100 + Sociology Questions and Answers for Ph.d Entrance Examination

Sociology questions and answers for upcoming Ph.d entrance examination. This will also assist the students & aspirants of MA, M.Phil, UPSC, IAS, Civil Services, Eligibility tests & UGC-SET to crack their competitive exams!

100+ Sociology Questions and Answers for Ph.d Entrance Examination

1. ‘Pattern variables’ are________ in number

(a) six

(b) four

(d) three

Ans. (c)

2. Who has codified and systematized functional analysis in terms of contemporary sociological theory __________?

(a) Merton

(b) Parsons

(d) Moore

Ans. (a)

3. ______ equates functional analysis with sociological analysis

(a) Kingsley Davis

(b) Wilbert Moore

(d) Parsons

Ans. (a)

4. ________ treats functionalism as a perspective which stops the motions of the system at a fixed point of time.

(a) Alex Inkles

(b) Bottomore

(d) Dahrendorf

Ans. (a)

5. _______ has provided a comprehensive historical account of conflict theory beginning with Kautilya’s Arthashashtra?

(a) Martindale

(b) M.N. Srinivas

(d) D P. Mukherjee

Ans. (a)

6. Who has categorised groups on the basis of their relations to other groups?

(a) E.A. Ross

(b) Mauss

(d) George Hasen

Ans. (d)

7. George Hasen has classified group as

(a) competitive, conflicting, cooperative

(b) unsocial, pseudo-social, antisocial, pro- social

(d) socializing, internalizing, reference

Ans. (b)

8. A field of study that acknowledges that culture and learning affect human behaviour, although its central hypothesis is that many adaptive behaviours are linked to genetic characteristics is

(a) Culturology

(b) Cultural biology

(d) Ethnology

Ans. (c)

9._______ are in short, rules that you know without knowing that you know them.

(a) Implicit norm

(b) Explicit norm

(b) Culture

(d) Customs

Ans. (a)

10. Organised Social Life emerges from

(a) social organisation

(b) social interaction

(d) social group

Ans. (b)

11. Female headed family are frequent among

(a) agricultural communities

(b) industrial communities

(d) post-industrial communities

Ans. (c)

12. Which among the following tribes/castes has high standard and rate of marriage stability?

(a) Nayars

(b) Ho

(d) Kharia

Ans. (c)

13. System of ’gerentocracy’ in tribals separated the

(a) Old from young

(b) Un-married youth from much married, polygynous elders.

(d) Economically rich and active youth with non-active and poor old

Ans. (b)

14. Marriage alliance between three or more persons is called

(a) Polyandry

(b) Trigamy

(d) Exogamy

Ans. (c)

15. Fill in the blanks. Inheritance rules therefore tend to indicate the________ a person has towards_______,

(a) Obligations, relatives

(b) Rights, sons only

(d) Rights, eldest son

Ans. (a)

16. Which of the following factors, according to Durkheim, obstruct changeover from mechanical to organic solidarity?

1. Anomie

2. Inadequate organisation

3. Inequality of opportunities

Select the correct answer from the codes given below-

Codes:

(a) 1 and 2

(b) 2 and 3

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Ans. (b)

17. Concentric zones pattern of city growth was propounded by

(a) Max Weber

(b) Homer Whyte

(d) Marris and Ulman

Ans. (d)

18. Who has propounded the multiple centre pattern in 1945?

(a) Morris and Ulman

(b) Robert Redfield

(d) Louis Wirth

Ans. (d)

19. A residence area characterized by structural decay, overcrowding, lack of recreational space and neglect of neighbourhood facilities is called

(a) Middle town

(b) Worker’s residents

(d) Zone in transition

Ans. (c)

20. When a slum is inhabited largely or exclusively by persons of a single ethnic or racial group, it may be called a

(a) Concentration

(b) Locality

(d) Ghetto

Ans. (a)

21. The book ‘Caste in Indian Politics’ is written by

(a) M.N. Srinivas

(b) F.G. Bailey

(d) Andre Beteille

Ans. (c)

22. The book ‘The Modernity of Tradition political Development in India’ is written by

(a) Rudolph and Rudolph

(b) M.N. Srinivas

(d) A. Beteille

Ans. (a)

23. Arguing with Weber, who has said that communist bureaucracy is as privileged as the capitalist class, on the basis of its monopoly of power?

