The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society: Assertion-Reason & Case Base Type Questions | Sociology Class 12 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Directions : In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason (R). Mark the correct choice as: 

Question 1:
Assertion (A): Unlike the death rate, the birth rate has not registered a sharp fall.
Reason (R): By and large, increased levels of prosperity exert a strong downward pull on the birth rate.
(a) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion (A).
(b) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of Assertion (A).
(c) Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false.
(d) Assertion (A) is false, but Reason (R) is true.

Option (b) is correct.

The birth rate has not registered a sharp fall because the birth rate is a sociocultural phenomenon that is relatively slow to change.

Question 2:
Assertion (A): Malthus’s predictions were proved false.
Reason (R): In the historical experience of Europe, both food production and standards of living continued to rise despite the rapid growth of population.
(a) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion (A).
(b) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of Assertion (A).
(c) Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false.
(d) Assertion (A) is false, but Reason (R) is true.

Option (a) is correct.

Malthus’s predictions were proved false because both food production and standards of living continued to rise despite the rapid growth of population. Malthus was also criticised by liberal and Marxist scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population growth.

Question 3:
Assertion (A): The inequalities in the literacy rate are especially important because they tend to reproduce inequality across generations.
Reason (R): Literacy rates also vary by social group – historically disadvantaged communities like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have lower rates of literacy.(a) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion (A).
(b) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of Assertion (A).
(c) Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false.
(d) Assertion (A) is false, but Reason (R) is true.

Option (b) is correct.

Illiterate parents are at a severe disadvantage in ensuring that their children are well educated, thus perpetuating existing inequalities.

Case Based Questions:

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same: 
Population growth always outstrips growth in production of subsistence resources; hence the only way to increase prosperity is by controlling the growth of population. Unfortunately, humanity has only a limited ability to voluntarily reduce the growth of its population. Malthus believed therefore that ‘positive checks’ to population growth – in the form of famines and diseases – were inevitable because they were nature’s way of dealing with the imbalance between food supply and increasing population. Malthus was also criticised by liberal and Marxist scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population growth. Critics argued that problems like poverty and starvation were caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by population growth.

Question 4: Which of the following is not an example of ‘positive checks’ to population growth?
(a) natural disasters
(b) celibacy
(c) famines
(d) disease

Option (b) is correct.

Celibacy, along with other means such as postponing marriage and practicing birth control are examples of what Malthus calls ‘preventive checks.’

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same: 
Population growth always outstrips growth in production of subsistence resources; hence the only way to increase prosperity is by controlling the growth of population. Unfortunately, humanity has only a limited ability to voluntarily reduce the growth of its population. Malthus believed therefore that ‘positive checks’ to population growth – in the form of famines and diseases – were inevitable because they were nature’s way of dealing with the imbalance between food supply and increasing population. Malthus was also criticised by liberal and Marxist scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population growth. Critics argued that problems like poverty and starvation were caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by population growth.
Question 5: Population rises in ____________ progression.
(a) Arithmetic
(b) Geometric
(c) Linear
(d) Harmonic

Option (b) is correct.

Geometric progression is a series or sequence of numbers that may start with any number, but where each succeeding number is obtained by multiplying the preceding number by a constant multiple. Population rises in geometric progression. Population growth always outstrips growth in production of subsistence resources.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same: 
Population growth always outstrips growth in production of subsistence resources; hence the only way to increase prosperity is by controlling the growth of population. Unfortunately, humanity has only a limited ability to voluntarily reduce the growth of its population. Malthus believed therefore that ‘positive checks’ to population growth – in the form of famines and diseases – were inevitable because they were nature’s way of dealing with the imbalance between food supply and increasing population. Malthus was also criticised by liberal and Marxist scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population growth. Critics argued that problems like poverty and starvation were caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by population growth.
Question 6: Which of the following is not a critique of Malthusian theory?
(a) Food production continued to rise despite rapid population growth
(b) Standard of living continued to rise despite rapid population growth
(c) Poverty and starvation were caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by population growth
(d) Humanity is condemned to live in poverty forever because the growth of agricultural production will always be overtaken by population growth

Option (d) is correct.

