Sociology Chapter 6 Notes

Groups Social Group = collection of people who regularly interact with one another on the basis of shared expectations concerning bx and who shares a sense of common identity Ex. You and your roommate, members of an intro sociology class Social Aggregate = simple collection of people who happen to be together in a particular place but do not significantly interact or identify with one another Ex. People walking in crowds, waiting for a bus or strolling on the beach Social Category = people who share a common characteristic (such as gender or job) but do not necessarily interact/identify with one another Charles Horton Cooley Primary Groups = groups that are characterized by intense emotional ties, face – to – face interaction, intimacy, and a strong, enduring sense of commitment Ex. Groups of friends, gangs, family Experience unity, merging of the self with the group into one personal “we” Secondary Groups = groups characterized by large size and by impersonal, fleeting relationships Ex. Businesses, schools, work groups, athletic clubs Members usually play a role/act as an employee or student People join secondary groups to earn a living, get a college degree, or compete on a team Organizations Organizations = large group or individuals with a definite set of authority relations. Group with identifiable membership that engages in concerted collective actions to achieve a common purpose Ex. Universities, religious bodies, business corps Formal Organization = group that is rationally designed to achieve its objectives, often by means of explicit rules, regulations, and procedures Ex. College/University must satisfy explicit written standards to be accredited Dominant form of organization throughout the world Networks Networks = sets of informal and formal social ties that link people to each other Ex. Personal Networks: friends, friends’ friends (people you know directly and indirectly) In Groups and Out Groups In – groups = groups toward which one feels particular loyalty and respect – the groups to which “we” belong Out – groups = groups toward which one feels antagonism and contempt - “those people” Reference groups = group that provides a standard for judging one’s attitudes or bx Ex. Family, friends, classmates, coworkers The Effects of Size Georg Simmel Dyads = group consisting of two people Involve intimacy and conflict Likely to be simultaneously intense and unstable Require full attention and cooperation of both parties Triads = group consisting of three people Not as fragile, but alliances can be formed As groups grow in size, their intensity decreases while their stability and exclusivity increase Theories of Organizations Max Weber Bureaucracy = type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and the existence of written rules of procedure and staffed by full-time, salaried officials Argued to be the most efficient form of human organization because all tasks are regulated by strict procedures Ideal Type = “pure type” constructed by emphasizing certain traits of a social item that do not necessarily exist in reality o Ex. Weber’s ideal type of bureaucratic organization Characteristics: o There is a clear-cut hierarchy of authority o Written rules govern the conduct of officials at all levels of the organization o Officials work full time and are salaried o There is a separation b/w tasks of an official within organization and his/her life outside o No members of organization own materials with which they operate Most prominent critique: McDonaldization of society Formal Relations = laid down by norms, or rules, or official system of authority Informal Relations = developed on basis of personal connections; ways of doing things that depart from formally recognized modes of procedure Surveillance = supervising of activities of some individuals or groups by others in order to ensure complaint bx o Direct supervision: subordinates by superiors  Ex. School classroom o Supervision consisting of keeping files, records, and case histories o Timetables = means by which organizations regularize activities across time and space McDonaldization of Society George Ritzer Developed a vivid metaphor to express his view of transformations in industrialized societies McDonaldization = process by which the principles of the fast – food restaurant are coming to dominate the more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world 1. 2. 3. 4. Efficiency Calculability Uniformity Control through automation Argues that society as a whole is moving toward this highly standardized and regulated model Argues that McDonaldization is making social life more homogeneous, rigid, and less personal Robert Michels Iron Law of Oligarchy = large organizations tend toward centralization of power, making democracy difficult l Oligarchy = rule by a small minority within an organization/society Burns and Stalker Information and communication technology = forms of tech based on info processing and requiring microelectronic circuitry