(a) M. Djilas

(b) R. Dahrendorf

(d) Marshal Sahlens

Ans. (a)

24. Belief in Mana has been brought out as an important factor in the origin of the caste system in India by

(a) Hutton

(b) lbbetson

(d) Risley

Ans. (b)

25. Who called magic as the ‘bastard sister’ of science?

(a) Tylor

(b) Frazer

(d) Malinowski

Ans. (b)

26. Given below are the definitions of some forms of religion and magic. In these items one or more of the answers given may be correct. Decide which are correct and mark your answer sheet according to the codes given below –

(1) Religion is the result of intellectual speculation of the primitive man

(2) Animatism is a belief in the existence of material and natural force which resides in matter

(3) Animism is a belief in spirits residing in animate and inanimate objects

(4) Magical processes are the outcome of logical thinking and they aim at pleasing the deities

Codes:

(a) 1 and 3

(b) 2 and 4

(d) 4 only

Ans. (a)

27. Raymond Aron treats this American concept of class presented by L. Warner as

(a) Attributional

(b) Interactional

(d) Structural

Ans. (a)

28. Warner’s study of American class structure is close to

(a) Marx’s class structure

(b) Weber’s status group

(d) Veblen’s conspicuous consumption

Ans. (b)

29. Some form of ranking is universal and so presents in all societies including primitive societies. This observation is made by

(a) E. Durkheim

(b) K. Marx

(d) Marshal Sahlins

Ans. (d)

30. Malinowski’s study of the Trobriand Island clearly shows that the prestige and power are related to the

(a) Redistribution of wealth

(b) Dissemination of knowledge

(d) Good at fishing

Ans. (a)

31. The concept of ‘Cumulative Inequality’ is propounded by

(a) Andre Beteille

(b) M.N. Srinivas

(d) Makimm Marriott

Ans. (a)

32. Naotia tribes are inhabitant of?

(a) Tripura

(b) Sikkim

(d) Andaman

Ans. (a)

33. Recent sociological studies of property in industrial society have been largely concerned with two aspects. Which are these two?

1. The distribution of property and its social effects

2. Mode of production

3. Relation of production

4. The ownership and control of industrial enterprises in modern capitalism.

(a) 1 and 3

(b) 1 and 4

(d) 3 and 4

Ans. (b)

34. ‘Maori’ tribes were found in

(a) Australia

(b) New Zealand

(d) Canada

Ans. (b)

35. Which among the following is most isolated tribe of India?

(a) Sentinelese

(b) Kadar

(d) Sherdukpens

Ans. (a)

36. Khuntkatti Land system, which is joint holdings by khunts or tribal lineage were found in

(a) Khasa

(b) Munda

(d) Gond

Ans. (b)

37. Which of the following pair(s) is/are correctly matched?

1. Variation in mortality with age represents a ‘J’ shaped curve – Characteristic of developed countries

2. Concept of proximate variables of fertility – Contribution of K. Davis and Judith Blake

3. Variation in mortality represents ‘U’ shaped curve – Characteristic of under developed countries

4. Net reproduction rate (NRR) is equal to one – A stagnant population

Select the correct answer using the codes given below-

Codes:

(a) 2 and 3

(b) 1 and 3

(d) 4 alone

Ans. (a)

38. Low birth-weight and pregnancy wastage in the population are primarily due to

(a) traditional practices

(b) maternal malnutrition

(d) insufficient health care

Ans. (c)

39. Based on the 1981-91 decennial growth rate of population, states with the highest and the lowest growth rates are respectively

(a) Arunachal Pradesh and Goa

(b) Nagaland and Kerala

(d) Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu

Ans. (c)

40. The difference between the number of people coming into the area and those going out of that area is called

(a) volume of migration

(b) natural migration

(d) gross migration

Ans. (c)

41. Which one of the following measures of fertility can be computed from date on sex and age alone from a single census?

