Important Questions on Caste System
Important Questions on Social Stratification
Importance Questions on Social Class
Q1: Which of these is a disadvantage of the caste system?
A) Equality
B) Diversity
C) Discrimination
D) Integration
Answer: C) Discrimination
Explanation:
The caste system can lead to discrimination, stereotypes, and mistreatment based solely on caste identity. This can develop negative stereotypes and beliefs about those born in lower castes, leading to discrimination, violence, and other forms of mistreatment based on an individual's caste identity.
Q2: What do you call a social system in which a social position is fixed for a lifetime?`
A) Caste System
B) Class System
C) Meritocracy
D) Feudal System
Answer: A) Caste System
Explanation:
In the caste system, people can do little or nothing to change their social standing determined by birth. The caste system determines all aspects of an individual's life, such as occupation, marriage partners, and housing.
Q3: In Indian Society, what is the function of caste?
A) To promote equality
B) To provide social mobility
C) To determine occupation
D) To eliminate discrimination
Answer: C) To determine occupation
Explanation:
One of the most distinctive factors of the caste system is the close link between castes and occupations, especially in rural India. Dalits or Scheduled Castes are clustered in the least well-paid and most degrading manual labor occupations. Features of the caste system include hereditary status, endogamy, fixed occupations, and reinforcement by religious beliefs.
Q4: Who were the propounders of the religious theory of the origin of caste?
A) Max Weber and Karl Marx
B) Hocart and Senart
C) Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons
D) Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer
Answer: B) Hocart and Senart
Explanation:
According to Hocart and Senart, social stratification originated due to religious principles and customs in ancient India, where the king was considered the image of God. Different groups considered themselves distinct based on the deities they believed in.
Q5: Which theory of the origin of caste is supported by Nesfield?
A) Racial Theory
B) Religious Theory
C) Occupational Theory
D) Political Theory
Answer: C) Occupational Theory
Explanation:
Nesfield regarded the caste system as a natural product of the occupational division of Hindu society. He believed that initially, there was no rigidity, but over time, occupations became fixed, leading to the formation of castes based on fixed occupations.
Q6: Which of the following is not a feature of the caste system?
A) Exogamy
B) Endogamy
C) Hereditary status
D) Hierarchy
Answer: A) Exogamy
Explanation:
The features of the caste system are segmentary division, hierarchy, endogamy, hereditary status, hereditary occupation, food and drink restrictions, and the idea of pollution. Exogamy (marrying outside one's caste) is not a feature of the caste system.
Q7: Which was an economic system found in Indian villages where lower castes performed services for upper castes in exchange for goods or grains?
A) Barter system
B) Jajmani system
C) Feudal system
D) Market economy
Answer: B) Jajmani system
Explanation:
The Jajmani system was an economic system found in Indian villages where lower castes performed services for upper castes in exchange for goods. It was studied by W.H. Wiser, S.C. Dube, M. Opler, K. Ishwaran, and others, but not by K. Gough. K. Gough studied the Nayars of Kerala and their matrilineal system.
Q8: Who among the following classified three aspects of caste: secular, ideological, integrative?
A) Rajani Kothari
B) M.N. Srinivas
C) Louis Dumont
D) Andre Beteille
Answer: A) Rajani Kothari
Explanation:
According to Rajani Kothari, caste has three aspects: secular (relations within and between castes), integrative (differentiation and integration), and ideological (value structure). Kothari studied the relationship between caste and politics.
Q9: In modern industrialized society, the status of women in industry-
A) Has drastically fallen
B) Has remained unchanged
C) Has gradually risen
D) Has led to complete gender parity
Answer: C) Has gradually risen
Explanation:
Industrialization introduced new job opportunities for women, shifting work concepts. Women's roles changed considerably as they took on jobs as wage earners in the workplace. The availability of manufactured products diminished women's position as producers in the home, but their new role was to make the home a refuge for working males.
Q10: Structured inequalities between groups in society in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards is a definition of which of the following?
