SOCIOLOGY (331) - April' 2015 | NIOS SENIOR SECONDARY Solved Papers

1.       What is levirate?             1

Ans.:- Levirate: Levirate is the custom in which a widow marries her husband’s brother. Generally, husband’s younger brother marries the widow. This practice is prevalent among the Toda of Nilgiri Hills.

2.       What is demography related to?              1

Ans.:- Demography is the study of human populations their size, composition and distribution across space.

3.       What are the followers of Judaism known as?   1

Ans.:- The followers of Judaism are known as Jews.

4.       What is category?           2

Ans.:- Category is a class or division of people or things regarded aas having particular shared characteristics.

5.       Name the four types of Muslim marriage.           2

Ans.:- Four types of Muslim marriage are
i. Nikah or ‘Sahi Nikah’

            ii. Fasid

i.   Muta

ii. Batil

Ans.:- Auguste Comte who gave sociology its name, identified three stages of human society:

Theological- In the first stage, the explanations of various phenomena were given in religious terms this stage was called theological.

Mataphysical- Its successor was the stage of metaphysics, where the explanations were philosophical.

Positivism- The final stage in the evolution of human thought was of positivism, where phenomena were explained in terms of the scientific approach to the social world.

7.       What is Sanskritization?               2

Ans.:- Sanskritization:- It is a process by which any low caste could adapt to the behaviour pattern, style of life, and culture of high caste and claim membership in that high caste. But they have to leave their unclean occupation and other impure habits like meat eating and taking liquor, etc.

8.       Name and briefly describe the religion of pre-Islamic Iran.         2

Ans.:- Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous animistic-polytheistic beliefs, as well as Charistianity, Judaism, Mandaeism, and Iranian religions of Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, and Manichaeism. Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, was based on venerationof deities and spirits.

9.       What is poverty?             2

Ans.:- Poverty is an universal problem. It is a condition of an individual in which his income is so low that he is unable to feed or provide shelter for himself and his family members. Those who do not have such income are called poor.

10.   Describe acculturation. 4

Ans.:- Acculturation means transmission of cultural elements from one social group to another. Acculturation is a process of culture change, which results due to contact between communities belonging to different cultures. In case of acculturation both the cultures get mutually affected as the culture traits of none culture move into the other culture and vice versa.

Culture contact operates in all societies and groups. It is possible only when people are desirous of accepting the new traits and continue to follow old traits.

Culture is not inborn. After birth an individual learns cultural values, practices, traditions and norms while growing up in the given physical and social environment. On the other hand there is nothing called pure or pristine culture.

11.   Explain ascribed status and achieved status.      4

Ans.:- There are two different kinds of status that people occupy, ascribed status and achieved status.

1.       An ascribed status is a social position that is assigned at birth and is, therefore, usually permanent. Hence, an ascribed status is one into which a person is born and in which he or she remains throughout his or her life, e.g., sex, caste, race and age. A Brahmin, for example, enjoys the ascribed status of a Brahmin by virtue of his birth. In addition, sex, ethnic background, place of birth, and family name supply assigned statuses. Such statuses are said to be ascribed.

2.       An achieved status is one that is chosen or achieved, such as a married person, a parent, a friend, a doctor or an engineer. An achieved status is acquired through one’s own efforts. Society recognizes such changes in achieved status. Statuses which are not fixed by inheritance, biological characteristics, or other factors, over which the individual has no control, are known as achieved statuses.

12.   What are the components of integration?           4

Ans.:- Integration is formed by the following components:-

1.       Sharing of common characteristics facilitates group solidarity resulting from division of labour, reciprocal relationship and interdependence.

2.       Acceptance and observation of various norms set by the group is another unifying factor.

3.       Ethnocentrism or a preference for one’s own culture among the members of a group is functional in promoting social control within the group.

