Exam-useful questions from this chapter, grouped by marks, each with a full model answer. Try writing the answer yourself first, then check it against this one.
1 1-Mark Questions
Q. Why does the chapter say no one starts Sociology from zero?
Answer: Because everyone already knows something about society before studying it, unlike History, Geography, Psychology or Economics, which a child is not expected to know anything about before school.
Q. Define self-reflexivity.
Answer: Self-reflexivity, or reflexivity, is the ability to reflect upon yourself, to turn back your gaze, which is usually directed outward, back towards yourself.
Q. What is ‘unlearning’, as used in this chapter?
Answer: Unlearning is setting aside our existing common-sense ideas about society before we can study it from a sociological point of view; the initial stage of learning Sociology consists mainly of this unlearning.
Q. Who is C. Wright Mills, as described in this chapter?
Answer: A well-known American sociologist who wrote about the links between personal troubles and social issues.
Q. What percentage of India’s population does the chapter say is the student’s age or younger?
Answer: About forty per cent (40%) of India’s population.
Q. What will Chapter 2 of this book examine, according to its preview in this chapter?
Answer: Chapter 2 examines the demographic structure of Indian society, including how sociologists and demographers study population, given that India is currently the second most populous country in the world and is projected to overtake China.
Q. What will Chapter 3 of this book examine, according to its preview in this chapter?
Answer: Chapter 3 revisits caste, tribe and family as the basic building blocks of Indian society, including how caste has changed over the centuries and how family forms are changing.
Q. What will Chapter 5 of this book examine, according to its preview in this chapter?
Answer: Chapter 5 looks at patterns of social inequality and exclusion in the context of caste, tribe, gender and the disabled.
Q. What will Chapter 6 of this book examine, according to its preview in this chapter?
Answer: Chapter 6 deals with the challenges posed by India’s immense cultural diversity, including the hard and complex side of the idea of ‘unity in diversity’.
Q. What will Chapter 7 of this book offer, according to its preview in this chapter?
Answer: Chapter 7 offers suggestions for students and their teachers to think about the practical component of the course.
2 2-Mark Questions
Q. Explain the two senses in which the chapter uses the word ‘partial’ for common-sense knowledge.
Answer: The chapter uses ‘partial’ in two senses at once: (1) incomplete, the opposite of whole, meaning it usually allows us to see only a part of social reality; and (2) biased, the opposite of impartial, meaning it is liable to be tilted towards the interests of one’s own social group.
Q. State one advantage and one disadvantage of prior knowledge about society for a student of Sociology.
Answer: Advantage: students are generally not afraid of Sociology, because they feel it cannot be a very hard subject to learn. Disadvantage: this same prior knowledge is a problem, because in order to learn Sociology properly, students must first unlearn what they already think they know.
Q. What condition does the chapter attach to self-reflexivity?
Answer: The chapter says this self-inspection must be critical: quick to criticise and slow to praise oneself. The book’s own purpose for self-reflexivity is to look at yourself ‘from the outside’.
Q. Name any four identities that the chapter says place a person on the ‘social map’.
Answer: Any four of: age group (e.g. ‘young people’), regional/linguistic community (e.g. a Gujarati speaker from Gujarat), economic class (based on parents’ occupation and family income), religious community, and caste or tribe.
Q. What does Book 1 cover, and what does Book 2 cover, according to this chapter?
Answer: Book 1 (this book) introduces the basic structure of Indian society. Book 2 is focussed on the specifics of social change and development in India.
Q. In what order does the chapter say colonialism and developmental policies brought about economic change in India?
Answer: The chapter’s own order is that the most sweeping and rapid economic changes were brought about first by colonialism, and then by developmental policies.
Q. What does the chapter say about caste as a feature of the Indian subcontinent?
Answer: The chapter describes caste as a unique feature of the Indian subcontinent that has always attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, and its Chapter 3 preview asks how caste has changed over the centuries and what it means today.
Q. What does the chapter offer ‘by way of an introduction to this introduction’?
Answer: The whole textbook is meant to introduce Indian society from a sociological rather than common sense point of view. The chapter asks what can be said by way of an introduction to this introduction, and answers by indicating in advance the larger processes that were at work in shaping Indian society, which are studied in detail in the chapters that follow.
Q. What is meant by ‘economic class’, according to the chapter’s own example?
Answer: Economic class is one of the identities on the social map, depending on a person’s parents’ occupation and family income; the chapter’s own examples are lower middle class or upper class.
3 4-Mark Questions
Q. Distinguish between a ‘personal trouble’ and a ‘social issue’, with examples from the chapter.
Answer: A personal trouble is an individual worry, problem or concern that everyone has, and it derives its meaning from one person’s own perspective; the chapter’s examples are unhappiness about how family or friends treat you, or worry about your future job. A social issue, by contrast, is about large groups of people, not about the individuals who happen to make them up.
Q. “Prior knowledge of society is both an advantage and a disadvantage for a student of Sociology.” Explain, using the chapter’s own reasoning.
Answer: It is an advantage because students already know something about society, so they are generally not afraid of Sociology and do not feel it will be a very hard subject. It is a disadvantage because this same prior knowledge, our common sense, comes from the viewpoint of our own social group, so it is partial: incomplete and biased. Because of this, the initial stage of learning Sociology consists mainly of unlearning this common sense, so that a sociological, less one-sided understanding of society can take its place.
Q. What is self-reflexivity, and what kind of self-inspection does the chapter say it requires?
Answer: Self-reflexivity is the ability to reflect upon yourself, to turn back your gaze, which is usually directed outward, back towards yourself, so that you can see what you look like to others. The chapter insists this self-inspection must be critical, quick to criticise and slow to praise oneself.
