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Structure, Agency and Social Transformation

NCERT Class 11 · Sociology Based on NCERT Class 11 Sociology textbook · Free CBSE study kit

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Chapter Notes

Overview
This chapter explores the dialectical relationship between the individual and society, focusing on how social structure and stratification constrain or enable human action. It examines the key concepts of social structure, social stratification, and the social processes of cooperation, competition, and conflict. The central idea is that while society exerts constraint over individuals, humans also possess agency to reproduce and transform social structures, and that social processes are shaped by one's position within the stratification system.
Key Concepts (17)
Social Structure
The organized or arranged patterns of social behaviour and relationships that are repeated across time and space, giving society a particular 'shape' or form.
e.g. In a school, the daily assembly, admission procedures, and codes of conduct are repeated year after year, forming the structure of the institution.
Social Stratification
The existence of structured inequalities between groups in society, in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards, which tends to persist across generations.
e.g. In India, caste-based inequalities in access to education and jobs persist across generations, with upper castes often enjoying privileged positions.
Social Reproduction
The process by which social structures are maintained and recreated through repeated human actions over time.
e.g. Families reproduce the institution of marriage by following traditional marriage practices and passing them on to the next generation.
Social Constraint
The conditioning influence that groups and societies exert over the behaviour of their members, setting limits on individual action.
e.g. Durkheim's example of a room with doors: the walls and doors define the routes of exit and entry, just as social structure limits our choices.
Life Chances
Material advantages that improve the quality of life, including wealth, income, health, job security, and recreation.
e.g. A child born into a wealthy family has better life chances—access to quality education, healthcare, and recreational opportunities—than a child born into poverty.
Social Status
Prestige or high standing in the eyes of other members of society.
e.g. In Indian society, a Brahmin traditionally enjoys high social status regardless of their economic condition.
Political Influence
The ability of one group to dominate others, or to have preponderant influence over decision-making, or to benefit advantageously from decisions.
e.g. In a village, the dominant caste often controls the local panchayat and influences decisions about resource allocation.
Mechanical Solidarity
A form of social cohesion based on sameness, where members of pre-industrial societies live similar lives with little division of labour, bonded by shared beliefs and sentiments.
e.g. In a tribal community where everyone is a hunter-gatherer, members are bound together by common experiences and a collective conscience.
Organic Solidarity
A form of social cohesion based on division of labour and interdependence, characteristic of complex industrial societies where specialized workers depend on each other.
e.g. In a car factory, the assembly line worker depends on the parts supplier, the engineer, and the marketing team, creating mutual dependency.
Alienation
Marx's term for the loss of control by workers over the nature of their labour task and over the products of their labour, resulting in a feeling of powerlessness.
e.g. A factory worker who only presses a button all day has no control over the design or final product, unlike a traditional potter who creates a complete pot.
Altruism
The principle of acting to benefit others without any selfishness or self-interest.
e.g. Durkheim argued that even in primitive societies, altruism exists because society exercises a moderating influence on its members.
Dominant Ideology
Shared ideas or beliefs which serve to justify the interests of dominant groups in society.
e.g. The ideology of competition in capitalism justifies the success of the wealthy as 'deserved' and the failure of the poor as 'their own fault'.
Division of Labour
The specialization of work tasks, by means of which different occupations are combined within a production system.
e.g. In a hospital, doctors, nurses, technicians, and administrators each perform specialized tasks that together provide healthcare.
Capitalism
An economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and organized to accumulate profits within a market framework, with labour provided by waged workers.
e.g. In India, private companies like Tata or Reliance own factories and employ workers for wages to produce goods for profit.
Anomie
Durkheim's term for a social condition where the norms guiding conduct break down, leaving individuals without social restraint or guidance.
e.g. During rapid industrialization, traditional norms may break down, leading to a sense of normlessness among workers.
Laissez-faire Liberalism
A political and economic approach based on the general principle of non-interference in the economy by government and freedom for markets and property owners.
e.g. In 19th century capitalism, governments did not regulate working hours or wages, allowing market forces to operate freely.
Modernity
A term designed to encapsulate the distinctiveness, complexity and dynamism of social processes unleashed during the 18th and 19th centuries which mark a distinct break from traditional ways of living.
e.g. The shift from feudal agrarian societies to industrial urban societies is a hallmark of modernity.
How It Works
Dialectical Relationship Between Individual and Society
  1. Individuals are located within multiple collectivities (peer group, family, class, gender, country) which give them a specific location in social structure and stratification.
  2. This location determines their access to social resources and life choices (school, clothes, food, health, lifestyle).
  3. Society constrains individual action through social structure, but humans also possess agency to reproduce and change the structure.
  4. Marx's formulation: 'Human beings make history, but not as they wish to or in conditions of their choice, but within the constraints and possibilities of the historical and structural situation.'
