ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS, 2011
M.A. (SOCIOLOGY)
TIME: 2 HOURS MAX. MARKS: 100 HALL TICKET NUMBER
Read carefully the foDowinll butruetiOD.:
1. This question paper has two parts: Part A and Part B.
2. Part A COD.ilta of25 objective type questions ofone mark each. There is negative
marlcing of0.33 marks for every wrong answer. Marks obtained by the candidate in this
part will be used for resolving tie cases. Part B carries 75 Markl.
3. The entrance test paper is not to be taken out of the examination hall.
4. Answers should be written in the space provided after eacb question.
5. Use the last page for your rough work.
Thil book coDwaol6 pagco""-
PART-A
QUESTION I COMPREHENSION
Towud. a po.t-induotrialsoeiety?
MARKS: 15
Many observers have suggested that what is occurring today is a transition to a new society
no longer primarily based on industrialism. We are entering. they claim. a phase of development
beyond the industrial era altogether. Alvin Tomer has argued that 'what is occurring now is, in all
likelihood, bigger. deeper. and more important thsn the Industrial Revolution... The present
moment represents nothing less thsn the second great divide in human history'.
A variety of terms have been coined to describe the new social order supposedly coming
into being. such as the information society. service society or knowledge society. The sense that
we are moving beyond the old fonns of industrial development has led many to introduce tenns
including the world post (meaning ·after') to refer to the changes. Authors have spoken of postmodem
or post-scarcity society. for example. The tenn which has come into most common usage.
however apparently tim employed by Daniel Bell. writing in the United States, and Alain
Touraine, working in France is post-industrial society.
The diversity ofnames is one indication of the many ideas put forward to interpret current
social changes. But one theme that consistently appears is the significance of the use of
information or knowledge in the society ofthe future. Our way of life. based on the manufacture
of maIerial goods, centred on the po-. machine and the factory, is being displaced by one in
which infonnation is becoming the main basis ofthe productive system.
The clearest and most comprehensive portrayal of the post-industrial society is provided by
Daniel Bell in his work "The coming of the post-industrial society". The post-industrial order,
BeIIIlI'gIIeS, is distinguished by a growth of service occupations at the expense of those producing
maIerial goods. The blue collar worker, employed in a factory or workshop, is no longer the most
essential type of employee. White-collar (clerical and professional) workers come to outnumber
those in blue-collar jobs, with professional and technical occupations growing fastest ofall.
People working in higher-level white-collar occupations specialize in the production of
infonnation and knowledge. The production and control of what Bell calls codified knowledgesystematic,
COOn!;Mted information is the main strategic resource on which the society depends.
Those who are concerned with its creation and distribution scientists, computer specialists,
economists, engineers and professionals of all kinds increasingly become the leading social
groups, replacing the industrialists and enliepleneurs of the old system. On the level of culture,
there is a shift away from the 'work ethic' towards an emphasis on a 1icer and more
seeking life-style. The work-discipline characteristic ofindustrialism relaxes in the post-industrial
order; people are 1icer to innovate in both their work and their domestic lives.
Critical evaluation
How valid is the view that the old industrial order is being superseded by a post-industrial society?
While the thesis has been widely accepted, there are good reasons to treat it with some caution.
The empirical assertions on which the notion depends are suspect in several ways.
1. The ides that information is """,,ming the main basis of the economic system is based on a
questionable interpretation of the shift towards service occupations. This trend,
accompanied by a decline in employment in other production sectors, dates back almost to
the beginning of industrialism itself; it is not simply a recent phenomenon. From the early
18009 onwards manufacture and services both expanded at the expense ofagriculture, with
the service sector consistently showing a faster rate of increase than manufacture. The
blue-collar worker never really was the most common type of employee; a higher
proportion of paid employees has always worked in agriculture and services, with the
service sector increasing proportionally as the numbers in agriculture dwindled. Easily the
most important change has not been from industrial to service work, but from farm
employment to all other types ofoccupation.
2. The service sector is very beterogeneous. 'Service occupations' cannot be simply treated
as identical to 'white-collar many jobs in services (such as that of petrol-station
attendant) are blue-collar, in the sense that they are manual. Most white-collar positions
involve very little specialized knowledge and have become substantially mechanized.
This is true of most lower-level office work, such as secretarial or clerical duties.
3. Many 'service' jobs contribute to a process which in the end produces maIerial goods' and
therefore should really be counted as pat! of manufacture. Thus a computerprogrammer
working for an industrial finn, designing and monitoring the Opelation of
machine tools, is directly involved in a process of making material goods. Analysing
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service occupotions, Jonathan OershlDly concludes that more than balf are concerned with
manufacturing production in such a way.
