CBSE Class 12 Sociology Solved Question Paper 2013

1. Community identity is commonly based on birth and belonging rather than on some form of acquired qualifications.
2. The ascriptive identities and community feeling is that they are universal.

The maternal mortality rate is the number of women who die in child birth per 1000 live births.

The meaning of 'Commodification' or 'Commoditisation' is explained below:
Commodification occurs when things that were earlier not traded in the market
become commodities. Examples:
 1. Under commodification labour or skills become things that can be bought and sold.
 2. Earlier, human beings themselves were bought and sold as slaves,(like:sale of kidneys) but today it is considered immoral to treat people as commodities.
 3. Traditionally, marriages were arranged by families, but now there are professional marriage bureaus and websites that help people to find brides and grooms for a fee. In this way, things or processes got commodified.
4.  In earlier times, social skills such as good manners and etiquette were imparted mainly through the family. But now through privately owned schools and coaching classes, it also has commodified.

According to the Adam Smith, The 'invisible hand' is an unseen force at work that converts what is good for each individual into what is good for society.

The term 'untouchability' is a social practice within the caste system in which members of the lowest caste are considered to be ritually impure to such an extent that they can cause pollution by mere touch. Untouchable castes are at the bottoms of the hierarchical system.

Regionalism refers to the ideology of commitment to particular regional identity which could be based on language, ethnicity and other characteristics in addition to geography.

1. Social inequality is different from inequality of individuals because of their varying abilities and efforts. Someone may be endowed with exceptional intelligence or may have worked very hard to go their wealth and status.
2. Social inequality is not the outcome of innate or natural differences but is produced by the society in which the live.

1. The Colonialism brought about the following changes in the caste system:
   During the colonial period the institution of the caste system underwent major changes. Some of these efforts took the shape of very methodical and intensive surveys and reports on the ‘customs and manners’ of various tribes and castes all over the country. 
2. The most important official effort to collect information and data on caste was through the census.
3. The new land revenue settlements and other related arrangements and laws served to give legal recognised to customary rights of the upper Castes.
4. Towards the end of the colonial period, the administration also took an interest in the welfare of downtrodden castes, referred to as the ‘depressed classes’ at that time. It was as part of these efforts that the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed which gave legal recognition to the lists or ‘schedules’ of castes.

Tribes have been classified in India according to their permanent and acquired traits.

Permanent Traits: Permanent traits have region, language, ecological habitat and physical characteristics

Acquired Traits: There are mainly two criteria are used in the category of acquired traits:(a) Mode of livelihood (b) Extent of incorporation into Hindu Society.

There are different senses in which Secularism' has been understood in India:

1. In the western context, it is a doctrine by which the state is kept strictly separate from religion. It means separation of 'Church and State' as we find in western societies.
2. In terms of Indian sense, which also covers western as well, being a secular means an opposite of communal.
3. It does not favour any particular religion over others, In this sense, it is the opposite of religious Chauvinism and need not necessarily imply hostility to religion as such.
4. In terms of the state-religion relationship, this sense of secularism implies equal respect for all religions, rather than separation or distancing. For example, the secular Indian state declares public holidays to mark the festivals of all religions.