The statement is Malthus’s argument rather than his critique. Malthus was critiqued by scholars who argued that economic growth could outstrip population growth. The other three statements are examples of the critique of Malthusian theory.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same: 
Population growth always outstrips growth in production of subsistence resources; hence the only way to increase prosperity is by controlling the growth of population. Unfortunately, humanity has only a limited ability to voluntarily reduce the growth of its population. Malthus believed therefore that ‘positive checks’ to population growth – in the form of famines and diseases – were inevitable because they were nature’s way of dealing with the imbalance between food supply and increasing population. Malthus was also criticised by liberal and Marxist scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population growth. Critics argued that problems like poverty and starvation were caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by population growth.
Question 7: Agricultural production grows in ____________ progression.
(a) Geometric
(b) Linear
(c) Harmonic
(d) Arithmetic

Option (d) is correct.

Arithmetic progression is a series or sequence of numbers that may start with any number, but where each succeeding number is obtained by adding a fixed amount (number) to the preceding number. Agricultural production can only grow in arithmetic progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 etc.).

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same:
“The growth rate of population substantially increased after independence from British rule going up to 2.2% during 1961-1981. Since then although the annual growth rate has decreased it remains one of the highest in the developing world…The impact of the demographic transition phase is clearly seen in the graph where they begin to diverge from each other after the decade of 1921 to 1931. Before 1931, both death rates and birth rates were high, whereas, after this transitional moment the death rates fell sharply but the birth rate only fell slightly. The principal reasons for the decline in the death rate after 1921 were increased levels of control over famines and epidemic diseases. The latter cause was perhaps the most important.”
Question 8: What does Amartya Sen mean by ‘failure of entitlements?
(a) The inability of people to buy or otherwise obtain food
(b) Vulnerability to variations in rainfall
(c) Lack of adequate means of transportation and communication
(d) Famines

Option (a) is correct.

Scholars like Amartya Sen and others have shown, famines were not necessarily due to fall in foodgrains production; they were also caused by a ‘failure of entitlements’, or the inability of people to buy or otherwise obtain food.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same:
“The growth rate of population substantially increased after independence from British rule going up to 2.2% during 1961-1981. Since then although the annual growth rate has decreased it remains one of the highest in the developing world…The impact of the demographic transition phase is clearly seen in the graph where they begin to diverge from each other after the decade of 1921 to 1931. Before 1931, both death rates and birth rates were high, whereas, after this transitional moment the death rates fell sharply but the birth rate only fell slightly. The principal reasons for the decline in the death rate after 1921 were increased levels of control over famines and epidemic diseases. The latter cause was perhaps the most important.”
Question 9: Which of the following helped control epidemics in India over a period of time?
(a Improvement in communication
(b) DWhich of the following states does not have the total fertility rate below the replacement level?Which of the following states does not have the total fertility rate below the replacement level?crease in death rate
(c) Improvement in sanitation
(d) Improvement in agricultural productivity

Option (c) is correct.

Improvements in medical cures for these diseases, programmes for mass vaccination, and efforts to improve sanitation helped to control epidemics.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same:
“The growth rate of population substantially increased after independence from British rule going up to 2.2% during 1961-1981. Since then although the annual growth rate has decreased it remains one of the highest in the developing world…The impact of the demographic transition phase is clearly seen in the graph where they begin to diverge from each other after the decade of 1921 to 1931. Before 1931, both death rates and birth rates were high, whereas, after this transitional moment the death rates fell sharply but the birth rate only fell slightly. The principal reasons for the decline in the death rate after 1921 were increased levels of control over famines and epidemic diseases. The latter cause was perhaps the most important.”
Question 10: Which of the following states does not have the total fertility rate below the replacement level?
(a) Himachal Pradesh
(b) Madhya Pradesh
(c) Kerala
(d) Tamil Nadu

Option (b) is correct.