💡 Students often forget that agency and constraint coexist—structure is not a prison, but a framework within which humans act and innovate.
Social Reproduction of Structure
  1. Social structures are made up of human actions and relationships.
  2. Patterns emerge from repetition of behaviours across time and space.
  3. Institutions like schools and families reproduce themselves through repeated practices (admission procedures, annual functions, marriage practices).
  4. Even as old members leave and new members enter, the institution continues.
  5. Changes can occur, but they are often resisted by those who benefit from the existing structure.
💡 Reproduction does not mean no change—it means the structure is continuously rebuilt, sometimes with modifications.
Functionalist Perspective on Social Processes
  1. Focuses on 'system requirements' of society—functional imperatives necessary for a system's existence.
  2. Key requirements include: socialization of new members, a shared system of communication, and methods of assigning individuals to roles.
  3. Cooperation, competition, and conflict are seen as universal features of all societies.
  4. Conflict is viewed as resolvable and potentially beneficial for society.
  5. Uses the term 'accommodation' to describe situations where groups compromise despite conflict.
💡 Functionalists see society as a system where all parts work together for stability—they do not ignore conflict but see it as manageable.
Conflict Perspective on Social Processes
  1. Emphasizes that forms of cooperation change historically—simple societies without surplus had cooperation without class divisions.
  2. In societies with surplus (feudal or capitalist), dominant classes appropriate surplus, making cooperation involve potential conflict.
  3. Groups and individuals are placed differentially and unequally within the system of production relations.
  4. Dominant groups sustain unequal order through cultural norms, coercion, or violence.
  5. Cooperation can be enforced, concealing underlying conflicts.
💡 Conflict theorists do not deny cooperation—they argue that cooperation in stratified societies is often involuntary and masks deep conflicts.
Durkheim's Theory of Solidarity and Cooperation
  1. Durkheim argues against the view that human nature is naturally brutish—society exercises a moderating influence.
  2. Solidarity (altruism) is fundamental for understanding cooperation and the functioning of society.
  3. Mechanical solidarity: cohesion based on sameness in pre-industrial societies with low division of labour.
  4. Organic solidarity: cohesion based on interdependence in industrial societies with complex division of labour.
  5. Division of labour fulfills societal needs and is both a law of nature and a moral rule of human conduct.
💡 Durkheim's key point: society is more than the sum of individual acts—it has a 'firmness' comparable to physical structures.
Marx's Theory of Cooperation and Alienation
  1. Humans distinguish themselves from animals by producing their means of subsistence—this is conscious, cooperative activity.
  2. Cooperation in human life is different from animal cooperation because humans alter society in the process.
  3. In class societies, cooperation is not voluntary but appears as an 'alien force' outside workers' control.
  4. Alienation: workers lose control over the content of their labour and the products of their labour.
  5. Example: a traditional weaver has creative fulfillment, but a factory worker who only pulls a lever experiences enforced cooperation.
💡 Marx's key insight: cooperation under capitalism is enforced, not voluntary—workers are alienated from their own labour.
Competition as a Socially Constructed Process
  1. Sociology rejects naturalistic explanations that competition is universal or innate.
  2. Competition emerges historically and becomes dominant at a particular point—with the rise of capitalism.
  3. Capitalism's underlying assumptions: expansion of trade, division of labour, specialization, rising productivity.
  4. The ideology of competition holds that the market ensures greatest efficiency—the most efficient firm survives, the best students get admission.
  5. This ideology assumes individuals compete on an equal basis, but stratification means individuals are placed differentially.
  6. Example: children who drop out of school early are excluded from competition entirely.
💡 Competition is not natural—it is a historically specific ideology that emerged with capitalism and assumes a level playing field that does not exist.
Conflict and Covert Cooperation in Families
  1. Traditionally, families were seen as harmonious units based on altruism.
  2. Feminist analysis (e.g., Amartya Sen) reveals that cooperation in families is often enforced.
  3. Women may appear to cooperate with discriminatory practices (e.g., not claiming property) to ensure long-term security.
  4. Covert resistance strategies include using trusted allies, secret lending, and negotiating gender ideologies.
  5. Conflict is often not overtly expressed but exists beneath the surface of apparent cooperation.
💡 The absence of overt conflict does not mean the absence of conflict—subordinate groups often use covert strategies to resist.
Exam Traps — Don't Make These Mistakes
⚠ Confusing Social Structure with Physical Structure
✗ Social structure is like the walls and roof of a building—it is fixed and unchanging.
→ The building metaphor is helpful up to a point, but social structures are made of human actions and relationships, not physical materials. They are continuously reproduced and can change.
✓ Social structure refers to patterned regularities in human behaviour and relationships that are reproduced over time, but unlike a building, they are dynamic and can be transformed by human agency.
⚠ Thinking Cooperation is Always Voluntary
✗ Cooperation is always a positive, voluntary act where people work together willingly.
→ The chapter explicitly discusses 'enforced cooperation'—situations where people cooperate because of norms, sanctions, or lack of alternatives, not because they choose to. Example: women not claiming property to maintain family relations.
✓ Cooperation can be either voluntary or enforced. In stratified societies, subordinate groups often cooperate under compulsion, and apparent cooperation may conceal deep conflicts.
