Sociology: CUET Mock Test - 8 - CUET MCQ

According to the passage, the first task of a researcher, after specifying the research question, is to select a suitable method for the study.

The passage mentions that both technical compatibility and practical considerations, such as time, resources, and circumstances, must be taken into account when selecting a research method.

Practical considerations mentioned in the passage include factors such as the amount of time available, the resources at hand, and the circumstances in which the research will take place.

The passage explains that selecting a research method involves ensuring that it is not only technically suitable for answering the research question but also practical in terms of time, resources, and other situational factors.

The passage suggests that selecting a research method is a thoughtful process that requires balancing technical criteria with practical considerations such as available time and resources.

The colonial experience is significant for understanding modern India as it introduced modern ideas and institutions, which have shaped India's political, social, and cultural landscape.

The passage highlights the paradox that while Indians read about Western liberalism and freedom, they were denied liberty and freedom under colonial rule.

Colonialism shaped structural and cultural changes by introducing contradictions, such as the exposure to modern liberal ideas while living under a colonial regime.

The contradiction is that while Indians were exposed to Western ideas of liberty and freedom, they were simultaneously denied those very freedoms under colonial rule.

Colonialism brought modern ideas and institutions to India, which influenced its social, political, and economic development.

(A) Incorrect: The caste system was originally flexible, especially in the early Vedic period, but became rigid over time.
(B) Correct: The four-fold division (varna) was a birth-based categorization and became rigid later on.
(C) Correct: The caste system became more rigid in the post-Vedic period, solidifying the rules of social hierarchy.
(D) Correct: Castes were traditionally associated with specific occupations, which were passed down through generations.
(E) Incorrect: Although originating in Hindu society, the caste system also spread to non-Hindu communities in India, such as Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs.

(A) Incorrect: Colonialism played a major role in shaping the modern caste system, especially through the census and surveys.
(B) Correct: The British administration collected detailed data about caste in India through surveys and the census.
(C) Correct: During the colonial period, caste identities became more rigid, especially due to the efforts to categorize and rank castes.
(D) Correct: The Government of India Act of 1935 gave legal recognition to the "Scheduled Castes" and "Scheduled Tribes" to provide special treatment.
(E) Incorrect: The caste system underwent significant changes during colonial rule due to administrative efforts like the census.

(A) Incorrect: Tribes and castes have often interacted and assimilated over time, with tribal communities being absorbed into caste-based society.
(B) Incorrect: Tribes have not always been isolated; they have had contact with mainstream society, especially during colonial rule.
(C) Incorrect: While many tribes have been assimilated into Hindu society, they were not always part of caste-based structures.
(D) Correct: Tribes are classified based on permanent traits such as region, language, and ecological habitat.
(E) Incorrect: Tribes have had significant political and social roles, especially in resisting colonialism and asserting their rights in modern times.

(A) Correct: The family structure in India has been predominantly patriarchal, where authority typically resides with men.
(B) Correct: The nuclear family has become increasingly common, though the extended family is still prevalent in some areas.
(C) Correct: In matrilineal societies, property is passed from mother to daughter, not from mother to son.
(D) Incorrect: In matrilineal societies, women may inherit property, but men still hold more authority in public affairs.
(E) Incorrect: The ‘joint family’ concept is not native to all parts of India and is not the dominant form of family.

The correct answer is Option 3.

• Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "black women are inherently valuable, that [Black women's] liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy."
  • Black feminist consciousness arises from an understanding of intersecting patterns of discrimination. 
• It centers the experiences of Black women, understanding their position in relation to racism, sexism, and classism, as well as other social and political identities. 
• Black feminism rose to prominence in the 1960s, as the civil rights movement excluded women from leadership positions, and the mainstream feminist movement largely focused its agenda on issues that predominately impacted middle-class White women.
• From the 1970s to 1980s, Black feminists formed groups that addressed the role of Black women in Black nationalism, gay liberation, and second-wave feminism.
• Proponents of Black feminism argue that Black women are positioned within structures of power in fundamentally different ways than White women.
  • In the early 21st century, the tag white feminist gained currency to criticize feminists who avoid issues of intersectionality. Critics of Black feminism argue that divisions along the lines of race or gender weaken the strength of the overall feminist and anti-racist movements.