(a) Child-woman ratio

(b) Total fertility rate

(d) Age specific fertility rate

Ans. (a)

42. In a frequency distribution the last cumulative frequency is 300, Median shall lie in:

(a) 140^th item

(b) 150^th item

(d) 130^th item

Ans. (b)

43. Step deviation method to estimate arithmetic mean can be applied only when:

(a) it is a discrete series

(b) it is an individual series we are examining

(d) deviations are divisible by a common factor

Ans. (d)

44. The mean monthly salary paid to all employees of a company is Rs.5000. The mean monthly salary paid to male and female employees is Rs.5,250 and Rs.4,000 respectively. The percentage of females in total employees is:

(a) 60 percent

(b) 10 percent

(d) 40 percent

Ans. (c)

45. The sum of deviations taken from actual arithmetic mean is:

(a) zero

(b) infinite

(d) negative

Ans. (a)

46. The formula for the calculation of the Mode is:

(a) Mode = 3 Mean – 2 Median

(b) Mode = 2 Mdn. – 2 Mean

(d) Mode = 4 Mdn. – 3 Mean

Ans. (c)

47. Consider the following statements:

1. External family consists of two mates of opposite sex and their offspring.

2. Conjugal family consists of two mates of opposite sex and their offspring.

3. Consanguineous family consists of two mates of opposite sex and their offspring.

Which of the statements given above is correct?

(A) 1 only

(B) 2 only

(D) None

Ans. (B)

48. Which among the following statements is not correct?

(A) In past communities used to be self-sufficient, politically, socially or economically.

(B) No community can be self-sufficient these days

(D) The term community denotes almost uniformly and permanently shared lives of people over a definite range.

Ans. (A)

49. Consider the following statements about family:

1. Family regulates sexual behaviour through incest taboo.

2. Family provides ethnics identity.

3. Family serves as an occupational guild.

4. Family provides predictable social contexts within which its children are to be socialized.

Which of the above statements are correct?

(A) 1, 2 and 3

(B) 1, 2 and 4

(D) 2 and 4

Ans. (B)

50. Choose the answer by using code to identify Malinowski’s work:

1. ‘Crime and Custom in Savage Society’

2. ‘Argonants of Western Pacific

3. ‘Magic Science, Religion and Other Essays’

4. Sex and Repression

(A) 1, 2

(B) 2 only

(D) 1, 2, 4

Ans. (C)

51. Those aspects of social life that have to do with order, stability, and social organization that allow societies and groups to hold together and endure are called:

(A) social statics.

(B) social dynamics.

(D) constructed reality.

Ans. (A)

52. Which of the following explains about the status of religion in rural society is not correct?

(A) Village economy is dependent on nature

(B) Religious outlook dominates other aspects of rural life

(D) Religion occupies a core place in all the activities of rural life

Ans. (C)

53. After Marx, the concept of alienation began more and more to be regarded as a socio-psychological condition of the individual. Who in this context isolated the concept of alienation into powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, isolation and self-estrangement?

(A) Eric Fromm

(B) R. Blauner

(D) R. K. Merton

Ans. (C)

54. Who was the person, who deliberated upon the above views?

He introduced the distinction between the law of public delicts and the law of private delict which allowed for a sociological discussion of the different types of sanctions aroused by offences of each type, even when the actual offence may in one society be socially regarded as of a different category from that in another. Murder for instance is a public delict in modern western societies but among some people it is private delict-

(A) R. Brown

(B) B. Malinowski

(D) Anthony Giddens

Ans. (A)

55. Who defined family in this way?

The family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption; constituting a single household, interacting and intercommunicating with each other in their respective social role of husband and wife, mother and father, brother and sister; creating a common culture’-

