Ch 7 - Interaction, Groups, and Organizations

Question 0

Thomas theorem

Answer 0

the idea that if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences

Question 1

intersubjectivity

Answer 1

a common understanding between people about knowledge, reality, or an experience

Question 2

stereotypes

Answer 2

exaggerated, distorted, or untrue generalizations about categories of people that do not acknowledge individual variation

Question 3

status

Answer 3

a position in a social system that can be occupied by an individual

Question 4

status set

Answer 4

the collection of statuses that an individual holds

Question 5

status category

Answer 5

a status that people can hold in common

Question 6

ascribed statuses

Answer 6

a social position that is assigned to us from birth or that we assume later in life, regardless of our wishes or abilities

Question 7

achieved statuses

Answer 7

a social position that we voluntarily attain, to a considerable degree, as the result of our own efforts

Question 8

status hierarchy

Answer 8

a ranking of social positions according to their perceived prestige or honor

Question 9

master status

Answer 9

a social position that is overwhelmingly significant, powerfully influenced a person’s social experience, and typically overshadows all the other social positions that a person may occupy

Question 10

roles

Answer 10

the sets of expected behaviors that are associated with particular statuses

Question 11

role conflict

Answer 11

the problem that occurs when the expectations associated with different roles clash

Question 12

role strain

Answer 12

the problem that occurs when the expectations associated with a single role compete with each other

Question 13

dramaturgy

Answer 13

an approach to the study of social interaction that uses the metaphor of social life as a theater

Question 14

social networks

Answer 14

the collection of social ties that connect people to each other

Question 15

homophily

Answer 15

the idea that social contact occurs at a higher rate between people who are similar than it does between people who are different

Question 16

social groups

Answer 16

collections of people who interact regularly with one another and who are aware of their status as a group

Question 17

primary groups

Answer 17

people who have regular contact, enduring relationships, and a significant emotional attachment to each other

Question 18

secondary groups

Answer 18

people who interact in a relatively impersonal way, usually to carry out some specific task

Question 19

reference groups

Answer 19

the groups against which we choose to measure ourselves

Question 20

organizations

Answer 20

secondary groups that have a degree of formal structure and are formed to accomplish particular tasks

Question 21

bureaucracy

Answer 21

a hierarchal administrative system with formal rules and procedures used to manage organizations

Question 22

organizational environment

Answer 22

factors that exist outside the organization but that potentially affect its operation

Question 23

in-group

Answer 23

a social group with which a person identifies and toward which he or she feels positively; members have a collective sense of ‘us’

Question 24

out-group

Answer 24

a social group toward which a person feels negatively, considering its members to be inferiors, or ‘them’

Question 25

groupthink

Answer 25

a form of uncritical thinking in which people reinforce a consensus rather than ask serious questions or thoroughly analyze the issue at hand

Question 26

iron law of oligarchy

Answer 26

the eventual and inevitable consolidation of power at the top of bureaucratic organizations

Question 27

scientific management

Answer 27

the process of deskilling ordinary workers and increasing workplace efficiency through calculated study