⚠ Assuming Competition is Natural and Universal
✗ Competition is a natural human instinct—all societies have always been competitive.
→ The chapter provides a counter-example of African children who rejected a competitive race because it went against their cooperative values. Competition is a historically specific ideology that became dominant with capitalism.
✓ Competition is not a natural or universal phenomenon. It emerged as a dominant norm and practice with the rise of capitalism and is sustained by the ideology of market efficiency.
⚠ Equating Absence of Overt Conflict with Absence of Conflict
✗ If there is no visible protest or movement, there is no conflict in that society.
→ The chapter emphasizes that conflict can be covert—subordinate groups may not express conflict openly due to fear, lack of resources, or strategic calculation. The absence of a peasant movement does not mean there is no land conflict.
✓ Conflict may exist even when it is not overtly expressed. Subordinate groups often develop covert strategies of resistance, and apparent cooperation can mask underlying conflicts of interest.
⚠ Mixing Up Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
✗ Mechanical solidarity is based on machines and industry, while organic solidarity is based on nature and farming.
→ This is a common etymological confusion. 'Mechanical' refers to the automatic, rigid nature of solidarity based on sameness, while 'organic' refers to the interdependence of different parts, like organs in a body.
✓ Mechanical solidarity is cohesion based on similarity and shared beliefs in pre-industrial societies. Organic solidarity is cohesion based on division of labour and interdependence in industrial societies.
⚠ Thinking Marx and Durkheim Agree on Cooperation
✗ Both Marx and Durkheim believed that cooperation is voluntary and beneficial for society.
→ While both emphasize cooperation, they differ fundamentally. Durkheim sees cooperation as based on solidarity and moral rules. Marx sees cooperation in class societies as enforced and alienating.
✓ Durkheim views cooperation as arising from social solidarity and moral integration. Marx views cooperation under capitalism as involuntary and alienating, where workers lose control over their labour and its products.
Compare & Contrast
Basis of social cohesion
Mechanical Solidarity
Organic Solidarity
Mechanical solidarity is based on sameness and shared beliefs in pre-industrial societies with low division of labour, while organic solidarity is based on interdependence and division of labour in complex industrial societies.
View of social processes (cooperation, competition, conflict)
Functionalist Perspective
Conflict Perspective
Functionalists see these processes as universal features that maintain system stability and can be resolved through accommodation. Conflict theorists see them as shaped by unequal power relations, where cooperation is often enforced and conflict is inherent in class/caste/gender divisions.
Nature of cooperation in society
Durkheim's View of Cooperation
Marx's View of Cooperation
Durkheim emphasizes altruism and solidarity as the basis of cooperation, with society exercising a moderating influence. Marx emphasizes that cooperation in class societies is not voluntary but appears as an alien force, leading to alienation of workers.
Focus of the concept
Social Structure
Social Stratification
Social structure refers to the patterned organization of social behaviour and relationships in general. Social stratification is a specific aspect of social structure that refers to the patterned inequality between groups in terms of access to material or symbolic rewards.
Exam Focus
Marks pattern: Typically 2 MCQs (1 mark each), 1 Short Answer (3 marks), 1 Long Answer (5 marks), and occasionally a passage-based question (4 marks). Total weightage: 8-10 marks.
Most asked: Dialectical relationship between individual and society (structure vs. agency) · Durkheim's mechanical and organic solidarity · Marx's concept of alienation and enforced cooperation · Difference between functionalist and conflict perspectives on social processes · Cooperation, competition, and conflict as social processes shaped by stratification · Enforced cooperation and covert conflict (e.g., women and property)
Don't skip: Compare and contrast mechanical and organic solidarity (5 marks); Explain the concept of 'enforced cooperation' with examples from Indian society (5 marks); Discuss the relationship between social structure, stratification, and social processes (5 marks); How do functionalist and conflict perspectives differ in their understanding of cooperation and conflict? (5 marks)
One-Line Revision (read aloud before the exam)
  1. Social structure refers to the patterned regularities in human behaviour and relationships that are reproduced over time.
  2. Social stratification refers to structured inequalities between groups that persist across generations.
  3. Durkheim argued that society exerts social constraint over individuals, comparable to the walls of a room.
  4. Marx argued that human beings make history, but not in conditions of their own choosing.
  5. Mechanical solidarity is cohesion based on sameness in pre-industrial societies.
  6. Organic solidarity is cohesion based on interdependence in industrial societies with complex division of labour.
  7. Alienation, for Marx, is the loss of control by workers over their labour and its products.
  8. Cooperation can be enforced, not voluntary, especially in stratified societies.
  9. Competition is not natural or universal—it became dominant with the rise of capitalism.
  10. The ideology of competition assumes a level playing field, but stratification means individuals are not equally positioned.
  11. Conflict can be covert—the absence of overt protest does not mean the absence of conflict.
  12. Functionalists see social processes as maintaining system stability; conflict theorists see them as shaped by power inequalities.
  13. Women's apparent cooperation with discriminatory practices may be a strategy for long-term security, not genuine consent.
  14. Social reproduction refers to the process by which structures are maintained through repeated human actions.
  15. The building metaphor for social structure is useful but misleading if applied too strictly—structures are made of human actions, not bricks.