(A) L.H. Morgan

(B) Maclver and Page

(D) Park and Burgess

Ans. (C)

56. Identify the sociologist-

A social system basically consists of two or more individuals interacting directly or indirectly in a bounded situation. However, a more specific definition of social system has been given by a noted sociologist, who defines it as consisting in ‘a plurality of individual actor interacting with each other in a situation which has at least a physical or environmental aspect, actors who are motivated in terms of a tendency to the “optimization of gratification” and whose relations to their situations including each other is defined and mediated in terms of a system of culturally structured and shared symbols.’-

(A) A. M. Henderson

(B) Ralf Dahrendorf

(D) Max Weber

Ans. (C)

57. While analysing the development of ‘self’ who has used the concept ‘significant others’?

(a) Maclver

(b) Cooley

(d) Giddings

Ans. (c)

58. Which of the following is not one of the criticisms against sociology having its own subject matter?

(a) Sociology is merely a mixture of varied studies disciplines having social content

(b) The subject matter of sociology is disintegrated into various other social sciences

(d) The subject matter of sociology is a part of society.

Ans. (d)

Community and Association:

59. In rural society even now a family is like:

(a) A society

(b) A community

(d) An association

Ans. (d)

60. In India the institution of family has a trend towards:

(a) Joint family

(b) Single family

(d) Matriarchal family

Ans. (b)

61. These days in India the institution of marriage is weakening because:

(a) Our religious leaders are becoming rigid

(b) Women are becoming economically self-sufficient

(d) People prefer small size family

Ans. (b)

62. Agriculture was evolved independently in Southeastern, South-western Asia and the New World. This is an example of:

(a) Diffusion

(b) Covergent evolution

(d) Culture area

Ans. (b)

63. ‘Style of life’ concept which attempts to explain culture integration was given by:

(a) Hadden

(b) Redcliffe Brown

(d) Linton

Ans. (c)

64. Which one of the following factors is not responsible for cultural Jag?

(a) Religion

(b) Laws

(d) Traditionalism

Ans. (c)

65. Who of the following is the author of the book entitled ‘The Decline of the West’?

(a) Oswald Spengler

(b) R.M. Maclver

(d) Arnold J. Toynbee

Ans. (a)

66. Culture is a __________ heritage of man:

(a) Individual

(b) Cultural

(d) None of the above

Ans. (c)

67. Primary groups are __________ whereas secondary groups are_______:

(a) Non-contractual, Non-economic

(b) Relationship-directed, goal-oriented

(d) Non-political, Ideal

Ans. (b)

68. The concept of ‘reference-group’ was first given by:

(a) Hayman

(b) Merton

(d) Robert Bierstod

Ans. (a)

69. Who of the following has said about herd that ‘It is not mode of life but an incident, an eruption, sometimes a disturbance of an established social pattern’?

(a) Gillin and Gillin

(b) K. Young

(d) Maclver

Ans. (d)

70. Which of the following does not hold true of the crowd?

(a) There is no question of maintaining discipline

(b) There is definite motive of the crowd

(d) No efforts are made to maintain interest of the people

Ans. (b)

71. Which of the following is not the difference between a primary and a secondary group?

(a) In primary group size is small whereas in secondary group it is large

(b) In primary group members are spread in limited area whereas in secondary group over vast area

(d) In primary group members cooperate spontaneously whereas that is not the case with secondary group

Ans. (c)

72. In our modern society which one of the following is not relevant factor in status?

(a) Extent of distribution of rewards

(b) Hereditary position of the ancestors

(d) Influence in administration

Ans. (b)

73. Which one of the following is not relevant to status?

(a) It helps in specialisation of functions

(b) It is essential for promotion of responsibility

(d) It helps in developing honesty and integrity.

Ans. (d)

74. Who has said in relevance to status that, “Every society, no matter how simple or complex, must differentiate persons in terms of both prestige and esteem.”

