Sociology Chapter 6

Stouffer's 1949 Research on Reference Group Dynamics

showed that we do not make judgments about ourselves in isolation, nor do we compare ourselves with just anyone. We compare ourselves in relation to specific reference groups.

consequences of modern social organization for social life.

"Intelligent organizations" have become more productive than ever. The postindustrial economy has created many highly skilled jobs, more routine service jobs, and offers few of the benefits that today's highly skilled workers enjoy. Organizational "flexibility" that gives better-off workers more autonomy carries the threat of "downsizing" for rank-and-file employees. As technology transforms society, it breaks down the "usual" ways of doing things. In one of the latest changes, some companies have opened virtual offices on Second Life. The real person, not the avatar, is actually hired and receives the real paycheck.

Scientific management involves three steps:

1. Managers observe the tasks performed by the workers. 2. Managers analyze their data to discover ways for workers to become more efficient. 3. And they provide guidance and incentives to workers to be more efficient.

· Social diversity (race, ethnicity, class, and gender) influences inter group contact. This occurs in four ways:

1. The larger a group, the more likely members will maintain relationships only with other group members. 2. The more internally different a group is, the more likely that its members will interact with outsiders. 3. The greater the overall social equality within a setting, the more likely it is that people from diverse backgrounds will mingle and form ties. 4. And Physical space affects the chances of contact among groups.

Problems of bureaucracy.

1. There is Bureaucratic alienation, according to Weber, is the reduction of the human being to a "small cog in a ceaselessly moving mechanism." 2. Bureaucratic inefficiency and ritualism is the preoccupation with rules and regulations to the point of thwarting an organization's goals. 3. And Bureaucratic inertia is the tendency of bureaucratic organizations to perpetuate themselves.

There are three types of formal organizations:

1. Utilitarian organizations, in which people join in pursuit of material rewards. 2. Coercive organizations, which are distinguished by involuntary membership. 3. Normative organizations or voluntary associations, in which people pursue goals they consider morally worthwhile.

The "McDonaldization" of society coined by George Ritzer in 1993

Efficiency, Calculability, Uniformity and predictability, and Control through automation. Rationality, although efficient, may be irrational and highly dehumanizing.

A dyad is

Georg Simmel's term for a social group with two members. Social interaction in a dyad is typically intense, but Dyads are typically less stable than larger groups.

group conformity

Groups influence the behavior of their members by promoting conformity.

In-groups and out-groups

Groups toward which individuals feel loyalty are called in-groups, while those toward which they feel competition or opposition are called out-groups. The division is significant sociologically because in-groups provide a sense of identification or belonging, which often produce rivalries between groups. In-group membership leads to discrimination; given our loyalty, we favor members of our in-groups. Sociologist Robert Merton identified a double standard produced by this: the behaviors by members of an in-group are seen as virtues, while the same behaviors by members of an out-group are viewed as vices. Dividing the world into "we" and "them" can sometimes lead to acts directed against the out-groups.

· Social media and networking- A network is a web of weak social ties.

Social media refers to technology that links people in social activity. Today, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites connect people all over the world. Map: This map shows how the Information Revolution has affected countries around the world. In most high-income nations, at least one-half of the population uses the Internet. By contrast, only a small share of people in low-income nations does so.

Group Leadership

There are two types of leadership. Instrumental leadership emphasizes the completion of tasks; expressive leadership emphasizes collective well-being. There are three styles of decision-making in groups: 1. Authoritarian leadership focuses on instrumental, or task, concerns. The person takes personal charge of decision-making, and demands strict compliance from subordinates. 2. Democratic leadership is more expressive and tries to include everyone in the decision-making process. 3. Laissez-faire leadership, hands off leadership, which allows the group to function more or less on its own.

group studies

To better understand how different groups work, sociologists study group dynamics, or the ways in which individuals affect groups and the ways in which groups influence individuals.

Group think exampes

U.S. history provides examples of governmental group-think: presidents and their inner circles have committed themselves to a single course of action (e.g., refusal to believe the Japanese might attack Pearl Harbor; continuing and expanding the war in Vietnam; and the Watergate scandal) even when objective evidence showed the course to be wrong. The leaders became cut off from information that did not coincide with their own opinions. The two space shuttle disasters (Challenger and Columbia) are also examples of how NASA engineers had a limited view of their options in either launching or landing the shuttle. In each case, the decision resulted in a disaster.

refrence group

a social group that serves as a point of reference for people making evaluations or decisions. They are the groups we use as standards to evaluate ourselves, whether or not we actually belong to those groups.

