This MCQ module is based on: What Is Social Science? Everyday Life, Time and Traditions
What Is Social Science? Everyday Life, Time and Traditions
Ch 1 — Understanding Social Science
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This assessment will be based on: What Is Social Science? Everyday Life, Time and Traditions
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🎯 Big questions
- What is Social Science, and how is it different from the natural sciences?
- How does Social Science show up in an ordinary day of your life?
- Which disciplines make up Social Science, and what question does each one ask?
- Why is it worth studying — for you, and for a democracy?
What is Social Science?
People do not live alone. We depend on farmers for food, on engineers for electricity, on teachers for learning, on governments for roads and on one another for almost everything else. The way we live is shaped by four big forces: the environment around us, the institutions that govern us, the economic activities that meet our needs, and the traditions and ideas handed down to us.
Social Science is the systematic study of human society?. "Systematic" means it does not rely on guesses or opinions: it observes carefully, collects evidence? and reasons logically. It asks not only what happened or where something is, but also why it happened and how different parts of life are connected.
| Natural sciences | Social Science |
|---|---|
| Physics, Chemistry, Biology | Geography, History, Political Science, Economics (and more) |
| Study the natural world — matter, energy, living organisms | Study society — people, institutions, cultures and their interactions |
| Example question: Why does ice melt? | Example question: Why do people migrate from villages to cities? |
Social Science in everyday life
Think about a single ordinary day. The bricks, cement and steel in your home were made in different places. The rice or rotis on your plate were grown, harvested, processed, transported and sold by many different people. The road to school was planned and maintained by a public authority. Your school follows education policies. The light in your room comes from a power station that may be hundreds of kilometres away.
Figure 1.1 — Your Day Runs on Social Systems
L2 UnderstandTap a pin to see which system sits behind each part of an ordinary day.
HomeElectricity gridFarmsRoad and transportMarketGovernment officeTap a pin to see which system sits behind each part of an ordinary day.
Figure 1.1 — Even an ordinary day depends on many systems that people have built together.
Explore — One ordinary day, four big forces
L4 AnalysePick something from your day. See how the environment, institutions, the economy and traditions all play a part in it.
Environment: rain, soil and climate decide what can be grown. Institutions: governments run storage, food schemes and rules for markets. Economic activity: farmers, traders, transporters and shopkeepers each earn from it. Traditions and ideas: what you eat, and how, follows family, festival and regional customs.
Every item touches all four forces. That is why Social Science studies society as one connected story.
Even the simplest activity depends on governance, economic production, social cooperation and the natural environment working together. Once you notice this, you start asking bigger questions:
- Why do some people live in crowded cities and others in scattered villages?
- Why do communities speak different languages and follow different traditions?
- Why does one region depend on farming while another depends on industry or trade?
- How does a government take decisions that affect millions of people?
- Why are some regions more likely to flood? Why does farming thrive in some places and not others?
- How is climate change affecting our lives?
None of these things happen by chance. They are shaped by history, geography, institutions, resources and human choices — which is exactly what Social Science studies, using observation, evidence and reasoning.
LET'S ANALYSE — Spot a change in your locality
Bloom: L4 Analyse Think of one change in your locality over the last five years — in transport, housing, schools, technology or the environment. In groups, discuss:
- What was the situation earlier?
- What has changed?
- What might have caused the change?
- How has it affected people's lives — and has it affected everyone in the same way?
Write a short report and present it to the class.
✅ Pointers
A model answer (a village street): Earlier: a mud road, thatched huts, water from a hand pump. What changed: a paved road, solar panels, a phone tower, e-rickshaws. Causes: government road and electrification schemes, cheaper technology, and more people needing to reach markets and jobs. Effects: easier travel and communication, but the change may not reach everyone in the same way: a family far from the road, or without a phone, gains less. Notice how one small change touches the environment, the economy, government and daily habits together. Figure 1.2 — Spot the Change in Your Locality
L4 AnalyseTap a pin on the “Today” side to compare it with the same street some years ago.
RoadTransportHousingEnergyCommunicationTap a pin on the “Today” side to compare it with the same street some years ago.
