UGC NTA NET/JRF Exam, Social Work, June-2025

Conformity is the adjustment of one's behaviour or beliefs to align with perceived group norms, expectations, or standards. It arises from normative pressure (wanting acceptance/avoiding rejection) and informational influence (assuming the group is correct).

It differs from "influencing tactics" (strategies to persuade others), "pressure" (a cause rather than the behaviour), and "cultural lag" (a societal-level mismatch between material and non-material culture).

Orientation (C) is the entry stage: members learn the purpose, clarify roles, and test the climate. Resistance (D) follows, with boundarytesting, ambivalence, or challenges to leadership and norms-roughly akin to "storming.

" Negotiation (B) comes next: the group works through differences, establishes norms/roles, and builds workable agreements. Intimacy (A) is the mature stage-trust, cohesion, open communication, and productive collaboration.

This ascending progression-Orientation→ Resistance → Negotiation → Intimacy-matches group development logic.

Gandhian Satyagraha strictly requires nonviolence and self-suffering. Hartal (A)-a peaceful shutdown/strike-withdraws cooperation without force. Social ostracism (B) is a non-violent boycott to signal moral dissent.

Fasting (D) is self-discipline aimed at moral appeal. Coercive picketing (C) violates non-violence by using compulsion/force, so it is excluded.

Job Consciousness Theory — Selig Perlman (A-III): Unions arise from workers' practical, job-centred interests (wages, security), not abstract ideology.

Socio-Psychological Theory - Robert F. Hoxie (B-IV): Union forms/behaviours reflect social conditions and worker-management psychology in specific industries.

Marxian Theory - Karl Marx (C-I): Unions are part of class struggle, organising
labour against capital within a broader revolutionary critique.

Technological Theory - Frank Tannenbaum (D-II): Industrial/technological changes restructure work and power relations, fostering unionisation.

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) presents a stepwise model for shaping social policy. To give the descending order (from the last phase back to the earliest), we need to start with the most advanced stage and trace backward:

B. Defining and prioritizing issues - This represents a later stage in the cycle where, after evaluation, decision-makers refine definitions and set clear priorities for action to ensure that resources and attention focus on the most critical matters.

C. Evaluating alternative approaches - Preceding that, policymakers compare different strategies or policy options for feasibility, efficiency, and equity. Evaluation provides the evidence base needed to define and rank issues effectively.

A. Placing issues on the public agenda - Earlier in the sequence, issues are introduced to the public and decision-making forums to gain visibility, mobilise stakeholders, and create political momentum.

D. Identifying problems and opportunities - This is the initial phase, where policymakers scan the social environment, collect data, and recognise pressing needs or emerging possibilities that could benefit from policy intervention.

Tracing backward in descending order from the more advanced phases to the earliest detection phase gives:

Article 330 (A-IV): Provides for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Lok Sabha to ensure adequate parliamentary representation.

Article 332 (B-II): Provides for reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Legislative Assemblies of the States, extending affirmative representation to state legislatures.

Article 21A (C-III): Introduced by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002, it guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged 6-14 years as a Fundamental Right.

Article 17 (D-I): Abolishes untouchability and forbids its practice in any form,
enforcing equality and dignity.

A planning matrix in research includes orienting decisions (framing objectives), research design (methods/approach), and data analysis (interpreting results). Sharing a client's personal information is not a step or component of research planning; rather, it would breach confidentiality and ethics.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 articulates a vision of transforming Bharat into an equitable, vibrant knowledge society and ultimately a global knowledge super power.

While access, equity, and technology-enabled learning are important aspects, the overarching emphasis is on positioning India as a global leader in knowledge creation, dissemination, and innovation.

In a genogram (a graphical representation of family relationships used in social work and counselling), the symbol resembling (or a small circle/ambiguous marker) denotes an unknown or unspecified gender of a person when gender information is unavailable. Other symbols include a square for males, a circle for females, and a diagonal cross for death.

Tendulkar Committee - Uniform Poverty Line Basket (A): Correct. Established in 2005 to revise poverty estimation methodology using a uniform consumption basket.

J.V.P. Committee - Health Review (B): Incorrect. The J.V.P. (Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Pattabhi Sitaramayya) Committee was formed in 1948 on linguistic reorganisation of states, not health.

Dhar Commission - Administrative Convenience (C): Correct. The Dhar Commission (1948) recommended administrative convenience over linguistic factors for reorganisation.

Rangarajan Commission - Academic Reforms (D): Incorrect. The Rangarajan Committee/Commission (2014) addressed poverty estimation, not academic reforms.
Thus, the mismatched pairs are B and Donly.