MCQs — 10 Questions with Answers

Q1. What does the term 'social structure' refer to in sociology?

  • A. Random assortments of individual actions in society
  • B. Underlying patterns and regularities in how people behave and relate, organized through institutions ✓
  • C. The physical layout of buildings and cities
  • D. A rigid framework that never changes

Answer: B — Social structure refers to patterned regularities in human behavior and relationships, not random actions or just physical layouts, and it can change even though it constrains action.

Q2. According to Emile Durkheim, how does social structure constrain individuals?

  • A. By violent punishment and threat
  • B. By setting external limits to action, similar to how walls and doors constrain movement in a room ✓
  • C. Only through economic inequality
  • D. It does not constrain; individuals are completely free

Answer: B — Durkheim used the room metaphor to show that social structure is external to individuals and constrains their possible activities, just as physical structures do.

Q3. Which of the following is NOT an example of how social structure reproduces itself in schools?

  • A. Daily morning assemblies and codes of conduct
  • B. School admission procedures
  • C. Students randomly choosing when to attend classes ✓
  • D. Annual school functions and sometimes school anthems

Answer: C — Reproduction of structure requires repeated, patterned behavior; random attendance choices would break the pattern that reproduces the school's structure.

Q4. Social stratification determines an individual's lifestyle by controlling access to resources. Which of the following best illustrates this concept in Indian society?

  • A. A dalit child and a brahmin child both attend the same school
  • B. A wealthy upper-class child attends an elite private school while a poor child from a low caste cannot afford school fees and works in a field ✓
  • C. All children in India wear school uniforms
  • D. Gender has no role in determining educational access

Answer: B — This illustrates how stratification based on class and caste directly constrains access to education, health, food, and leisure—core markers of lifestyle.

Q5. According to Karl Marx, what is the relationship between human agency and social structure?

