across generations rather than inherited biologically. This is what makes cultural variation between societies possible. Genes, spontaneous appearance, and fixity at birth all contradict the learned character of culture.

Question 36Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Which pair correctly matches a cultural element with its definition?

  1. Value - anything that stands for something else
  2. Sanction - a physical artefact used in ritual
  3. Norm - a rule or expectation guiding behaviour in a situation Correct answer.
  4. Symbol - a shared understanding of what is desirable

Explanation

A norm is a shared expectation or rule about how people should behave in a given situation. Symbols are objects or signs standing for something else, values are conceptions of the desirable, and sanctions are rewards or punishments enforcing norms. Only the norm pairing is correctly defined.

Question 37Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

A society introduces new factory machines rapidly while its ideas about workers' rights change only slowly, producing tension. This pattern illustrates:

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

Explanation

Cultural lag, a concept associated with William F. Ogburn, describes the situation where material culture changes faster than non-material culture, creating maladjustment. Here technology advanced before the relevant beliefs and norms caught up. Diffusion, relativism, and integration do not describe this uneven pace.

Question 38Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

The spread of cricket from England to India and the Caribbean, where it was later adapted to local styles, is best described as:

  1. Cultural diffusion followed by adaptation Correct answer.
  2. Cultural leveling
  3. Cultural lag
  4. Ethnocentrism

Explanation

Cultural diffusion is the transmission of cultural traits from one society to another, and traits are usually modified as they are adopted. Cricket's movement from England and its local adaptation illustrate this process. Cultural lag concerns internal uneven change, while ethnocentrism is a form of judgement.

Question 39Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Which statement about the relationship between status and role is correct?

  1. Every individual has exactly one status and one role
  2. Status is the position occupied and role is the behaviour expected of that position Correct answer.
  3. Status is the dynamic aspect while role is the static position
  4. Role is inherited while status is always achieved

Explanation

Status is a position in the social structure, and role is the set of expectations attached to it, often described as the dynamic side of status. A single person holds many statuses and therefore plays many roles. Neither the number nor the inheritance pattern in the other options is correct.

Question 40Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

A hospital prescribes fixed procedures for admitting patients, recording treatment, and discharging them. In sociological terms, these procedures are an example of:

  1. The institutionalisation of norms within an organisation Correct answer.
  2. A form of cultural lag
  3. A folkway of casual courtesy
  4. An institution in the sense of a building

Explanation

Institutionalisation is the process by which norms and procedures become established, standardised, and taken for granted within an organisation. Fixed hospital procedures fit this exactly: they are regularised patterns of behaviour. They are not the building itself, a casual folkway, or a case of uneven cultural change.

Question 41Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

The statement 'In this community, a person's caste is fixed at birth and cannot be changed by achievement' describes:

  1. A voluntary association
  2. An achieved status system
  3. A role conflict
  4. An ascribed status system Correct answer.

Explanation

Ascribed status is assigned by birth or social circumstance and is not open to individual choice or effort, which is what a caste fixed at birth illustrates. Achieved status depends on effort, associations are formed for specific purposes, and role conflict involves competing expectations.

Question 42Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Which of the following best illustrates the sociological meaning of a 'value'?

  1. Removing shoes before entering a temple
  2. A widely shared belief that education is desirable for all children Correct answer.
  3. A school building with classrooms
  4. A law requiring compulsory schooling

Explanation

A value is a widely shared conception of what is good, desirable, or worthwhile, such as the belief that education matters for all children. Removing shoes is a norm, a law is a formal rule, and a building is a material artefact. The value is the general standard that underlies the rule and the practice.

Question 43Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

Sanctions in sociological analysis are best understood as:

  1. The physical territory occupied by a community
  2. Rewards and punishments that encourage conformity to norms Correct answer.
  3. The written laws of a state
  4. The biological drives that motivate individuals

Explanation

Sanctions are the positive or negative reactions of others, ranging from praise and approval to ridicule and punishment, that uphold norms. They may be informal, such as a smile or a frown, or formal, such as a fine. They are not the same as written law, territory, or biological drives.

Question 44Basic Concepts in Sociology (society, community, association, institution, status and role, norms and values, culture)

A person joins a trade union to secure better wages, pays a subscription, and attends meetings for that purpose. This group is best classified as:

  1. A primary group based on kinship
  2. A community
  3. An association Correct answer.
  4. An institution of religion

Explanation

An association is a deliberately formed group with defined membership, rules, and a specific purpose, which fits a trade union pursuing better wages. A community rests on shared locality and enduring relationships, kinship groups are based on family ties, and religious institutions serve different needs.

Question 45Social Institutions: Family, Marriage, Kinship, Education, Religion and Economy

In sociology, the family into which a person is born and in which primary socialisation first occurs is called the:

  1. family of procreation
  2. family of orientation Correct answer.
  3. consanguineal kin group
  4. joint household

Explanation

The family of orientation is the family a person is born into and grows up in, and it is where early or primary socialisation takes place. The family a person later establishes through marriage is distinguished from it by a different term.

Question 46Social Institutions: Family, Marriage, Kinship, Education, Religion and Economy

A married couple lives in a house with the husband's parents, his unmarried sisters and their own children, all sharing one kitchen. This residential pattern is best described as:

  1. avunculocal residence
  2. neolocal residence
  3. patrilocal residence Correct answer.
  4. duolocal residence

Explanation

Patrilocal residence means the couple settles with or near the husband's father's kin, which matches the description of living with the husband's parents. Neolocal residence would instead mean a separate new household.

Question 47Social Institutions: Family, Marriage, Kinship, Education, Religion and Economy

The rule that a person must marry outside a defined social group such as a clan or lineage is known as:

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

Explanation

Exogamy prohibits marriage within a specified group and requires a spouse from outside it. Endogamy is its opposite, requiring marriage within a group such as a caste or religious community.

Question 48Social Institutions: Family, Marriage, Kinship, Education, Religion and Economy

A man is simultaneously married to two women, and each wife has her own separate dwelling and household budget. Sociologists classify this arrangement as:

  1. polyandry
  2. polygyny Correct answer.
  3. fraternal polyandry
  4. sororal polygyny

Explanation

Polygyny is the marriage of one man to more than one woman at the same time, and it is the general category covering this case. The separate dwellings do not change the formal classification of the union.

Question 49Social Institutions: Family, Marriage, Kinship, Education, Religion and Economy

The practice in which a widow is expected to marry her dead husband's younger brother is called:

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

Explanation

Levirate is the custom by which a widow marries a brother of her deceased husband, thereby retaining her link with his kin group. Sororate is the mirror-image custom involving a wife's sister.

Question 50Social Institutions: Family, Marriage, Kinship, Education, Religion and Economy

Dowry, as distinguished from bride price, is best defined sociologically as:

  1. a reciprocal gift exchanged equally by both families
  2. a bride's personal savings retained after the wedding
  3. payment made by the groom's kin to the bride's kin at marriage
  4. goods or money transferred from the bride's family to the groom or his family at marriage Correct answer.

Explanation

Dowry is a transfer from the bride's side to the groom or his family, often linked to inheritance and status considerations. Bride price moves in the opposite direction, from the groom's kin to the bride's kin.