4.       Discipline among the members unites the group.

Ans.:- Society is a term used in everyday life with a particular meaning. A layman often defines society as an aggregation or collection of individuals. But in sociology, the term is used in a different sense. It is not just a congregation of collectivity of several individuals. It refers to the sum total of the relationships existing between them.

The collectivity of individual created society over a long period of time. Sociologists have identified certain attributes of society. They are:

a)      Likeness and differentiation

b)      Inter-dependence

c)       Co-operation and conflict;

1.       In the first place, there should be an aggregate of individuals who share the sense of likeness. No society can come into existence unless its members feel that they are like one another.

2.       Inter-dependence is another attribute of society. The members of a society depend on one another for its smooth functioning. In a traditional village or your neighbourhood, members of different caste groups depend on each other in everyday life.

3.       Co-operation is another essential attribute of society. No society can come into existence or continue to persist unless the members co-operate with each other. Co-operation is obtained at every level of society such as inter-personal relationship like

a)      Between husband and wife and other family members

b)      Between neighbours; and

c)       At the level of wider society.

Ans.:- Cross cousin marriage:- It is the marriage of a man with his maternal uncle’s daughter (mother’s brother’s daughter) or paternal aunt’s daughter (father’s sister’s daughter). Alternatively, it may be defined as a marriage of a girl with her mother’s brother’s son or father’s sister’s son.

This form has been the preferred form of marriage in several parts of India such as among Gonds of Madhya Pradesh and Oraon  and Kharia tribes of Jharkhand. This is also practised in Maharashtra. Maternal uncle is the prescribed mate among some South Indian Hindus.

13.   What is public opinion? Describe.   4

Ans.:- Public opinion consists of the desires, wants and thinking of the majority of the people. It is the collective opinion of the people of a society or sate on an issue or problem.

This concept came about through the process of urbanization and other political and social forces. For the first time, it became important what people thought as forms of political contention changed. Public opinion or political opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion as a concept gained credence with the rise of ‘’Pubic” in the eighteenth century. Since the 1950s television has been the main medium for molding public opinion. Public opinion is discussed as a form of collective behaviour, which is made up of those who are discussing a given public issue at any one time.

 

14.   What is domestic violence?               4

Ans.:- The term ‘domestic violence’ refers to destructive acts which cause physical injury or harm to a women in her household. The term domestic violence is generally used to refer to physical abuse, but it should also include deprivations, which members of a family may experience, through not necessarily physical abuse. Look at this example, A daughter who is not sent to school and forcibly confined to domestic work or denied nutritious food, while sons receive the best of food, best of education and all other facilities for development. in the above instance, there may be no physical abuse involved, but the fact that a girl child is prevented from enjoying the rights conferred on her is also a form of violence. 

 

15.   Who are Scheduled Tribes? Elaborate.          4

Ans.:- Scheduled Tribes are those communities who are outside the caste system o our society. They live in hills, forest and coastal and desert areas, and even on islands. They have their own culture and social organization. They also had their own political system. In course of time, some of them have adopted Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Tribal art, dance and craft still have an intrinsic value polygamy and both monogamy are prevalent among Tribal. But some tribal also practice polyandry, for example, Toda and Khasa of Jaunsar Bawar.

 

16.   Explain the concept of plural society.            4

Ans.:- A plural society is defined by Fredrik Barth as a society combining ethic contrasts: the economic interdependence of those groups, and their ecological specialization (i.e. use of different environmental resources by each ethnic group). The ecological interdependence or the lack of completion, between ethnic groups may be based on the different activities in the same region or on long-term occupation of different regions is Defined by J S Furnivall as a medley of peoples- European, Chinese, Indian and native, who do mix but do not combine. Each group holds by its own religion, its own culture and language, its own ideas and ways.

