22 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in the common exam-style shapes. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markThe word ‘demography’ is formed from two Greek words meaning:
(A) birth and death(B) society and study(C) land and measure(D) people and describe - 1 markThe death rate of a country is best understood as which kind of phenomenon?
(A) A statistical phenomenon(B) An individual phenomenon(C) A social phenomenon(D) An arithmetical phenomenon - 1 markAccording to Malthus, population grows in which kind of progression?
(A) Harmonic(B) Geometric(C) It does not grow in any regular pattern(D) Arithmetic - 1 markHow many basic stages does the theory of demographic transition describe?
(A) Two(B) Three(C) Four(D) Five - 1 markHow many crores of people did India have in 2011?
(A) 141 crores(B) 134 crores(C) 102 crores(D) 121 crores - 1 markThe share of the 0-14 age group fell from its peak of 42% in 1971 to what level forty years later?
(A) 38%(B) 29%(C) 23%(D) 34% - 1 markIn 2011 there were how many females per 1000 males in India?
(A) 972(B) 933(C) 943(D) 927 - 1 markThe Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act has been in force since:
(A) 1996(B) 2001(C) 2003(D) 1991 - 1 markThe coercive programme of mass sterilisation was introduced during:
(A) The National Population Policy of 2000(B) The first Five Year Plan(C) The National Emergency of 1975-76(D) The Green Revolution years
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): India’s demographic transition is not yet complete.
Reason (R): India’s mortality rate has been reduced but its birth rate has not been brought down to the same extent.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, R is false(D) A is false, R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): The fall in India’s child sex ratio is explained mainly by maternal mortality.
Reason (R): Maternal mortality rates in India have been coming down, although they remain high by international standards.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, R is false(D) A is false, R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch the indicator with what it counts:
List I: (i) Birth rate (ii) Infant mortality rate (iii) Sex ratio (iv) Fertility rate
List II: (1) Live births per 1000 women aged 15 to 49 (2) Females per 1000 males (3) Deaths of babies under one year per 1000 live births (4) Live births per 1000 population
(A) i-4, ii-2, iii-3, iv-1(B) i-1, ii-3, iii-2, iv-4(C) i-4, ii-3, iii-2, iv-1(D) i-3, ii-4, iii-1, iv-2 - 1 markMatch the state with its total fertility rate in 2016:
List I: (i) Bihar (ii) Uttar Pradesh (iii) Madhya Pradesh (iv) Rajasthan
List II: (1) 2.7 (2) 3.3 (3) 3.1 (4) 2.8
(A) i-2, ii-3, iii-4, iv-1(B) i-1, ii-2, iii-3, iv-4(C) i-3, ii-2, iii-1, iv-4(D) i-2, ii-1, iii-4, iv-3
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markConsider the following statements about formal demography:
(i) It is primarily concerned with the measurement and analysis of the components of population change.
(ii) It enquires into the wider social causes and consequences of population change.
Which of the statements is or are correct?
(A) Both (i) and (ii)(B) (i) only(C) Neither (i) nor (ii)(D) (ii) only - 1 markConsider the following statements:
(i) The lowest child sex ratios in India are found in its most prosperous regions.
(ii) Selective abortion in India is caused mainly by poverty and lack of resources.
Which of the statements is or are correct?
(A) (ii) only(B) Neither (i) nor (ii)(C) (i) only(D) Both (i) and (ii)
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange these events in chronological order:
(i) Regular decennial censuses begin in India
(ii) The American census, probably the first modern census
(iii) Censuses begin to be conducted in India by the British Indian government
(iv) Independent India’s first census
(A) (iii), (ii), (i), (iv)(B) (ii), (i), (iii), (iv)(C) (ii), (iii), (i), (iv)(D) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markThe difference between the birth rate and the death rate is called the ______.
(A) replacement level(B) dependency ratio(C) fertility rate(D) rate of natural increase - 1 markAn epidemic that affects a very wide geographical area is called a ______.
(A) pandemic(B) syndrome(C) contagion(D) endemic
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich one does not belong with the others, judged by the total fertility rate in 2016?