A triad is

a social group with three members. Triads are more stable than dyads. In a triad, any two members can form a majority coalition. As the number of people in a group increases, the number of relationships that link them increases much faster, but by the time six or seven people share a conversation, the group usually divides into two.

Secondary Social Group

are larger, relatively temporary, more anonymous, formal, and impersonal than primary groups, and are based on some interest or activity. Members are likely to interact on the basis of specific roles, such as president, manager, worker, or student. They involve weak emotional ties, are commonly short term, are goal oriented, and are typically impersonal. Photo: Secondary groups are larger and more anonymous, formal, and impersonal than primary groups. These cyclists lined up at the start of a race...Why is this an example of a secondary group

Formal organizations

date back thousands of years. Early organizations had certain limitations. This led to Bureaucracy, which became common during the Industrial Revolution.

Primary Social Group

is a small social group whose members share personal and enduring relationships. People in primary groups share many activities, spend a great deal of time together, and feel they know one another well. The group becomes part of the individual's identity and the lens through which life is viewed. Families are primary groups in that they are the first groups we experience in life and because they are of central importance in the socialization process. Primary groups such as the family play a key role in the development of the self. As a small group, the family also serves as a buffer from the often-threatening larger group known as society. The family has been of primary significance in forming the basic orientations of this couple, as it will be for their son. Members think of the group as an end in itself rather than as a means to other ends. Members view each other as unique and irreplaceable.

Robert Michels

made the link between bureaucracy and oligarchy, the rule of the many by the few. The "iron law of oligarchy" refers to the pyramid shape of bureaucracy placing a few leaders in charge of organizational resources.

Group think prevention

only by insuring that leaders regularly are exposed to individuals who have views conflicting with those of the inner circle.Specifically, we need to encourage and circulate research results that provide the greatest number of options for decision makers to consider in an atmosphere of free expression and academic freedom

Bureaucracy

organizational model rationally designed to perform tasks efficiently. Max Weber identified six key characteristics of bureaucracy. Weber described the operation of the ideal bureaucracy as rational and highly efficient. In real life, however, organizations often operate very differently from Weber's model. Specialization, Hierarchy of offices, Rules and regulations, Technical competence, Impersonality, and Formal, written communications are the 6 key characteristics of bureaucracy Organizational environment refers to a range of factors outside the organization that affects its operation, including: 1. Technology. 2. Economic and political trends. 3. Population patterns. 4. Other organizations. The informal side of bureaucracy is that members of organizations try to personalize their procedures and surroundings.

Dr. Stanley Milgram

sought to determine why otherwise "good people" apparently participated in the Nazis' slaughter of Jews and others. experimentshowed how difficult it is for individuals to challenge people in positions of authority.He conducted experiments in which one person (the "teacher") was instructed to administer an electric shock to the other person (the "learner") for each wrong answer given to certain questions and to increase the voltage of the shock after each wrong answer.In fact, the "learner" was playing a role, intentionally giving wrong answers but only pretending to be receiving an electrical shock.Since a person in apparent authority (scientist, in the white coat in the university laboratory) continually stated that the experiment had to go on, most of the "teachers" gave in to that authority and continued to administer the "shocks" even when they appeared to produce extreme pain.The scientific community was disturbed not only by Milgram's findings, but also by his methods. Associations of social researchers accordingly adopted codes of ethics to require that subjects be informed of the nature and purpose of social research, and almost all deception was banned.

Group Conformity Asch 1950

subjects were asked to match the line on Card 1 to one of the lines on Card 2. Many subjects agreed with the wrong answers given by others in their group. Of the fifty people tested, 33 percent ended up giving the incorrect answers at least half of the time, even though they knew the answers were wrong; only 25 percent always gave the right answer despite the peer pressure. This leads us to conclude that there is a willingness to compromise our own judgments to avoid the discomfort of being seen as different

Sociologist Irving Janis coined the word "group-think"

to refer to situations in which a group of people think alike and any suggestion of alternatives becomes a sign of disloyalty. Even moral judgments are put aside for the perceived welfare of the group. group-think, the definition, the tendency of group members to conform by adopting a narrow view of some issue.

Social Group

·is defined as two or more people who identify and interact with one another. They are made up of people with shared experiences, loyalties, and interests, and are clusters of people with whom we interact in everyday life. A special "we"