A) Social mobility
B) Social stratification
C) Social cohesion
D) Social integration
Answer: B) Social stratification
Explanation:
Social stratification is a system of structured inequalities that exist between different groups of people in a society. The concept of social stratification is based on the idea that societies are divided into different layers or strata, with some groups having more resources and opportunities than others. These inequalities are based on differences in access to material or symbolic rewards, such as wealth, power, education, and status.
Q11: Which of the following dimensions are included in Max Weber's analysis of social stratification?
A) Wealth, Power, and Prestige
B) Race, Ethnicity, and Class
C) Class, Status, and Power
D) Education, Occupation, and Income
Answer: C) Class, Status, and Power
Explanation:
Class: Economic dimension of stratification, based on individuals' relationship to the means of production and their access to resources. Status: Social prestige and honor, defined by lifestyle, consumption patterns, and social recognition, not just wealth. Power: Ability to exert one's will, even over the resistance of others, often associated with political influence and authority.
Q12: Which type of poverty is a condition where household income is a certain percentage below median incomes in the society?
A) Absolute poverty
B) Extreme poverty
C) Situational poverty
D) Relative poverty
Answer: D) Relative poverty
Explanation:
Relative poverty is the condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live. Relative poverty line is defined relative to some measure of welfare for the entire population. In other words, what determines relative poverty is the overall income level or standard of living in a society. A relative poverty line is set in relation to the overall distribution of income or consumption in a country/region of reference.
Q13: Birth is considered as what type of base of stratification?
A) Economic
B) Political
C) Biological
D) Cultural
Answer: C) Biological
Explanation:
Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, etc. The basis on Forms of Social Stratification — Biological stratification on Biological basis — age, sex, birth, race. Hence, Birth can be considered as the Social base of stratification.
Q14: Who stated the evolutionary perspective of stratification?
A) Karl Marx
B) Gerhard Lenski
C) Max Weber
D) Emile Durkheim
Answer: B) Gerhard Lenski
Explanation:
Ecological-evolutionary theory is a sociological theory of sociocultural evolution that attempts to explain the origin and changes of society and culture. Key elements focus on the importance of natural environment and technological change. It has been described as a theory of social stratification, as it analyzes how stratification has changed through time across different societies. Proposed by Gerhard Lenski, the theory is best articulated in his book, Ecological-Evolutionary Theory: Principles and Applications (2005).
Q15: "Style of life" is associated with which form of social stratification?
A) Class
B) Power
C) Status
D) Wealth
Answer: C) Status
Explanation:
Weberian stratification or the three-class system was developed by German sociologist Max Weber with class, status, and party as distinct ideal types. Weber developed a multidimensional approach to social stratification that reflects the interplay among wealth, prestige, and power. Status refers to the prestige and respect with which a person or status position is regarded by others (Status Situation).
Q16: What is the study of the structure of layers in society called?
A) Social stratification
B) Social cohesion
C) Social mobility
D) Social integration
Answer: A) Social stratification
Explanation:
Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into rankings based on factors like wealth, income, education, family background, and power. An individual's place within this stratification is called socio-economic status.
Q17: Who defined social stratification as a division of society into permanent groups of categories linked with each other by the relationship of superiority and subordination?
A) Max Weber
B) Karl Marx
C) Gisbert
D) Emile Durkheim
Answer: C) Gisbert
Explanation:
Social stratification is a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. Social stratification is a process through which groups and social categories in societies are ranked as higher or lower than one another in terms of their relative position on the scales of prestige, privileges, wealth, and power. Gisbert defined social stratification as a division of society into permanent groups of categories linked with each other by the relationship of superiority and subordination.
Q18: The evolutionary perspective of stratification is stated by
A) Karl Marx
B) Gerhard Lenski
C) Max Weber
D) Emile Durkheim
Answer: B) Gerhard Lenski
Explanation:
Ecological-evolutionary theory is a sociological theory of sociocultural evolution that attempts to explain the origin and changes of society and culture. Key elements focus on the importance of natural environment and technological change. It has been described as a theory of social stratification, as it analyzes how stratification has changed through time across different societies. Proposed by Gerhard Lenski, the theory is best articulated in his book, Ecological-Evolutionary Theory: Principles and Applications (2005).