Q. Explain the idea of a ‘social map’, using at least four examples the chapter itself gives.
Answer: A social map tells you where you are located in society, through the different social identities you hold. The chapter’s own examples are: your age group (a seventeen or eighteen year old belongs to ‘young people’; people of that age or younger account for about 40% of India’s population); your regional or linguistic community (e.g. a Gujarati speaker from Gujarat, or a Telugu speaker from Andhra Pradesh); your economic class, based on your parents’ occupation and family income; and your religious community, caste or tribe. Each of these identities locates you on the social map and within a web of social relationships, and Sociology studies what kinds of groups exist, how they relate to each other, and what this means for your own life.
Q. Summarise, in your own words, what Chapters 2, 3 and 4 of this book are about, as previewed in Chapter 1.
Answer: Chapter 2 looks at the demographic structure of Indian society: India is currently the second most populous country in the world and is projected to overtake China, and the chapter asks whether our population is simply an obstacle to development, or can also be seen as helping development in some ways. Chapter 3 revisits caste, tribe and family as the basic building blocks of Indian society, asking how caste has changed over the centuries and what it means today, how the concept of ‘tribe’ entered India, and how family forms are changing. Chapter 4 explores the market as a social institution and a vehicle of change, noting that India’s most sweeping economic changes came first from colonialism and then from developmental policies.
4 6-Mark Questions
Q. “In one important sense, Sociology is unlike any other subject that you may have studied.” Explain this statement fully, referring to prior knowledge, unlearning, and self-reflexivity.
Answer: Sociology is different because no student starts it from zero: unlike History, Geography, Psychology or Economics, where a child is not expected to know anything before school, everyone already knows something about society simply from growing up in it. Even a six-year-old knows something about social relationships, and by seventeen or eighteen a student knows a great deal about their own society without ever having formally studied it. This prior knowledge is both an advantage, since it makes students unafraid of the subject, and a disadvantage, since this common sense comes from the viewpoint of one’s own social group and is therefore ‘partial’: incomplete, usually showing only a part of social reality, and biased, liable to be tilted towards one’s own group’s interests. Because of this, the initial stage of learning Sociology consists mainly of unlearning this common sense. What may be of even more interest, the chapter says, is that Sociology can teach self-reflexivity, the ability to turn one’s gaze back on oneself, critically, quick to criticise and slow to praise oneself, so as to see oneself the way others might see you, ‘from the outside’.
Q. Using the ideas of the ‘social map’ and ‘personal troubles versus social issues’, explain how Sociology helps a student understand their own life differently from common sense.
Answer: Common sense lets a person see their own life only from their own personalised viewpoint. Sociology adds two tools that change this. First, the ‘social map’: every person can be located through several social identities at once, such as age group, regional or linguistic community, economic class, religious community, and caste or tribe (the chapter’s own examples include a seventeen/eighteen year old belonging to ‘young people’, where people of that age or younger are about 40% of India’s population, or a Gujarati speaker from Gujarat). Seeing oneself on this map shows that one’s own situation is shared with many others in the same groups, not simply personal. Second, C. Wright Mills’ distinction between a personal trouble (an individual worry whose meaning is limited to one person’s own perspective, such as worry about one’s own future job) and a social issue (something about large groups, not about the individuals who make them up) lets a student see that what feels like a private worry may, once placed on the social map, turn out to be shared by an entire social group and therefore be a social issue rather than only a personal trouble. Together, these tools give a view of one’s own life that goes beyond common sense; the chapter’s own name for the ability to see yourself ‘from the outside’ is self-reflexivity.
Q. This chapter previews all six remaining chapters of the book. Summarise, in one or two sentences each, what every chapter from 2 to 7 covers.
Answer: Chapter 2, The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society, looks at how sociologists study population, given that India is currently the second most populous country in the world and is projected to overtake China. Chapter 3, Social Institutions: Continuity and Change, revisits caste, tribe and family as the basic building blocks of Indian society. Chapter 4, The Market as a Social Institution, explores the market as a vehicle of change, shaped first by colonialism and then by developmental policies. Chapter 5, Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion, looks at inequality and exclusion through caste, tribe, gender and the disabled. Chapter 6, The Challenges of Cultural Diversity, examines the hard, complex side of India’s ‘unity in diversity’; its preview notes that, despite all the failures and inadequacies, India has not done too badly on this front. Chapter 7, Suggestions for Project Work, offers some suggestions for students and teachers to think about the practical component of the course.
5 Case Studies
(A) 1 mark Is Meena’s own anxiety, by itself, a personal trouble or a social issue? Why?
Answer: It is a personal trouble, because it is an individual worry that derives its meaning from Meena’s own, personalised perspective.
(B) 2 marks Why does this uncertainty shared by many students across the whole district count as a social issue rather than a personal trouble?
Answer: Because it is about a large group of students across the district, not about any one individual’s private experience; it cannot be explained by looking at Meena alone.
(C) 3 marks Using the idea of the ‘social map’, explain how the identities that Meena shares with other students in her district (for example, a regional or linguistic community) might connect her personal anxiety to this wider social issue.
Answer: The social map places Meena within groups such as a regional or linguistic community, identities she shares with many other students in her district who face the same uncertainty. Seeing her worry through these shared identities, rather than as a purely individual feeling, is what lets Meena’s teacher (and Meena herself) connect her personal trouble to the larger social issue that Mills’ distinction points to.