 

17.   Explain the concept of cultural mosaic.         4

Ans.:- “Cultural mosaic” is the mix of ethnic groups, languages and cultures that coexist within society. The idea of a cultural mosaic is intended to suggest a form of multiculturalism, different from other systems such as the melting pot, which is often used to describe the United State’ supposed ideal of assimilation. Assimilation means that a person or group has acquired the values of another group to such an extent that it losses its identity. Assimilation is a process where close contact of persons of dissimilar cultures always results in fusion of cultural traits although borrowing may not be so pronounced in one direction as in the case of the other.

 

18.   What are the major characteristics of values? Discuss.          6

Ans.:- The major characteristics of values are:-

a)      Value is a matter of faith and belief.

b)      Values are abstract as they have cognitive elements.

c)       Values are normative in nature.

d)      Values are general ideas which people share.

e)      Values are related to the emotions and sentiments.

f)       Values are the bases for the choices of things.

g)      Values are relatively permanent.

h)      Values bring cohesiveness in society.

i)        Values are motivated for public welfare.

j)        Values have hierarchy in order.

 

19.   Define status. What are the characteristics of status? Describe.        6

Ans.:- Status:- The social honour or prestige which a particular group is accorded by other members of a society. Status groups normally involve distinct styles of life-patterns of behaviour which the members of a group follow.

Characteristics of Status

1.       Status is the result of needs and interests of society

2.       Status has some degree of authority  over others

3.       Status is relative

4.       Status may also indicate social stratification

5.       Status has certain privileges and immunities, such as the right to use certain premises, the services of a secretary etc.

6.       Status has some degree of prestige

7.       Status may also have right to remuneration

8.       Status cannot be isolated from role.

 

20.   What is intensive agriculture? Mention some of its advantages.      6

Ans.:- Intensive agriculture is also known as settled agriculture. It is a system of food production where the fields are regularly cultivated. Cultivators raise the fertility of soil by adding organic materials to it, such as dung from animals and human. Fields are irrigated. Besides the monsoon, the agriculturalists use irrigation from streams and rivers. Technology in intensive agriculture is far more complex. Ploughs are used rather than digging-sticks and hoes. Where mechanization has set in, tractors are used, and mechanical power has replaced the animal traction power.

Intensive agriculture has also led to fairly settled, large village communities. This has implication for the nature of inter-personal relations in an agricultural community. The horticulturalist, by comparison, live in small groups and shift from one place to another depending upon the piece of land they clear for cultivation.

 

21.   Explain various characteristics of industrial societies.            6

Ans.:- Industrial societies use external energy sources, such as fossil fuels, to increase the rate and scale of production. The production of food is shifted to large commercial farms where the products of industry, such as combine harvesters and fossil fuel-based fertilizers, are used to decrease required human labor while increasing production. No longer needed for the production of food, excess labor is moved into these factories where mechanization is utilized to further increase efficiency. As populations grow, and mechanization is further refined, often to the level of automation, many workers shift to expanding service industries.

Industrial society makes urbanization desirable, in part so that workers can be closer to centres of production, and the service industry can provide labor to workers and those that benefit financially from them, in exchange for a piece of production profits with which they can buy goods. This leads to the rise of very large cities and surrounding suburb areas with a high rate of economic activity.

 

22.   What is linguism? In what way is it harmful to national integration?              6.

Ans.:- Linguism is excessive love and bias in favour of people who speak a particular language.

Like communalism, linguism also poses a threat to national integration. Lingual loyalty is against the felling of oneness among the people of a nation. In linguism, the people forget about their national identity and attach more and more importance to their lingual identity. For the relative status of individual languages, they come in conflict and behave like enemy. They develop jealousy and hatred towards the people speaking other languages. They cause damage to lives and properties of other lingual groups. They behave as if they are not Indians. The people of south Indian states prefer English in place of Hindi language. That is why both Hindi and English have been declared as official languages.

 

SECTION-B

OTION-I

(STATUS OF WOMEN)

 

23.   In which year did the Constitution of India come into existence?     1

Ans.:- In the year 1950, the Constitution of India came into existence.