  • A. Humans are completely free agents; structure does not exist
  • B. Structure is fixed and humans have no freedom to change it
  • C. Humans make history and change structure, but only within the constraints and possibilities of their historical and structural situation ✓
  • D. Only society's leaders have agency; ordinary people must obey structure

Answer: C — Marx emphasized the dialectical relationship: humans are creative agents but their creativity is bounded by historical circumstances and existing structures.

Q6. C. Wright Mills' concept of 'sociological imagination' emphasizes:

  • A. Only the biography of individual persons matters
  • B. Only society's history matters; individuals are insignificant
  • C. The interplay between an individual's biography and society's history; how personal troubles connect to social issues ✓
  • D. Imagination as a tool separate from social reality

Answer: C — Sociological imagination reveals the dialectical relationship: personal problems (biography) are linked to broader social issues (history), neither existing separately.

Q7. The three social processes discussed in this chapter—cooperation, competition, and conflict—are all shaped by:

  • A. Only individual personality differences
  • B. An individual's position in social structure and stratification system ✓
  • C. Biological inheritance alone
  • D. Random factors with no pattern

Answer: B — Where individuals are located in the stratification system (class, caste, gender) and their place in social structure determine how they cooperate, compete, and conflict.

Q8. Which statement correctly uses the building metaphor for social structure? (Both statements are given; choose the best answer.) Statement 1: Social structure is exactly like a rigid building that never changes. Statement 2: Social structure constrains action like walls define movement, but humans can reconstruct it.

  • A. Statement 1 is correct; Statement 2 is false
  • B. Statement 2 is correct; Statement 1 is misleading ✓
  • C. Both are equally correct
  • D. Neither statement applies to sociology

Answer: B — The building metaphor is helpful for showing constraint but misleading if interpreted as rigid unchangeability; humans continuously reconstruct structure while reproducing it.

Q9. In a family, which of the following best demonstrates how social structure persists despite individual change?

  • A. Each family member invents completely new duties and relationships yearly
  • B. Certain ways of behaving—marriage practices, notions of relationships, duties, expectations—continue to be followed even as old members die and new ones are born ✓
  • C. The family has no pattern or regularity
  • D. Only the oldest family member determines all structure

Answer: B — Social reproduction means institutions like family maintain continuity through repeated patterns in behavior and relationships across generations despite membership changes.

Q10. Read the following: A student from a wealthy family can afford tuition at an elite school, has time for leisure activities, good nutrition, and health checkups. A student from a poor family works in a factory instead of attending school. How does this situation demonstrate both social structure AND stratification?

  • A. It shows only individual choices, not structure or stratification
  • B. Structure = the institution of schooling; Stratification = the inequality in access based on economic class that constrains the poor student's choices ✓
  • C. Structure = poverty; Stratification = wealth
  • D. It demonstrates neither concept

Answer: B — Schooling as an institution represents social structure; the unequal access based on class position represents stratification, and together they constrain individual life paths differently.

Flashcards

What does 'social structure' mean in sociology?

Social structure refers to underlying patterns and regularities in how people behave and relate to one another, organized through institutions that persist over time and space.

How is social structure like a building metaphor?

A building's walls and doors constrain movement just as social structure sets limits to individual action, but the metaphor is misleading because humans can actively change the structure.

Define social stratification with one example.

Social stratification is the existence of structured inequalities between groups in society; for example, a wealthy family's child attends an elite school while a poor child may not attend school at all.

Who argued that society has 'primacy' over the individual?

Emile Durkheim argued that society has primacy over the individual, exerting external social constraint comparable to material structures.

What is the dialectical relationship between individual and society?

C. Wright Mills' 'sociological imagination' shows how an individual's personal biography intersects with society's history, meaning individuals both shape and are shaped by society.

How do families and schools reproduce their structure?

Through repeated patterns—admission procedures, assemblies, marriage practices, codes of conduct—that persist even as old members leave and new ones join.

According to Karl Marx, can humans change social structure?

Yes, but only within the constraints and possibilities of their historical and structural situation; humans make history but not as they wish.

Name the three social processes discussed in this chapter.

Cooperation, competition, and conflict—all shaped by an individual's position within social structure and stratification.

How does stratification affect lifestyle choices?

One's position in the stratification system determines access to resources, influencing school choice, food consumption, clothing, leisure opportunities, and health access.

What is social reproduction?

