KSLU Solved Question Papers
Sociology I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
2012 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 Sociology I 2012 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2012 Jun examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2012 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2012 Jun examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all 5 Questions. (2) One essay type and one short note question from each unit have to be attempted, which is referred as part (a) and (b) in all the units. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answers should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit 1
(a)Define sociology. Explain how it contributes and differs from the sister sciences like History and Psychology.[15]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the word and two definitions (Weber, MacIver and Page); what "sister sciences" means; history: what it studies, what sociology gives it and takes from it, and how they differ; psychology: what it studies, what sociology gives it and takes from it, and how they differ; social psychology as the meeting point; a combined table; a worked example on one problem; why a law student needs all three; a conclusion.
Sociology defined
The word sociology was coined by Auguste Comte in 1838. It joins the Latin socius, a companion, with the Greek logos, study. It is the scientific study of society.
Max Weber defined sociology as the science which seeks the interpretive understanding of social action. MacIver and Page said that sociology is about social relationships. The network of those relationships is what we call society. Both definitions place people's dealings with one another at the centre.
The sister sciences
The social sciences all study human beings, each from its own angle. Economics studies wealth, political science studies power, history studies the past and psychology studies the mind. They are called sister sciences because they share a common subject and borrow from one another. Sociology stands among them as the general science of social relationships.
Sociology and history
What history studies. History records and explains past events, persons and societies in the order of time. It asks what happened, when, where and why, usually in one place and period.
What history gives sociology.
- Facts about the past. A sociologist studying caste needs historical records of how caste developed over centuries.
- Material for comparison. Comparing a society at different times shows how institutions change.
- A sense of origins. Present institutions, such as the joint family or the panchayat, can be understood only through their history.
What sociology gives history.
- Concepts, such as class, status, mobility and social change, which help historians analyse the past.
- A wider view, turning attention from kings and wars to the life of ordinary people, families, peasants and workers. This is called social history.
- Methods, such as the statistical study of records.
The American scholar George Elliott Howard captured their closeness: "History is past sociology and sociology is present history."
How they differ.
- History deals mainly with the past; sociology mainly with the present.
- History studies unique events, such as a particular war; sociology looks for recurring patterns, such as war in general.
- History is concrete and particular; sociology is abstract and generalising.
- History relies on documents; sociology also creates fresh data through surveys and fieldwork.
Sociology and psychology
What psychology studies. Psychology is the science of the individual mind and behaviour. It studies perception, memory, learning, emotion, motivation and personality.
What psychology gives sociology.
- An understanding of motives and attitudes, which lie behind social behaviour.
- Knowledge of learning, which helps explain how people acquire the norms of their society.
- Tools such as attitude scales and tests, which sociologists use in surveys.
What sociology gives psychology.
- It shows that the individual mind is shaped by society. Language, values and even feelings are learned from the group.
- Charles Horton Cooley described the looking-glass self in Human Nature and the Social Order (1902). He argued that a person's idea of themselves forms from how they think others see them.
- George Herbert Mead, in Mind, Self and Society (1934, published by his students after his death), showed how the self grows through social interaction.
How they differ.
- Psychology studies the individual; sociology studies the group and relationships.
- Psychology explains behaviour by mental processes; sociology explains it by social structure, such as class, caste and institutions.
- Psychology often uses laboratory experiments; sociology relies more on surveys, observation and comparison.
A classic illustration. Emile Durkheim, in Suicide (1897), took an act that looks wholly personal. He showed that suicide rates differ steadily between religious groups, marital groups and countries. He explained the differences by how strongly people are tied into groups. Psychology explains why one individual takes their life; sociology explains why rates differ between groups.
Social psychology
The meeting point of the two is social psychology. It studies how individuals think, feel and act under the influence of others, and how groups shape attitudes. Topics such as conformity, prejudice and leadership belong to it.
The three compared
| Point | Sociology | History | Psychology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main unit | Groups and relationships | Events, persons, periods | The individual |
| Time | Mainly present | Mainly past | Present |
| Aim | General patterns | Explanation of particular events | Laws of mental processes |
| Method | Surveys, observation, comparison | Documents and records | Experiments, tests, clinical study |
| Example | Why divorce rates are rising | Why a particular dynasty fell | Why a person feels anxiety |
A worked example: rising divorce in a city
Suppose divorce petitions in a city have doubled in ten years. A historian traces how divorce was once rare among Hindus and how the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 first made it widely available. A psychologist studies the stress, expectations and personality clashes of the couples involved. A sociologist asks how women's education and employment, smaller families and changing values about marriage have altered the institution. Each view is partial. Together they give a full explanation.
The other sister sciences, in brief
Sociology has the same two-way relation with economics and political science. Economics explains prices and production; sociology adds how caste, kinship and trust shape markets. Political science studies the state and government; sociology adds how class, religion and caste shape voting and power. In each case, sociology supplies the social setting that the special science takes for granted.
Why a law student needs all three
A lawyer must know where a law came from, which is history. They must understand the persons involved, such as an accused, a witness or a child, which is psychology. They must also understand the social setting in which law operates, which is sociology. The three sister sciences together give the lawyer a rounded view of human conduct.
Conclusion. Weber defined sociology as the interpretive understanding of social action, and MacIver and Page as the study of social relationships. So defined, it is closely tied to history and psychology. History gives it facts about the past and receives concepts in return. Psychology gives it knowledge of motives and learns from it how society shapes the mind. Yet sociology differs from both, studying recurring patterns of group life rather than unique past events or the individual mind.
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