Additional Information

• Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other social divisions such as in race, class, and sexual orientation.
• Postmodern feminism is a mix of post-structuralism, postmodernism, and French feminism. The goal of postmodern feminism is to destabilize the patriarchal norms entrenched in society that have led to gender inequality.
  • Postmodern feminists seek to accomplish this goal through rejecting essentialism, philosophy, and universal truths in favor of embracing the differences that exist amongst women to demonstrate that not all women are the same.

The correct answer is Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

• Raja Rammohan Roy presented a fine combination of East and the West.
• His main pre-occupation was how to rid the Hindu religion of image worship, sacrificial rites and other meaningless rituals.
• His greatest achievement in the field of religious reform was an setting up in 1828 of the Brahmo Samaj. It forbade idol-worship and discarded meaningless rites and rituals. It believed in the basic unity of all the religions.
• His greatest achievement was the abolition of Sati in 1929.
• He advocated the abolition of polygamy (a practice of man having more than one wife) and child marriage.

The correct answer is Maclver.

• Robert Morrison Maclver was a Scottish sociologist, political theorist, philosopher, university administrator, and humanist.
• He was born in Stornoway in 1882.
• He will be regarded as a key figure in the history of Western philosophy for his systematic elaboration of the essential ethical, societal, and philosophical tenets underlying democratic institutions and procedures.
• By way of a precept, he tried to show how sociological understandings could be practically applied to such pressing issues as labour relations, economic reconstruction, internationalism and peace, intergroup conflicts, religion, academic freedom, social work, juvenile delinquency, and efficient use of manpower resources.
• Especially important in Maclver’s sociological system are his classification of social interests, the distinction between community and association.
• The concept of social evolution, the harmony theory of the relation between society and individuality, and the differentiation between the institutions concerned with means (civilization) and the world of ends (culture).

The correct answer is Option 1.

• Feminism is a political doctrine of equal rights for women and men. Feminists are those men and women who believe that many of the inequalities we see in society between men and women are neither natural nor necessary and can be altered so that both women and men can lead free and equal lives.
• According to feminists, inequality between men and women in society is the result of patriarchy. This term refers to a social, economic and cultural system that values men more than women and gives men power over women.
• Feminists questions this way of thinking by making a distinction between “sex” i.e. biological difference between men and women, and “gender” which determines the different roles that men and women play in society
• The history of the modern western feminist movement is divided into four "waves". 
  • The first wave comprised women's suffrage movements of the 19th and early-20th centuries, promoting women's right to vote.
  • The second wave, the women's liberation movement, began in the 1960s and campaigned for legal and social equality for women.
  • In or around 1992, a third wave was identified, characterized by a focus on individuality and diversity.
  • Additionally, some have argued for the existence of a fourth wave, starting around 2012, which has used social media to combat sexual harassment, violence against women and rape culture; it is best known for the Me Too movement.

The correct answer is Kingsley Davis.

• Kingsley Davis defines power as “the determination of the behavior of others in accordance with one’s own ends.” Hence option 4) is correct.
• In groups, some members are more powerful than others and this fact has important consequences for group functioning.
• Further, all forms of social interaction involve differences in the relative power of the participants to influence one another.
• Thus power differences enter into determining the relations between father and child, employer and employee, politician and voter and teacher and student.
• Power refers to the relative importance of each member's behavior inside a group structure.
• Regardless of the foundation upon which this likelihood is based, Weber defined power as "the possibility that one actor (person or group) within a social interaction is in a position to carry out his own will."
• In his book Power, Keith Dowding offers one logical definition of power.
• Human people or groups can be modelled as "actors" in the rational choice theory, selecting from a "choice set" of potential actions in an effort to accomplish desired results.

The correct answer is Polyandry.

