SOCIOLOGY VIVA NOTES

 Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions.

 G S ghurye, august comte, emile Durkheim, m n Srinivas, iravati karve
 Ethnocentrism: evaluation of other cultures according
to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.
Opp of xenocentrism
 It is partially biased as I have focused more on urban areas as I am studying the
impacts of modernisation, urbanisation, westernisation and such topics. (for family)
 A social institution is an established practice, tradition, behavior, or system of roles
and relationships that is considered a normative structure or arrangement within a
society. It is specific structure organised to meet the particular needs of the people
through well-established procedures.
Media and modernisation- 10 f and 5 m

 This project is done on the topic “media and modernisation”. It uses interview
method of data collection.
 Media is the plural of the word medium. Media are the vehicles or channels
which are used to convey information, entertainment, news, education, or
promotional messages are disseminated.
 Physical, auditory, visual, internet media. Old media includes print media, such
as newspapers and books, and broadcast media, such as television and radio.
New media includes digital media, such as the Internet and social media.
 The application of new knowledge and technology in every field of
production, consumption, thinking and action is called modernization.
 In this survey, a structured and formal interview was used. Mostly telephonic
interviews few face to face interviews
 The interview was designed with a total of 5 questions along with age and
gender and administered to a sample of 15 people who are above the age of
16.
 OBJECTIVES:
 Has modernisation accelerated the society’s progress? Yes through
development in education and technology and made communication and
knowledge easily accessible.
 Is media a boon or a bane to the society? Depends on how it is used. As far
as this project is concerned it is a boon to the society as it has helped in
educating many. However, it has also caused the rise of cybercrime and such
things as well as influence people in negative ways.
 How has modernisation affected the Indian culture? The foundations of
traditional family structure have come under influence of legal reforms in
marriage and inheritance. The family introduced equalitarian norms in family
 leading to raised status of women. Increase in the standard of living.
Introduction of large scale industries.
 Analysis on the impacts of media and modernisation on individuals.
 Aim: This topic was chosen to learn about the various impacts media and
modernisation have changed the society, culture and individuals.
 Choosing the topic: Media has become an inseparable part of our lives and
impact society. Modernisation is a continuous and open-ended
process. Modernization is important for a city and its capacities to evolve at the
pace of society and to suit the needs of its citizens. I’ve chosen this topic to
understand and fathom the ways both media and modernisation have impacted
the society.
 Hypothesis: “Media and modernisation has caused people to become more
aware and emulate other countries’ lifestyles due to globalisation.”
 Structured or formal, unstructured or Informal interviews, Semi-Structured
interviews , Focus groups
 Conspicuous consumption: caused due to influence of media through
YouTube hauls and such and also globalisation of the market, easy availability of
goods on an international scale.
 Dysfunctions of media: fake crypto currency, being cheated online and being
influenced in wrong ways as it impacts the person a lot.
 Indians are holding on to their traditions and customs and westernisation
has actually decreased. The current generations are more comfortable with
those ideas rather than the traditions of our own culture. Which in some cases
is understandable because times change and traditions should adjust
accordingly but they should not eradicate them entirely.
 All 15 people agree that the literacy rate has increased in the past decades
due to modernisations.
 Development in educating girls who were not allowed study before,
decreasing female foeticide and infanticide.
 Acknowledged importance of education
 quality of education has improved slightly
 government planning and schemes
 increase in the number of schools
 We are losing our traditions and faith in religion and god. It has made us
individualistic and self-centred due to focus on development of the individual.
Secularism, individualism and urbanisation is good for the society. There are
environmental ill effects such as pollution, declining mental health of the
people.
 80% of the respondents have said that they use visual media. The internet
can be clearly seen as a major source of information.
Changing nature of Indian families

 The family is an integrated, basic and functional unit of society.

 It provides for emotional and psychological security, primary unit
for socializing children. Teaching norms and the major unit through which
sexual reproduction occurs. The family provides its members with a social
identity. Children are born into their parents’ social class, race and ethnicity,
religion,
 Monogamous family, Polygamous family, Matriarchal family, Patriarchal family,
Nuclear family, Joint family.
 Influence of urbanisation, the joint family structure is under severe stress, and in
many cases it has developed a tendency toward nuclearisation.
 Through exposures to the forces of modernisation, family structure underwent
multiple changes almost leading to an endless variety. There are instances too,
where family structure has become simpler due to its impact. There are also
contrary instances indicating consequent complexity in family structure.
 A questionnaire is a research instrument that consists of a set of questions or
other types of prompts that aims to collect information from a respondent.
Structured and Unstructured questionnaires.
 Open-Ended Questions
 Dichotomous Questions
 Scaling Questions
 Multiple-Choice Questions
 Aim: This topic was chosen to Changing nature of the Indian families in urban
societies and gain an insight on the recent trends. I chose this topic to study
about one of the fundamental units of society which is family. Family plays an
important role not only by affecting the economy, society but the individual as
well. Studying the way this structural unit is going through change would help me
get a better understanding of the subject itself.
 Hypothesis: “The structure of the Indian families is changing from a joint,
interdependent and rural areas residing family to nuclear, independent members
and urban areas residing families”
 The questionnaire was designed with a total of 14 questions and administered
to a sample of 50 people who are above the age of 16. Closed ended
structured questionnaire.
 There has been a decreasing trend in nuclear families due to various reasons
such as urbanisation, migration and cost of living.
 The literacy rate of India has raised from 40.6% in 1980 to 74.37% in 2022.
 The reason for the majority of the people falling under the 26-35 category could
be for various reasons such as individualism which has emerged from
 urbanisation and the government increasing the legal age of marriages for men
and women to 21.
 It is clearly seen that the times are changing and women are employed with an
income making them more financially independent. This could be due to the
alleviation schemes by the government and the breaking of the age old norms
due to awareness through urbanisation and modernisation.
 Majority have moved from rural to urban areas for employment opportunities.
 Globalisation: The increased exposure of international cultures and lifestyles
have made Indian families try to emulate the consumption and lifestyle patterns
of those in the west.
 The primary data collected, there has been an increase in nuclear families by
7%. There is also quite a large increase in the mean age of marriage especially
women. Individualistic value are more prevalent in modern society.
 A self-employed person does not work for a specific employer who pays them
a consistent salary or wage. Self-employed individuals, or independent
contractors, earn income by contracting with a trade or business directly.