Figure 1.2 — A model for the activity: every change has a cause and an effect on people.
Small observations like these teach an important lesson: society is one connected story, not a pile of separate facts.
Understanding society through time and traditions
Society has not always looked the way it does today. Over thousands of years, people moved from depending directly on nature — hunting animals and gathering plants — to growing crops, domesticating animals, building settlements, making tools, trading goods and organising systems of government. Villages grew into towns, and towns into cities. New ideas, inventions and contact between cultures kept transforming the way people lived.
Figure 1.3 — Society Through Time
L2 UnderstandTap a pin to walk forward through time, from caves to cities.
Hunting and gatheringFarming and domesticationTowns and tradeRiver transportModern citiesTap a pin to walk forward through time, from caves to cities.
Figure 1.3 — Societies change slowly, over thousands of years.
Earliest societies
People depended directly on nature: hunting animals and gathering plants.
Farming begins
They learnt to grow crops and domesticate animals, and started to live in one place.
Settlements and tools
Villages grew; people made tools, and began to trade goods with one another.
Towns and cities
Systems of government were organised; villages became towns, and towns became cities.
Today
New ideas, inventions and contact between cultures keep transforming how people live.
An old habit of asking questions
The effort to understand society is not new. India's knowledge traditions valued discussion, questioning and logical reasoning. Thinkers learnt through observation, reflection and dialogue.
- Pañchamahābhūtas? (the five great elements). This idea from Indian philosophy describes the world as made of five elements — earth (Pṛithvī), water (Āpaḥ), fire (Agni), air (Vāyu) and space (Ākāśha). It treats nature, the human body and all living beings as one interconnected system. The idea helps explain how the environment influences where people settle, what work they do, how they build homes, what they eat and how they stay healthy — questions that matter again today as societies respond to environmental change.
- Vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam? — "the world is one family". This phrase expresses the interdependence of people across regions and cultures. That interdependence is exactly what Social Science studies when it looks at global connections.
- The Arthaśhāstra?. Attributed to Kauṭilya and composed about 2,300 years ago, it discussed administration, economic management, taxation and the duties of rulers towards their people. It shows that careful thinking about government and the economy existed long before modern university subjects.
Figure 1.4 — Pañchamahābhūtas: The Five Great Elements
L1 RememberTap a pin to see what each of the five great elements stands for.
Pṛithvī · EarthĀpaḥ · WaterAgni · FireVāyu · AirĀkāśha · SpaceTap a pin to see what each of the five great elements stands for.
Figure 1.4 — The Pañchamahābhūtas picture nature, and human life within it, as one connected system.
Pṛithvī — Earth
The land, soil and rock on which people settle and grow food.
Āpaḥ — Water
Rivers, rain and groundwater that decide where communities can live.
Agni — Fire
Heat and energy: cooking, industry and the Sun.
Vāyu — Air
Winds, weather and the air every living being needs.
Ākāśha — Space
The open sky and space in which everything exists.
How social scientists work today
Modern Social Science continues this tradition with new tools. Social scientists:
- observe people's lives,
- conduct interviews and surveys,
- examine documents and records, and
- compare different times and places.
By gathering information from several sources, they build explanations that are supported by evidence. In this way, Social Science explains both what continues and what changes — how the past shapes the present, and how today's actions will shape the future.
🎯
Natural science or Social Science?
Decide which kind of question each one is. Think first, then press Show Answer to check.
Q1. Why does ice melt?
L2 UnderstandAnswer: (a) — It is about matter and energy (heat changing water from solid to liquid), which the natural sciences study.
Q2. Why do people migrate from villages to cities?
L2 UnderstandAnswer: (b) — It is about people, jobs, services and choices, so it belongs to Social Science.
Q3. How does a green plant make its food?
L2 UnderstandAnswer: (a) — Photosynthesis is a process in living organisms, a question for Biology.
Q4. How does a government decide where to build a new school?
L2 UnderstandAnswer: (b) — It involves institutions, population, resources and public policy, all social questions.
Q5. Why do neighbouring regions speak different languages and follow different traditions?