• Polygamy is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. In contrast to polygamy, monogamy is marriage consisting of only two parties.
• Polyandry is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. Several ethnic groups practicing polyandry in India identify their customs with their descent from Draupadi, a central character of the Mahabharta who was married to five brothers.
• Patriarchy is a social system in which men dominate over others, but can also refer to dominance over women specifically; it can also extend to a variety of manifestations in which men have social privileges over others to cause exploitation or oppression, such as through male dominance of moral authority and control of property.
• Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, rights, names, or titles by persons related through male kin.

The correct answer is Gender Identity.

• Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. It is a person’s sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum.
• A person’s gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-assigned sex.
  • For most persons, gender identity and biological sex correspond in the conventional way.
  • Some individuals, however, experience little or no connection between sex and gender; among transgender persons, for example, biological sexual characteristics are distinct and unambiguous, but the affected person identifies with the gender conventionally associated with the opposite sex.
• The nature and development of gender identity have been studied and disputed by psychologists, philosophers, and social activists since the late 20th century.
  • Essentialists hold that gender identity is fixed at birth by genetic or other biological factors.
  • Social constructivists argue that gender identity, or the manner in which gender identity is expressed, is “socially constructed”—i.e., determined by social and cultural influences.
    • Social constructivism of the latter type is not necessarily incompatible with essentialism, because it is possible for a supposedly innate gender identity to be expressed in different ways in different cultures.
    • Finally, a variation of social constructivism known as performatism holds that gender identity is constituted, rather than expressed, by the continuous “performance” of gendered behaviour (actions and speech).

The correct answer is Option 1.

• Socialization theory: Socialization theory refers to the educational dimension of liberal feminist theory, which demands equal treatment of women and men. 
  • Socialization theorists believe that by providing all children with gender-neutral education and eliminating other obstacles to female success, schools would not only ensure fairness but would increase the pool of skilled workers, thereby benefiting society as a whole. Hence, Option 1 is the correct answer.
• Gender difference theory: Gender difference theory includes the constellation of cultural, educational, and ethical arguments that describe and defend the feminine culture and the relational orientation associated with women. 
  • Difference theorists reject the argument that successful schooling for girls should be modeled on what has worked for boys. Instead of embracing masculine values as universals, say difference feminists, schools need to acknowledge that the relational values associated with women are at least as important as the rationalistic values associated with men.
• Structural theory: It focuses on more or less stable power arrangements, the systematic consolidation of power and privilege in the hands of a minority.
  • According to such theories, power is something one group exercises over another; it is a kind of possession or property legitimated by-laws, standards, hegemonic practices, and institutional relations. Both gendered and other forms of inequity are organized and sustained by more or less stable (albeit flexible) power arrangements.​
• Deconstructive theory: It focuses on constantly shifting cultural practices. The deconstruction theory of gender and education focuses on the fact that women are not considered as a rational gender of society, and also they don't have excess to quality education as men do.

The correct answer is socious.

• The word “sociology” is derived from the Latin word socius (companion) and the Greek word logos (speech or reason), which together mean “reasoned speech about companionship”. Hence (option 4 )is correct.
• Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior.
• Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts.
• Since all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile mob; from organized crime to religious cults; from the divisions of race, gender and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture; and from the sociology of work to the sociology of sports.
• In fact, few fields have such broad scope and relevance for research, theory, and application of knowledge.
• Sociology provides many distinctive perspectives on the world, generating new ideas and critiquing the old.
• The field also offers a range of research techniques that can be applied to virtually any aspect of social life: street crime and delinquency, corporate downsizing, how people express emotions, welfare or education reform, how families differ and flourish, or problems of peace and war.
• Because sociology addresses the most challenging issues of our time, it is a rapidly expanding field whose potential is increasingly tapped by those who craft policies and create programs.
• Sociologists understand social inequality, patterns of behavior, forces for social change and resistance, and how social systems work.

The correct answer is social stratification.

