Practice questions
Q1In the pair 'status and role', which distinction is correct?
A Status is a social position, while role is the behavioural aspect attached to that position.
B Status is the biological age of a person, while role is the person's income.
C Status is a temporary crowd position, while role is membership of a caste.
D Status is always achieved, while role is always ascribed.
Explanation Sociology treats status and role as connected concepts. A person occupies a status such as teacher, parent or student; the role consists of the expected conduct, duties and behaviour associated with that position.
Q2Which situation is the clearest example of social exclusion linked with caste?
A A shopkeeper changes prices because wholesale costs have increased
B A student chooses an optional subject after comparing the syllabus
C A worker shifts from agriculture to factory employment
D A person is denied access to a common community facility because of caste identity
Explanation Social exclusion refers to processes through which individuals or groups are prevented from full participation in society. Denial of a common facility because of caste identity is a direct example, whereas the other cases describe choice, market change, or occupational mobility.
Q3Which option best explains why sociology is described as both empirical and reflexive?
A It becomes empirical only when it copies the methods of physics without alteration.
B It gathers evidence about social life while also examining the researcher's own assumptions, location and concepts.
C It rejects evidence whenever the researcher belongs to the society being studied.
D It is reflexive because it studies mirrors of individual consciousness rather than society.
Explanation Sociology relies on evidence such as observation, comparison, documents, surveys or interviews, so it is empirical. At the same time, sociologists study a world of which they themselves are members; they must therefore reflect on categories, values and social location. The empirical and reflexive dimensions are complementary in sociological inquiry.
Q4A teacher is expected to prepare lessons, evaluate answer sheets, attend a training programme and handle administrative work on the same day. The strain arises within the same status. Which concept is most appropriate?
A role exit
B ascribed mobility
C status sequence
D role strain
Explanation The example shows role strain, because several expectations are attached to the same status of teacher and are competing for time and energy. Role conflict would be more appropriate if expectations from two different statuses clashed, such as teacher and parent.
Q5After the 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act, a public servant demands money to process a routine ration-card application on time. For a sociology question on corruption as a social problem, which legal-sociological reading is most defensible?
A It is only an administrative delay because routine public services are outside the corruption framework.
B The demand is an undue advantage connected with public duty, illustrating how corruption converts public office into private extraction.
C It is corruption only if the citizen voluntarily offers a gift without any demand or pressure from the public servant.
D There is no corruption unless the official finally refuses to process the application after receiving money.
Explanation India Code's text of the Prevention of Corruption Act uses the post-amendment language of undue advantage in relation to public duty. A demand for payment to perform a routine official service is therefore not just poor service delivery; it shows abuse of public office and weakens citizens' trust in institutions. The sociological point is institutional distortion, not merely individual greed.
More questions
6Which statement correctly reflects the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 as a legal anchor for discussing corruption in India?
AIt consolidates and amends the law relating to prevention of corruption, including offences concerning public servants being bribed.
BIt deals only with private family disputes and has no connection with public servants.
CIt abolished untouchability and created punishments for social disabilities arising from it.
DIt is a poverty-index statute that defines the twelve MPI indicators.
7Passengers waiting at a bus stand are in the same physical place, but they do not share sustained interaction or a sense of belonging. In sociological terms, they are best described as:
Aan aggregate
Ba reference group
Ca primary group
Dan institution
8In the study of caste, what does endogamy refer to?
AChanging one's ritual practices to claim higher status
BMarrying within the same caste or caste group
CLeaving the village permanently for industrial employment
DVoting only for candidates from one's own caste
9A candidate compares two unemployment estimates: usual status (principal plus subsidiary status) and current weekly status. Which interpretation is correct for analysing unemployment as a current social problem in India?
AUsual status uses a longer reference period, while current weekly status gives a short-period picture based on the last seven days; both estimate unemployment among the labour force.
BA fall in unemployment rate always proves that secure regular employment has expanded for all social groups.
CThe unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed persons in the total population, not in the labour force.
DCurrent weekly status covers the last 365 days, whereas usual status covers only the last seven days.
10A study of classroom discipline examines how labels such as 'bright', 'weak' and 'troublemaker' are produced in everyday teacher-student interaction and then shape students' self-understanding. Which perspective is most directly being used?
AEcological determinism, because it explains behaviour only through physical environment
BClassical evolutionary perspective, because it ranks students by stages of social evolution
CLegal positivism, because school discipline is treated as a statute-like command
DSymbolic interactionism, because it studies meanings, labels and negotiated identities in face-to-face settings
11A teacher explains that Grihastha ashrama is sociologically central because it sustains family, reproduction, economic activity and obligations to others. Which statement follows from this explanation?
AThe householder stage requires complete abandonment of artha and kama.
BThe householder stage begins only after the renouncer has left all social relations.
CThe householder stage links individual life with wider social continuity and duties.
DThe householder stage is identical with student life in the gurukul.
12Which statement best captures why communalism is treated as a current social problem in a democratic society rather than merely as religious diversity?
AIt is identical with secularism because both require the state to recognise all religions equally.
BIt is limited to personal prejudice and has no connection with mobilisation, voting behaviour or public power.
CIt converts religious identity into the principal basis of political community and can present one community's interests as necessarily opposed to another's.
DIt means that different religious communities retain distinct festivals, food practices and places of worship.
13In caste-based marriage rules, what does endogamy primarily mean?
AMarriage is prohibited for all members of the householder stage.
BMarriage is restricted within the recognised caste or social group.
CMarriage outside one's caste or kin group is compulsory.
DMarriage is decided only by the occupation selected in adulthood.
14In sociology, which description best captures the meaning of caste?
AA modern occupational union open to all workers
BA temporary income category based only on current salary
CA voluntary association formed mainly for political lobbying
DA hereditary status group marked by ranked hierarchy and marriage rules
15Which process is described by the term Sanskritisation in Indian sociology?
AA lower or middle caste adopts practices associated with higher castes to claim improved social status.
BA class becomes a biological race through heredity.
CA government abolishes all occupational differences by law.
DAn urban worker joins a trade union for wage bargaining.