L2 UnderstandAnswer: (b) — Culture, history and geography explain such differences, which is the work of Social Science.
📝 Competency-Based Questions — Understanding Society
Kabir's grandmother tells him that ten years ago the road to their village was a mud track that became impassable every monsoon. Today it is a paved road with a bus stop. A small market has appeared beside it, a mobile tower stands on the hill, and several families now send their children to the town school by bus. But the hamlet on the far side of the river still has no bridge.
Q1. Social Science can best be described as the:
L1 RememberAnswer: (b) — Social Science systematically studies people, institutions, cultures and how they interact, using observation, evidence and reasoning.
Q2. Give two ways in which the new road might have changed daily life in Kabir's village.
L2 UnderstandModel Answer: Any two: villagers can reach the town school, health services and jobs more easily; goods travel to and from markets, so a local market grows; the village becomes more connected through buses and mobile services.
Q3. Suggest one question a social scientist would ask about the hamlet that still has no bridge.
L3 ApplyModel Answer: For example: Who decides where bridges are built and why was this hamlet left out? How does the lack of a bridge affect children's schooling, incomes and health care? What evidence (a survey, records, interviews) would show this? Good questions ask about causes, effects and people.
Q4. Kabir says: "The change happened by chance." Using ideas from the lesson, explain why this is not a complete explanation.
L4 AnalyseModel Answer: Social change is shaped by history, geography, institutions, resources and human choices. The road exists because someone planned and funded it; the market grew because people could now travel and trade; the river shaped where a bridge is difficult. Calling it chance ignores these causes.
Q5. Not everyone in the area gained equally from the new road. Suggest one step the local government could take, and justify it.
L5 EvaluateModel Answer: Build or fund a bridge or ferry link for the far hamlet. Justification: it would extend school, health and market access to families left out, so growth reaches everyone, a central aim of good governance.
⚖️ Assertion–Reason Questions — What Is Social Science?
Options:
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
(C) A is true, but R is false.
(D) A is false, but R is true.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(B) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
(C) A is true, but R is false.
(D) A is false, but R is true.
Assertion (A): Social Science explains why events happen and how parts of life are connected.
Reason (R): It relies on observation, evidence and logical reasoning rather than guesses.
Answer: (A) — Both true and R explains A. Because it is systematic, Social Science can go beyond "what happened" to "why" and "how it connects".
Assertion (A): Even the simplest daily activity depends on many systems people have built.
Reason (R): Governance, economic production, social cooperation and the natural environment work together in everyday life.
Answer: (A) — Both true and R explains A. A meal, a road or a light bulb each rest on the four forces working together.
Assertion (A): Social Science began only when modern universities introduced it.
Reason (R): Indian traditions such as the Arthaśhāstra show careful thinking about society long before that.
Answer: (D) — A is false, R is true. The Arthaśhāstra (about 2,300 years old) and other traditions show a long history of asking systematic questions about society.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Social Science?
Social Science is the systematic study of human society: its people, institutions, cultures and how they interact. It uses observation, evidence and reasoning to ask not only what happened but why, and how different parts of life connect.
How is Social Science different from Physics, Chemistry and Biology?
The natural sciences study the natural world: matter, energy and living organisms. Social Science studies society: people, institutions and cultures, and why social events happen.
Which subjects make up Social Science in Class 9?
Four core disciplines: Geography, History, Political Science and Economics. Sociology, Philosophy, Anthropology and Psychology are also part of the family and appear in higher classes.
What are the Pañchamahābhūtas?
The five great elements of Indian philosophy: earth, water, fire, air and space. They picture nature, the human body and all living beings as one interconnected system.
How do social scientists collect evidence?
They observe people's lives, conduct interviews and surveys, examine documents and records, and compare different times and places.
Illustrations: AI-generated on Hugging Face and labelled by our editors. Charts and maps are drawn from cited data. Notes follow the NCERT textbook Understanding Society: India and Beyond — Grade 9, Part 1 (NCERT).
Reference: NCERT official textbook · CBSE curriculum · Illustrations are AI-generated (FLUX.1-Krea-dev on Hugging Face); labels added by editors.
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