4. Bell proposes that the United States has advanced further than any other countty towards
becoming a post-industrial society it is the furthest along a COlJllC of development that
others will increasingly follow. Yet the American economy has long been different from
that of other industrialized countries: throughout this centwy, a higher relative proportion
of workers has been in service occupations in the United States. There remain today wide
variations in the ratio between service and manufacturing occupations in different
countries, and it is not clear that other countries will ever become as 'service-based' as the
USA. What some see as general trends might really be specific characteristics of
American Society.
S. No one can be sure what the long-term impact of the spreading use of micro-processing
and electronic communications systems will be. At the moment, these are integrated
within manufacturing production, rather than displacing it. It seems certain that such
technologies will continue to show·very high rates of innovation, and will permeate more
areas ofsocial life. But any assessment oftheir impact still has to be speculative. How far
we yet live in a society in which 'codified knowledge' is the main resource is very unclear.
6. Like convergence theory, the post-industrial society thesis tends to exaggerate the
importance ofeconomic factors in producing social change. Such a society is described as
the outcome of developments in the economy which lead to changes in other institutions.
Most of those advancing the post-industrial hypothesis have been little influenced by, or
are directly critical of, Marx; but their position is a quasi-Marxist one in the sense that
economic factors are held to dominate social change.
Some of the developments cited by the post-industrial theorists are important features of the
current era, but it is not obvious that thc concept of 'post-industrial society' is the best way to
come to terms with them. Moreover, the forces behind the changes going on today are political
and cultural as well as economic.
Comprehension Questions
1. Alvin Tomer says
8. industrialism leads to a static society.
b. development has gone beyond industrialism.
c. there can be no divisions after the industrial revolution.
d. there is no possibility ofa post-industrial society.
2. The post-industrial society is
.8. the second and more intensive phase of industrial society.
b. dominated by blue-<:ollar jobs.
c. a service society.
d. the end ofindustrial society.
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3. The word when affixed to tenns referring to changes calls lIt1eDtion to
a. movcmc:nt beyond older fonDS of development
b. movement within fonDS ofdevelopment
c. constant cbange.
d. Things prior to change.
4. What is the most frequent theme that obtains within CUlT'Cllt interpretations ofsocial
change?
a. Rise offactory system.
b. Manufacturing and machine production.
c. Centrality of infonnation and knowledge.
d. Scarcity.
5. Codified knowledge is a term associated with
a. Touraine.
b. Daniel Bell.
c. Alvin Tomer.
d. AI! ofthe above.
6. Professional and technical occupations grow fastest ofall is
a. industrial society.
b. knowledge society.
c. blue-collar society.
d. modern society.
7. One ofthe arguments put forth by sociologists that the old industrial order is being
superseded by post-industrial society has to be treated with caution because
a. blue collar workers were nover really the most common type ofemployee even in
industrial society.
b. it is the service sector whicb replaced agricultural labourers.
c. the most observable change is from agriculture to other types ofwork.
d. all ofthe above.
8. Bell explains that the course ofdevelopment is
a. moving in a linear fashion
b. only seen in the American economy.
c. a tussle between service economy and capitalism
d. moving toward the core periphery paradigm.
9. The work-discipline characteristic of industrialism
a. becomes more rigid in post-industrial order
b. is marked by the freedom to innovate.
c. both ofthe above.
d. none ofthe above.
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10. Those who are critical ofthe idea ofa transition into a post-industrial society emphasise
the following.
a. Question the shift towards service occupations
b. Heterogeneity ofservice sector. .
c. Question the rigid separation ofservice occupations from manufacturing.
d. All ofthe above.
II. All 'service occupations' should be considered as
a. not identical to 'blue-collar jobs'.
b. identical to 'blue-collar jobs'.
c. not identical to 'white-collar jobs'.
d. identical to 'white-collar jobs'.
12. Those service jobs involved in manufacturing
a. should be included under manufacturing.
b. should be included under services.
c. should not be included either under manufacturing or services.
d. vone ofthe above.
13. Critics point out that the thesis of post-industrial society
a. cannot be generalised.
b. is specific to America.
c. both of the above.
d. involves specialization ofjobs.
14. The post-industrial society thesis
a. does not believe in economic factors producing sOcial change.
b. believes in knowledge producing social change
c. believes in white-collar worlcers producing social change.
d. believes in economic factors producing social change.
IS. The theory of post-industrial society overlaps with convergence theory because
a. both emphasise political and cultural forces
b. both hold economic factors as primary in inducing social change.
c. both argue for codified knowledge
d. both stress manufacturing problem.
QUESTION NO.2: ARITHMETIC AND REASONING
I. Fill in the next number in the series
15,22,29,
Maries: 10
33 37
5
39
I
2. The average height ofstudents in a class of!0 is 105 em. 1f20 more students with an
average height of 120 ems join the class, what will the average height he?
