NCERT solutions for Introducing Sociology [English] Class 11 chapter 2 - Terms, Concepts and Their Use in Sociology [Latest edition]

Choose any one of the following topics for class discussion:

• democracy is a help or hindrance to development
• gender equality makes for a more harmonious or more divisive society
• punishments or greater discussion are the best way to resolve conflicts.

Think of other topics.

What kind of differences emerged? Do they reflect different visions of what a good society ought to be like? Do they reflect different notions of the human being?

Find out a name that is relevant under each heading.

Caste An anti – caste movement A caste based political party

Class A class based movement A class based political party

Women A women’s movement A women’s organisation

Tribe A tribal movement A tribe/tribes based political party

Villagers An environmental movement An environmental organisation

Discuss whether they were all social groups to start with and if some were not, then at what point can one apply the term ‘social group’ to them, using the term as sociologically understood.

Discuss the age group of teenagers. Is it a quasi group or social group? Were ideas about ‘teenage’ and ‘teenagers’ as a special phase in life always there? In traditional societies how was the entry of children into adulthood marked? In contemporary times do marketing strategies and advertisement have anything to do with the strengthening or weakening of this group/quasi group? Identify an advertisement that targets teenagers or pre-teens. Read the section on stratification and discuss how teenage may mean very different life experiences for the poor and rich, for the upper and lower class, for the discriminated and privileged caste.

Collect a copy of a memorandum of any association that you know of or can find out about for example a Residents Welfare Association, a women’s association (Mahila Samiti), a Sports Club. You will find clear information about its goals, objectives, membership and other rules that govern it. Contrast this with a large family gathering.

You may find that many a time that interaction among members of a formal group over time becomes closes and ‘just like family and friends.’ This brings home the point that concepts are not fixed and frozen entities. They are indeed keys or tools for understanding society and its changes.

Find out about the experience of immigrants in other countries. Or may be even from different parts of our own country.

You will find that relationships between groups change and modify. People once considered members of an out-group become in-group members. Can you find out about such processes in history?

Do your friends or others of your age group influence you? Are you concerned with their approval or disapproval about the way you dress, behave, the kind of music you like to listen to or the kind of films you prefer? Do you consider it to be social pressure? Discuss.

Find out more about the life of the late President K. R. Narayanan. Discuss the concept of ascription and achieved status, caste and class in this context.

What kinds of jobs are considered prestigious in your society? Compare these with your friends. Discuss the similarities and differences. Try and understand the causes for the same.

Find out how a domestic worker or a construction labourer faces role conflict.

Collect newspaper reports where dominant sections of society seek to impose control and punish those whom they consider to have transgressed or violated socially prescribed roles.

Have you ever seen or heard a young child threaten another with “I will tell my elder brother.” 

Can you think of other examples?

Can you think of examples drawn from your life how this ‘unofficial’ social control operates? Have you in class or in your peer group noticed how a child who behaves a bit differently from the rest is treated? Have you witnessed incidents where children are bullied by their peer group to be more like the other children?