(A) Tamil Nadu(B) Himachal Pradesh(C) Bihar(D) Andhra Pradesh
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
The demographic advantage or ‘dividend’ to be derived from the age structure of the population is due to the fact that India is, and will remain for some time, one of the youngest countries in the world. A third of India’s population was below 15 years of age in 2011. In 2020, the average Indian was only 29 years old, compared with an average age of 37 in China and the United States, 45 in Western Europe, and 48 in Japan. 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.
- 1 markAccording to the passage, what share of India’s population was below 15 years of age in 2011?
(A) A quarter(B) Half(C) Two-fifths(D) A third - 1 markAccording to the passage, the demographic potential converts into actual growth only if the rise in the working age group is accompanied by rising levels of:
(A) Savings and investment(B) Education and employment(C) Urbanisation and migration(D) Literacy and life expectancy
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markState whether the following are true or false:
(i) The Indian census is the largest such exercise in the world.
(ii) China conducts a regular decennial census.
(A) (i) true, (ii) true(B) (i) true, (ii) false(C) (i) false, (ii) true(D) (i) false, (ii) false
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (D) Demos means people and graphein means to describe, so demography literally means the description of people.
- (C) Although a death rate is built by adding up individual deaths, the rate itself is a social phenomenon and must be explained at the social level. Durkheim made the same argument about suicide rates.
- (B) Malthus held that population rises in geometric progression (2, 4, 8, 16, 32) while agricultural production grows only in arithmetic progression (2, 4, 6, 8, 10).
- (B) The theory describes three basic stages: low growth in an underdeveloped society, very high growth in the transitional stage, and low growth again in a developed society.
- (D) The Census of India 2011 recorded 121 crores, or 1.21 billion, making India the second most populous country in the world after China.
- (B) Table 2 shows the under-15 share falling from 42% in 1971 to 29% in 2011, and it is projected to fall further to 23% by 2026.
- (C) The sex ratio rose to 943 females per 1000 males in 2011, from its all-time low of 927 in 1991 and 933 in 2001.
- (A) The Act has been in force since 1996 and was further strengthened in 2003.
- (C) During the Emergency, normal parliamentary and legal procedures were suspended and the government introduced a coercive programme of mass sterilisation, which the new government elected afterwards abandoned.
Assertion-Reason
- (A) Both are true and R is exactly the reason the chapter gives: the transition is incomplete precisely because mortality has fallen further than fertility.
- (D) A is false. Maternal mortality has been falling, so it is difficult to see how it could explain a worsening sex ratio; the chapter locates the cause in the differential treatment of girl babies. R is true, and it is the chapter’s reason for doubting A.
Match the Following
- (C) Birth rate = live births per 1000 population (4); infant mortality rate = deaths of babies under one year per 1000 live births (3); sex ratio = females per 1000 males (2); fertility rate = live births per 1000 women aged 15 to 49 (1).
- (A) The chapter gives the TFRs for 2016 as Bihar 3.3 (2), Uttar Pradesh 3.1 (3), Madhya Pradesh 2.8 (4) and Rajasthan 2.7 (1).
Statement-Based Questions
- (B) Statement (i) is correct. Statement (ii) describes population studies or social demography, not formal demography, which is a largely quantitative field.
- (C) Statement (i) is correct. Statement (ii) is the opposite of the chapter’s conclusion: Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi have high per capita income and still low child sex ratios, so the problem is not due to poverty, ignorance or lack of resources.
Chronological Ordering
- (C) The American census was in 1790, Indian censuses began between 1867 and 1872, decennial censuses started in 1881, and independent India’s first census was in 1951.
Fill in the Blanks
- (D) The rate of natural increase, also called the growth rate of population, is the difference between the birth rate and the death rate.
- (A) The chapter defines a pandemic this way when describing the 1918-19 influenza epidemic, also known as Spanish Flu.
Odd One Out
- (C) Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu had brought their total fertility rate down to 1.7 in 2016. Bihar still had a very high TFR of 3.3, the highest of the four high-fertility states the chapter names.
Passage-Based Questions
- (D) The passage states that a third of India’s population was below 15 years of age in 2011.
- (B) The passage names education and employment. Uneducated new entrants have low productivity, and unemployed ones become dependants rather than earners.
True / False
- (B) Statement (i) is true. Statement (ii) is untrue: China has a slightly larger population but does not conduct regular censuses, which is exactly why India’s is the largest such exercise.
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