Madhya Pradesh, along with Bihar, UP, and Rajasthan has one of the highest TFRs, higher than the replacement level.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same:
“The growth rate of population substantially increased after independence from British rule going up to 2.2% during 1961-1981. Since then although the annual growth rate has decreased it remains one of the highest in the developing world…The impact of the demographic transition phase is clearly seen in the graph where they begin to diverge from each other after the decade of 1921 to 1931. Before 1931, both death rates and birth rates were high, whereas, after this transitional moment the death rates fell sharply but the birth rate only fell slightly. The principal reasons for the decline in the death rate after 1921 were increased levels of control over famines and epidemic diseases. The latter cause was perhaps the most important.”
Question 11: Which of the following is not a measure taken to famine related deaths by the Indian state?

(a) Expansion of irrigation
(b) Improved means of transport and communication
(c) MNREGA

(d) Changing agroclimatic environment

Option (d) is correct.

The other three are measures that could be taken by the state. A vulnerable agroclimatic environment is a feature of a famine prone region. It cannot be changed through human interventions alone as it is a natural feature of an area.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same:
Most demographic concepts are expressed as rates or ratios – they involve two numbers. One of these numbers is the particular statistic that has been calculated for a specific geographical-administrative unit; the other number provides a standard for comparison. For example, the birth rate is the total number of live births in a particular area (an entire country, a state, a district or other territorial unit) during a specified period (usually a year) divided by the total population of that area in thousands. In other words, the birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 population.
Question 12: The ________________refers to the total number of live births that a hypothetical woman would have if she lived through the reproductive age group and had the average number of babies in each segment of this age group as determined by the age-specific fertility rates for that area.
(a) fertility rate
(b) maternal fertility rate
(c) maternal mortality rate
(d) total fertility rate

Option (d) is correct.

Maternal fertility rate is not a real statistic. Maternal mortality rate refers to the number of who die in childbirth per 1000 live births. Fertility rate, unlike total fertility rate, is a crude statistic, that is a rough average for an entire population and does not take account of the differences across age-groups. It is the number of live births per 1000 women in the child-bearing age group, usually taken to be 15 to 49 years.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same:
Most demographic concepts are expressed as rates or ratios – they involve two numbers. One of these numbers is the particular statistic that has been calculated for a specific geographical-administrative unit; the other number provides a standard for comparison. For example, the birth rate is the total number of live births in a particular area (an entire country, a state, a district or other territorial unit) during a specified period (usually a year) divided by the total population of that area in thousands. In other words, the birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 population.
Question 13: The ______________is a similar statistic, expressed as the number of deaths in a given area during a given time per 1000 population.
(A) maternal mortality rate
(B) life expectancy
(C) death rate
(D) death ratio

Option (c) is correct.

Death rate is calculated just like birth-rate – in a given area, during a given time, per 1000 population. It is a rate statistic.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same:
Most demographic concepts are expressed as rates or ratios – they involve two numbers. One of these numbers is the particular statistic that has been calculated for a specific geographical-administrative unit; the other number provides a standard for comparison. For example, the birth rate is the total number of live births in a particular area (an entire country, a state, a district or other territorial unit) during a specified period (usually a year) divided by the total population of that area in thousands. In other words, the birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 population.
Question 14: A falling ______________can be a source of economic growth and prosperity due to the larger proportion of workers relative to non-workers. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘demographic dividend’.
(a) dependency ratio
(b) sex ratio
(c) child-sex ratio
(d) life expectancy

Option (a) is correct.

Changes in the age structure due to the demographic transition lower the ‘dependency ratio’, or the ratio of non-working age to working-age population, thus creating the potential for generating growth. But this potential can be converted into actual growth only if the rise in the working age group is accompanied by increasing levels of education and employment.

Read the following text and answer the following questions on the basis of the same:
Most demographic concepts are expressed as rates or ratios – they involve two numbers. One of these numbers is the particular statistic that has been calculated for a specific geographical-administrative unit; the other number provides a standard for comparison. For example, the birth rate is the total number of live births in a particular area (an entire country, a state, a district or other territorial unit) during a specified period (usually a year) divided by the total population of that area in thousands. In other words, the birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 population.
Question 15: When the difference between birth rate and death rate is zero (or, in practice, very small) we say that the population has ‘stabilised’, or has reached the ‘________________.’
(a) stabilisation level
(b) replacement level
(c) highest point
(d) highest level

Option (b) is correct.

The ‘replacement level’ is the rate of growth required for new generations to replace the older ones that are dying out.