(a) Ginsberg

(b) Gillin and Gillin

(d) Merton

Ans. (c)

75. Status is essential-

(a) For an individual only

(b) For the society as a whole

(d) Both for the individual and the society

Ans. (d)

76. ______ refers to formally designated position in a group with officially specified rights and duties.

(a) Formal status

(b) Legal status

(d) Functional status

Ans. (a)

77. Deviant behaviour of one generation:

(a) is usually same for the other generation as well

(b) can become norm for the other generation

(d) cannot become norm of another generation

Ans. (c)

78. About social deviant behaviour it is believed that:

(a) it has direct relationship with family atmosphere

(b) family atmosphere has nothing to do with it

(d) none of the above statement is true

Ans. (c)

79. Physical theory about socially deviant behaviour makes one believe that:

(a) all types of bodies are equally receptive to deviant behaviour.

(b) no body is inclined towards deviant behaviour

(d) some type of bodies will be receptive to deviant behaviour in the same manner

Ans. (a)

80. Anomic arises due to:

(a) normless confusion in norms

(b) rigidity of norms

(d) individual strictness

Ans. (c)

81. Beginning of new norms is usually due to:

(a) unhappy family relations

(b) resentment against existing socio-economic

(d) outdated educational system

Ans. (d)

82. Which one of the following has not been characterised as a negative function of competition by H.T. Mazumdar?

(a) It may lead to neurosis

(b) It may lead to monopoly

(d) It may lead to social disharmony

Ans. (d)

83. Which one of the following is not a true statement about competition?

(a) It enhances one’s ego

(b) It is conducive to efficiency

(d) It creates respect for rules of the game

Ans. (c)

84. Which one of the following is not an important function of competition? It helps-

(a) In determining the status of an individual in the hierarchy

(b) To stimulate economy

(d) In inventiveness

Ans. (c)

85. Which of the following is not the characteristic of competition?

(a) It is found among all the species

(b) It is an inborn tendency

(d) Its degree is determined by social values

Ans. (b)

86. Which of the following is not true of competition?

(a) It is entirely un-restricted

(b) It aims at banishing or destroying the enemy

(d) It helps in the elimination of force of fraud

Ans. (b)

87. __________ is a form of marriage in which men of lower caste marry women of superior caste.

(a) Anuloma

(b) Pratiloma

(d) Sororate

Ans. (b)

88. A Muslim can marry ________ wives at a time.

(a) two

(b) three

(d) six

Ans. (c)

89._____ is the rule that restricts marriages to persons outside of specific groups.

(a) Exogamy

(b) Endogamy

(d) Levirate

Ans. (a)

90. When one woman marriages several men at a time, the form of marriage is called___________.

(a) polygamy

(b) polygyny

(d) monogamy

Ans. (c)

91. Who has defined marriage as “a ‘contract’ for the production and maintenance of children”?

(a) Malinowski

(b) Westermarck

(d) Tylor

Ans. (a)

92. What is a matrilocal family?

(a) A family in which the wife is chosen from the local caste

(b) A family in which the wife is chosen from the local village

(d) A family belonging to one locality

Ans. (c)

93. Which of the following is an essential function of family according to Maclver?

(a) Stable satisfaction of sexual need

(b) Production of rearing of children

(d) All of the above

Ans. (d)

94. Which of the following is NOT the characteristic of family?

(a) It is based on mating relationship

(b) It is essentially based on duration of the marriage

(d) Each family has some nomenclature

Ans. (b)

95. Which one of the following is NOT the characteristic of family?

(a) It can be reckoned either from male or female like

(b) In it the head of the family is expected to meet economic needs of the members

(d) It can consist of any type of marriage

Ans. (c)

96. The system under which woman can marry more than one husband and keep all of them with herself is known as-

(a) polyandrous

(b) polygamous

(d) procreation

Ans. (a)

97. The bond between the blood relatives is called-

(a) affinal kinship

(b) consanguineal kinship

(d) secondary kinship

Ans. (b)

98. _________is a kind of kinship usages.