• Sociologists use the term social stratification to describe the system of social standing. 
• Social stratification refers to a society’s categorization of its people into rankings based on factors like wealth, income, education, family background, and power. Hence (option 3 is correct)
• Geologists also use the word “stratification” to describe the distinct vertical layers found in rock. Typically, society’s layers, made of people, represent the uneven distribution of society’s resources.
• Society views the people with more resources as the top layer of the social structure of stratification.
• Other groups of people, with fewer and fewer resources, represent the lower layers. An individual’s place within this stratification is called socioeconomic status (SES).
• However, sociologists recognize social stratification as a society-wide system that makes inequalities apparent.
• While inequalities exist between individuals, sociologists are interested in larger social patterns.
• Sociologists look to see if individuals with similar backgrounds, group memberships, identities, and location in the country share the same social stratification.
• No individual, rich or poor, can be blamed for social inequalities, but instead all participate in a system where some rise and others fall. 
• Factors that define stratification vary in different societies.
• In most societies, stratification is an economic system, based on wealth, the net value of money and assets a person has, and income, a person’s wages or investment dividends.
• While people are regularly categorized based on how rich or poor they are, other important factors influence social standing.

The correct answer is time boundness.

• Social exclusion is what can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, poor health and family breakdown.
• Social exclusion is a complex and multi-dimensional process.
• It involves the lack or denial of resources, rights, goods and services, and the inability to participate in the normal relationships and activities, available to the majority of people in a society, whether in economic, social, cultural or political arenas.
• It affects both the quality of life of individuals and the equity and cohesion of society as a whole.
• In the last 'Poverty and Social Exclusion survey in 1999, the indicators of the extent of social relations and an ability to participate in society that had been covered in the Breadline Britain surveys were extended to widen the investigation.
• Levels of social participation were found to be affected by age, gender, household type and employment status as well as poverty.
• Of all those variables, poverty had the strongest negative effect on social relationships.
• Time-Bound Words argues that changes in English society and the English language are woven together, often in surprising ways, and investigates this claim by following eleven words from Chaucer's time to Shakespeare's.

The correct answer is Occupation.

• Besides wealth, occupation and education, there are certain other criteria which help a person to attain higher social status in the society.
• These are family background, kinship relations, location of residence etc., but education, occupation and expanded income are the most fairly visible clues of social class. Hence(option 2 is correct).
• social class, also called class, a group of people within a society who possess the same socioeconomics status.
• Besides being important in social theory, the concept of class as a collection of individuals sharing similar economic circumstances has been widely used in censuses and in studies of social mobility .
• The term class first came into wide use in the early 19th century, replacing such terms as rank and order as descriptions of the major hierarchical groupings in society. 
• The class system is a system of stratification of society on the basis of education, property, business/work etc.
• Sociology as a subject deals with the Class System and provides definitions and understanding of the subject of class in society.
• Karl Max - 'Man is a class animal' i.e. his status age, education etc are not same in the society.
• Common Basis For Division Of Class:
  • Property – capitalist & the poor – the haves & the have nots.
  • Education - Illiterate & literate
  • Business or Occupation - farmers, clerk officers, industrialists etc.
• In general, class consciousness is a must in the class system.
• The behavior of a person is fixed due to their class consciousness.

The correct answer is Sabhas.

• Varna system is the social stratification based on the Varnas.
• Four basic categories are defined under this system - Brahmins (priests, teachers, intellectuals), Kshatriyas (warriors, kings, administrators),Vaishyas (agriculturalists, traders, farmers ) and Shudras (workers, labourers, artisans).hence (option 4 )is correct.
• Varna is a fundamental concept underlying the Hindu society.
• It is not just about the way how society is structured but also it has become a part of a man’s identity.
• The modern day class and caste conflict in India traces its root to the Varna system.
• Thus, it becomes very important to understand its origin.
• The varna originated with the arrival of Aryans in India around 1500 BC.
•  The Aryan invasion led to clashes between them and the original inhabitants of the subcontinent who were called the Dashuds.
• When the Aryans conquered India, they suppressed and enslaved the dashuds who were dark in colour (varna meaning colour). 
• The Dashuds may be considered as the ancestors of the Shudras who are the fourth caste in the varna system.
• The Aryans organized among themselves into three groups, namely, Rajayana (later changed to Kshatriyas), Brahmins and the Vaishyas. 
• The basic idea was division of labor in the society. As the Aryans conquers expanded, they suppressed and enslaved the local people to serve the three classes and these local people came to be known as the helpers or the Shudras. 
• In the caste hierarchy, the dark skinned were outcasts. The skin color was an important factor in the caste system as the word varna itself refers to color.
• According to this theory, Dravidians were the original inhabitants whom Aryans pushed into the Southern India.