Social reproduction is the process by which society's structures and institutions are maintained and repeated over time through the everyday actions of people.

Important Board Questions

Define 'social structure' with one example showing how it persists over time despite changes in membership. [2 marks]

Define as patterned regularities/institutions persisting through repeated behavior; example: school admission procedures, daily assemblies, or family marriage practices continue even as students/family members change.

Explain how social stratification constrains individual life choices. Use an Indian example to illustrate your answer. [5 marks]

Explain that position in stratification system (caste, class, gender, tribe) determines access to resources like education, food, health, leisure. Indian example: a dalit child's schooling options, diet, and health access differ from an upper-class brahmin child's due to stratification, not individual merit alone.

Discuss the relationship between social structure, human agency, and social change using the ideas of Durkheim and Marx. Why is neither 'complete constraint' nor 'complete freedom' an accurate view? [6 marks]

Durkheim: structure exerts primacy, constrains like building walls (external). Marx: humans have agency to create history and change structure BUT within historical/structural limits (dialectical). Synthesis: structure enables and constrains simultaneously; humans reproduce structure through cooperation while also introducing changes through agency—neither full determinism nor full freedom explains society.

Assertion-Reason Questions for Structure, Agency and Social Transformation

Q1. Assertion (A):

Social structures are external to individuals and constrain their actions similar to how walls constrain movement in a room.

Reason (R):

Durkheim argued that society has primacy over the individual and social structures have a 'firmness' or 'solidity' comparable to structures in the material environment.

Answer: A — Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A — Both assertion and reason are true, and the reason correctly explains Durkheim's theoretical basis for the assertion. The room analogy and the concept of social firmness directly support the idea of structural constraint.

Q2. Assertion (A):

Humans possess complete freedom to act because social structure does not truly constrain individual behaviour.

Reason (R):

Marx argued that human beings make history, but within the constraints and possibilities of the historical and structural situation they are in.

Answer: D — A is false but R is true — The assertion is false—structures do constrain action. The reason contradicts the assertion by explicitly showing constraints exist. Marx did not argue for complete freedom; he emphasized agency within structural limits.

Q3. Assertion (A):

Social structures can be modified and changed over time despite their apparent permanence.

Reason (R):

Social reproduction through repetition of human actions maintains institutions, but humans also bring changes as they reconstruct structures.

Answer: A — Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A — Both assertion and reason are true. The reason accurately explains how structures are simultaneously maintained and transformed—they are continuously reconstructed, not static. This captures the dialectical relationship between structure and agency.

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Case-Based Questions (CBQ) for Structure, Agency and Social Transformation

Case Study:

In a study of a government school in rural Uttar Pradesh, researchers found that children from agricultural labour families attended school irregularly and often dropped out after primary classes. Meanwhile, children from landowning families consistently attended and progressed further. Both groups lived in the same village with access to the same school. Teachers noted that labour families needed children's help during harvest seasons, while landowning families could afford to spare children from work. The school had adequate facilities for all students, yet educational outcomes differed sharply by family economic position.

Q1. According to the passage, what is the primary factor explaining differences in school attendance between the two groups?

  • A. Differences in school facilities and infrastructure
  • B. Different positions in the social stratification system that constrain access to education differently ✓
  • C. Differences in individual children's intellectual abilities
  • D. School teachers' bias against labour families

Answer: B

Q2. How does this case illustrate the concept that 'social stratification constrains individual action'?

  • A. It shows that poor families must use children's labour, limiting educational choices based on economic position ✓
  • B. It demonstrates that schools create artificial barriers for labour families
  • C. It proves that rural children are less interested in education
  • D. It shows individual talent is irrelevant in Indian villages

Answer: A

Q3. Which sociological concept does this case best exemplify?

  • A. Social reproduction through institutions
  • B. The dialectical relationship between individual circumstances and social structure ✓
  • C. Only individual choice matters in education
  • D. Schools are neutral institutions unaffected by social stratification

Answer: B

Q4. If landowning families could hire agricultural labour, would dropout rates for labour families' children decrease according to sociological logic?

  • A. Yes, because it would reduce the structural constraint of child labour arising from economic position ✓
  • B. No, because cultural attitudes toward education would remain unchanged
  • C. Cannot be determined from sociological analysis
  • D. Only if the school improved its facilities

Answer: A

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