This page normally carries full solutions to the NCERT textbook’s own back-of-chapter Exercises. Chapter 1, Introducing Indian Society, carries no formal Exercises section at all in the NCERT textbook. This is a genuine feature of the book, not a gap in this page.
NCERT’s Indian Society textbook (Reprint 2026-27) prints Chapter 1 as a short, four-page orientation chapter. It ends straight after previewing Chapters 2 to 7, with no “Exercises” heading and no numbered questions. In the CBSE Class 12 Sociology curriculum for 2026-27, Unit 1 “Introducing Indian Society” is marked Non-evaluative.
1 Chapter Concept-Check Questions
Since there is no official Exercise to solve, here are short concept-check questions built directly from this chapter’s own content, each with a full answer. Use these to test yourself, exactly the way you would use the book’s Exercises in a later chapter.
Q. Why does the chapter say that, in one important sense, Sociology is unlike any other subject you may have studied?
Answer: Because no one starts Sociology from zero: everyone already knows something about society before ever studying it, unlike History, Geography, Psychology or Economics, where a child is not expected to know anything about the subject before school.
Q. In what two senses does the chapter say common-sense knowledge about society is “partial”?
Answer: Incomplete, the opposite of whole, meaning it usually allows us to see only a part of social reality; and biased, the opposite of impartial, meaning it is liable to be tilted towards the viewpoints and interests of one’s own social group.
Q. Define self-reflexivity, and state the one condition the chapter attaches to it.
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. The chapter’s condition is that this self-inspection must be critical: quick to criticise and slow to praise oneself.
Q. Using C. Wright Mills’ distinction, explain the difference between a personal trouble and a social issue.
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, on the other hand, is about large groups of people, not about the individuals who happen to make up those groups.
Q. What does Book 1 (this book) cover, and what does Book 2 cover?
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. List, in one line each, what Chapters 2 to 7 of this book cover.
Answer: Chapter 2, The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society: population and demography. Chapter 3, Social Institutions: Continuity and Change: caste, tribe and family. Chapter 4, The Market as a Social Institution: the market, shaped first by colonialism and then by developmental policies. Chapter 5, Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion: inequality through caste, tribe, gender and the disabled. Chapter 6, The Challenges of Cultural Diversity: the hard side of “unity in diversity”. Chapter 7, Suggestions for Project Work: some suggestions for students and teachers to think about the practical component of the course.