The Correct answer is option 2.

• Institutional structures are the social arrangements, including both formal and informal rules and practices, that shape and influence women and girls' ability to express agency and assert control over resources.
• Institutional Structures that facilitate the involvement of stakeholders in the development and implementation of appropriate natural resource management strategies and policies need to be developed.
• There are some instances where developed countries have implemented integrated catchment management programs through legal, institutional, and policy approaches. 
• Institutions are the capital stock for policy-making.
• Institutions affect the production of policy in practice: how economic policy is made, how it is reviewed, and how it is implemented. What happens in practice can often be much different than what is described on paper.
• Economic actors see what happens in practice.
• Thus the nature of institutions is crucial for economic actors' assessments of policy credibility.
• Institutional structures can constrain the policy options available to individual policy-makers or government organs.
• A horizontal separation of power among government organs, such as the separation of executive, legislative, and judicial organs, can ensuring that the policy-making process is subject to review and constraints from multiple centers of government power.
• Regular elections provide for a review of government actions and a possible temporal constraint on new policies.
• Bureaucratic and administrative hierarchies with distributed and circumscribed responsibilities foster decision-making inertia.
• By making major policy changes more difficult, institutional structhe ture can promote the credibility of current policy.

The Correct answer is 1839.

• "Sociology" was later defined independently by French philosopher of science Auguste Comte in 1838 as a new way of looking at society.
• The word “sociology” is derived from the Latin word socius (companion) and the Greek word logos (speech or reason), which together mean “reasoned speech about companionship”. 
•  Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior.
• Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts.
• Since all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile mob; from organized crime to religious cults; from the divisions of race, gender and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture; and from the sociology of work to the sociology of sports.
• In fact, few fields have such broad scope and relevance for research, theory, and application of knowledge.
• Sociology provides many distinctive perspectives on the world, generating new ideas and critiquing the old.
• The field also offers a range of research techniques that can be applied to virtually any aspect of social life: street crime and delinquency, corporate downsizing, how people express emotions, welfare or education reform, how families differ and flourish, or problems of peace and war.
• Because sociology addresses the most challenging issues of our time, it is a rapidly expanding field whose potential is increasingly tapped by those who craft policies and create programs.
• Sociologists understand social inequality, patterns of behavior, forces for social change and resistance, and how social systems work.

The correct answer is We Feeling.

• Meaning of community can be better understood if we analyze its characteristics or elements.
• These characteristics decide whether a group is a community or not.
• However, community has the following characteristics or elements:
  •  A group of people: A group of people is the most fundamental or essential characteristic or element of community.
  • This group may be small or large but community always refers to a group of people.
  •  A definite locality: It is the next important characteristic of a community. Because community is a territorial group. A group of people alone can’t form a community.
  • Community Sentiments: It is another important characteristic or element of community. Because without community sentiment a community can’t be formed only with a group of people and a definite locality.
  • Naturality: Communities are naturally organised. It is neither a product of human will nor created by an act of government. It grows spontaneously. Individuals became the member by birth.
  • Permanence: community is always a permanent group. It refers to a permanent living of individuals within a definite territory. It is not temporary like that of a crowd or association.
  • Similarity :The members of a community are similar in a number of ways. As they live within a definite locality they lead a common life and share some common ends. 
  • wider ends: A community has wider ends. Members of a community associate not for the fulfillment of a particular end but for a variety of ends. These are natural for a community.
  • No Legal status: A community has no legal status because it is not a legal person. It has no rights and duties in the eyes of law. It is not created by the law of the land.
  • Size of Community: A community is classified on the basis of it’s size. It may be big or small. Village is an example of a small community whereas a nation or even the world is an example of a big community. Both the type of community are essential for human life.
  • Concrete Nature: A community is concrete in nature. As it refers to a group of people living in a particular locality we can see its existence.