105 ems. 110 ems. 112 ems. 115 ems.
3. IfGHOST is coded as HOSTE, then HORSE will be coded as .
ORSEG ORSEF FORSE SEFOR
4. If a sum ofRs.3001- is given on loan at simple interest, what amount is due at the end
of two years and six months?
Rs. 4001- Rs. 500 Rs. Rs. 3601-
S. Iftoday is Thursday, what will be the day after 363 days?
Sunday Monday Tuesday None ofthe above.
6. Member.; of a club are gentlemen. Some members are Officers. Officer.; are invited to a
Party. Therefore, we may deduce that-
All members are invited to the Party
All gentlemen are invited to the Party
Officers who are gentlemen are invited to the Party
Some gentlemen are invited to the Party.
7. In a certain code, BAD is written as XZW, SAID is written as HZRW. LOVE will be
written as
WXMN MRSU BRTP OLEV
8. Pointing to a women in a group photograph, Rita said, "Her sister's father is the only son
ofmy grandfather". How is Rita related to women in the photograph?
Mother Aunt Sister Daughter
9. Meghna is taller tjum Sujata, but she is not taller than Natasha of the same class. Indira is
shorter than Natasha but laUer than Meghna. If Natasha is the tallest in the class, who is
the shortest?
Meghna Indira Sujata None of the these
10. In a class, 1/3 ofthe total students were regular absentees. On a particular day, in addition
to the regular absentees, the number ofother absentees was halfofthe regular absentees,
which amounted to only 50% ofthe total attendance in the class. What is the total strength
of the class?
10 20
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PARTB
QUESTION NO.1 PRECIS Marks: 30
Write ill your own "'onb a IllIDmary of the foDowillg PUg. in about 120 "'onb. Also give
a tide for the summary.
How should poverty be defined? A distinction is usually made between subsistence or
absolute poverty and relative poverty. Charles Booth was one of the fim to try establish a
consistent standard of subsistence poverty, which refers to lack of basic requirements to sustain a
physically healthy existence sufficient food and shelter to make possible the physically efficient
functioning of the body. Booth assumed that these requirements would be more or less the same
for people of equivalent age and pbysique living in any country. This is essentially the concept
still used most frequendy in the analysis ofpoverty worldwide.
Subsistence definitions of poverty have various inadequacies, especially when formulated
as specific income level. Some parts ofthe country, for example, are much more expensive to live
in than others. Moreover, the subsistence calculation of poverty does not take into account the
impact of generally rising living standards. It is more realistic to adjust ideas about levels of
poverty to the changing norms and expectations in a society as economic growth occurs.
Problems with formulations of relative poverty are also complex, however. Income criteria are
again generally used, but these conceal variabilities in the actual needs people have.
Some societies do exist such as Sweden in whicb subsistence poverty has been almost
completely eliminated. A social price probably has to be paid for this, not just in terms of high
levels of taxation, but in the development of bureaucratic government agencies which may
appropriate a great deal of power. Yet the more the distribution of wealth and income in a country
is left open to mechanisms of the market, the greater material inequalities found. The theory
underlying the policies ofmany contemporary governments is that cutting tax rates for individuals
and corporations would generate high levels of economic growth, the fruits of whicb would
'trickle down' to the poor. The evidence does not support this thesis. Such an economic policy
mayor may not generate acceleration of economic development, but the result tends actually
swelling the numbers ofthose living in subsistence poverty to expand the differentials between the
poor and the wealthy. .
Surveys in different national contexts have shown that the majority of citizens regard the
poor as responsible for their own poverty and are suspicious of those who live 'for free' on
government 'handouts'. Many believe that people on welfare could find work if they were
detennined to do so. Unfortunately, these views are completely out of line with the realities of
poverty. About a quarter of those officially living in poverty are in work anyway, but earn too
little to bring them over the poverty threshold.
Lack of public awareness of the extent of poverty probably rests partly on the low
'visibility' of the poor. Most of those in the more privileged sections of society rarely visit the
areas, urban or rural, where poverty is concentrated. Some issues connected with poverty, such as
high rates of crime, regularly command public attention, but the widespread existence of poverty
tends otherwise to be overlooked.
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QUESTION NO. n SHORT NOTE MARKS: 15
Write a short note (ISO words) on any oftbe following topics:
1. Honour killiogs
2. Euthanasia (Men:y killing)
3. Development and Displacement
Start ..ritillC 'mal bere
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QUESTJONID ESSAY MARKS: 30
Write an essay ofSOO words on any one ofthe following:
I. Recent upsurge in the Arab World
2. Liberalisation and Corruption
3. Youth and Pleasure
Start ..ritiDc from bere
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