(a) Avoidance

(b) Promiscuity

(d) Seduction

Ans. (a)

99. A group is said to be a ‘broad range’ or narrow range’, according to the number of persons it includes-

(a) family

(b) clan

(d) kinship

Ans. (d)

100. If a person is related to ‘ego’ directly, then he is ego’s___________.

(a) secondary kin

(b) direct kin

(d) first kin

Ans. (c)

101. Which one of the following does not influence kinship today?

(a) Shift on urbanisation

(b) Emergence of new occupational societies

(d) Disintegration of joint family system

Ans. (d)

102. Basis of social stratification is:

(a) social inequality

(b) social harmony

(d) social problems

Ans. (a)

103. Which one of the following is NOT a salient feature of social disorganisation?

(a) It is conflict between the old and the new order

(b) It is outcome of transfer of functions from one group to the other

(d) It is the outcome of rigid political party system

Ans. (d)

104. Which one is NOT true of social disorganisation?

(a) It is a malady

(b) It is a process

(d) Social organisation of today can he disorganisation of tomorrow

Ans. (a)

105. Which of the following classification of social problems has been given by Harold A. Phelps?

(a) Physical, cultural and economic

(b) Heritage-physical, biological and cultural

(d) Customs-new, outdated, continuing

Ans. (a)

106. Social problem may be defined as conditions which:

(a) effect a group of people

(b) effect a class of people

(d) adversely effect large number of people

Ans. (d)

107. In the beginning, in the world the type of society which existed was:

(a) feudal

(b) agrarian

(d) religious

Ans. (b)

108. Life in agrarian society was based on:

(a) strict division of labour

(b) division of unavoidable labour

(d) iron law of wages

Ans. (c)

109. In post-agrarian society, as compared with the agrarian society, the life:

(a) was simple

(b) was less burdensome

(d) contacts were more personal and formal

Ans. (c)

110. Which of the following was NOT one of the characteristic of post-agrarian society?

(a) Feudal system had begun

(b) Cultivation system had developed

(d) Neighbourhood contacts had become strong

Ans. (d)

111. Which one of the following is true of industrial society?

(a) controls are more informal than formal

(b) crime rate is always high

(d) the people live comfortably

Ans. (a)

112. ‘A condition in which individuals did not freely choose their occupations but were forced into them’. This type of division was called by Durkheim as-

(a) anomie

(b) forced

(d) authoritarian

Ans. (b)

113. A condition in which there was a permanent division of labour between labour and capital was known as-

(a) anomie

(b) useless

(d) improper

Ans. (a)

114. Which of the following is NOT a form of division of labour?

(a) social division of labour

(b) technical division of labour

(d) decentralized division of labour

Ans. (d)

115. Which of the following is another name of the territorial division of labour?

(a) Social division of labour

(b) Technical division of labour

(d) Socialization of industries

Ans. (d)

116. When division is made into different occupations it is known as ___________.

(a) technical division of labour

(b) social division of labour

(d) all of the above

Ans. (b)

117. Who said this?

“The owners of mere labour-power, the owners of capital and the landlords whose respective sources of income are wages, profit, rent, in other words, wage labourers, capitalists, and landlords, form the three great classes of modern society resting upon the capitalist mode of production”.

(a) Karl Marx

(b) Max Weber

(d) C.W. Mills

Ans. (a)

118. Which of the following ideologies supports the institution of private property?

(a) Syndicalism

(b) Socialism

(d) None of the above

Ans. (d)

119. “The Puritan wanted work to be his’ vocation; we are forced to want it,” who said these words?

(a) Ginsberg

(b) Max Weber

(d) J.A. Schumpeter

Ans. (b)

120. Trade union is-

(a) an occupational group

(b) a business group

(d) a familial group

Ans. (a)

121. Trade unions grew-

(a) in industrialized societies

(b) in the ruralized societies

(d) in the primitive societies

Ans. (a)

122. According to Polyani-

(a) few empirical economies display more than one principle of allocation

(b) most empirical economies display more than one principle of allocation

(d) none of the above

Ans. (b)