 

24.   What is gender-based socialization?              2

Ans.:- Gender Socialization is the tendency for boys and girls to be socialized differently. Boys are raised to conform to the male gender role, and girls are raised to conform to the female gender or role. A gender role is a set of behaviours, attitudes, and personality characteristics expected and encouraged of a person based on his or her sex.

 

25.   What is custodial rape?        2

Ans.:- Custodian rape is rape perpetrated by a person employed by the state in a supervisory or custodian position, such as a police officer, public servant or jail or hospital employee. It includes the rape of children in institutional care such a orphanages.

 

26.   Explain women’s movements.          4

Ans.:- Women’s movement refers to the struggles launched by individuals and groups for liberating women from the clutches (control) of social evils and also for establishing equality between men and women. Women’s movement is also referred to as the women’s Liberation Movement. The ideology of the women’s movement is that women have equal rights and opportunities available in society. Women’s movement believes in activism or action directed at ensuring that women get their rightful place in society. The women’s movement fights against oppression of women in all social institutions. It also acts as a pressure group (a group whose voices and actions influence public policy and public opinion) and urges the state to enact laws, which give women their due share in the economic and political affairs of the country.

 

27.   How did the practice of dowry start? Describe.         6

Ans.:- In a Hindu marriage a bride is given away by her parents to the bridegroom. This ritual is called Kanyadaana. The world daana stands for an act of handing over something to another person or an institution. In the case of a marriage, it is the bride or a kanaya who is handed over. The sacred texts have laid down that a daana, which is not accompanied by dakshina, is incomplete. The world dakshina is generally interpreted to mean an offering in the form of cash. Dakshina could well be a token amount of even a rupee. It is a mark of honour to receive daana and dakshina. At the same time, it is viewed to bring religious merit to the one giving a daana. Gradually, the amount of dakshina came to be used to forge marital links with grooms of higher caste and status. And over a period of time, this practice came to be misused and truned into a demand, which is put forth by a bridegroom for accepting a bride. Cutting across religions and castes dowry demands increased. To justify their actions, those who supported dowry argued that the system had religious sanctions. This is, however, not true. No religion would approve of such excesses.

 

OPTION-II

(CULTURE)

 

25. Name the famous monument in Agra.            1

Ans.:- Taj Mahal.

 

26. Name the two parts Veda is divided into.     2

Ans.:- Two parts of Veda is divided into are: Shukla Yajur Veda and Krishna Yajur Veda.

27. Explain the meaning of treatise.       2

Ans.:-  Treatise: A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.

28. Explain enculturation.            4

Ans.:- Enculturation refers to learning of cultural patterns form one generation to the next. All the while, new patterns are continuously added. Thus, enculturation ensures the processes of cultural continuity along with change in the society. Enculturation could take place either consciously or unconsciously or both ways. In this situation, the older generation invites or induces and compels the members of succeeding generations to adopt their ways of thinking and behaving. Thus, enculturation is based on the authority of the older generations to ensure that the younger generations do not adopt the cultural practices of other groups. In this way, the elders take full care that the existing values are imbibed by the new comers so that these values are further strengthened and continued.

 

29. Discuss the important agencies of communication which are the adjuncts of mass media.    6

Ans.:- There are important agencies of communication, which are adjuncts o the mass media. These are:

1.       The press associations collect and distribute news to the newspapers, television channels radio stations and newsmagazines.

2.       The syndicates offer background news and pictures, commentary and entertainment features to newspapers, television and radio and magazines.

3.       The advertising agencies, serve their business clients on the one hand and the mass media on the other.

4.       The advertising departments of companies and institutions play merchandising roles and public relations departments, serve in disseminating image-building information.

5.       The public relations counselling firms and publicity organisations offer information on behalf of their clients and,

6.       Research individuals and groups help gauge the impact of the message and guide mass media for more effective paths.