ch 7 social structures and institutions (lecture))

Question 1

social structure

Answer 1

• stable patterns of social relations
• influences behavior by making it easy to conform and hard to deviate
• even though many different cultures today - still lots of conformity when it comes to what people actually do

Question 2

social structure vs individual choice

Answer 2

taking the bus - because you’re attached to the idea of environmentalism or because you have no other choice

Question 3

microstructures (social structures)

Answer 3

intimate social relations formed by face-to-face interactions
- friends
- small business
- family

Question 4

macrostructures (social structures)

Answer 4

patterns of social relations that lie outside of circle of intimates
- university, job

Question 5

global structures (social structures)

Answer 5

patterns of social relations that lie above national level
- global economy

Question 6

where do structures come from? what accounts for the level of complexity of society today?

Answer 6

networks

Question 7

what is a network

Answer 7

set of social individuals linked by communicative acts
- economic exchange
- friendship
family relationships

Question 8

node

Answer 8

individual point of contact

Question 9

dyad

Answer 9

social relationship between 2 nodes

Question 10

triad

Answer 10

social relationship between 3 nodes

Question 11

network centrality

Answer 11

highest network centrality = most connections

Question 12

path distance

Answer 12

distance from one node to another

Question 13

access to connections is important for…

Answer 13

creative work

Question 14

objective organization of environment influences structures of social networks

Answer 14

the way an office is set up
- open space with no blockers = creativity flow

Question 15

network analysis reveals objective structure of a social group but..

Answer 15

doesn’t describe quality of connections

Question 16

social capital

Answer 16

networks/connection that can be accessed or deployed for social gain

Question 17

what increases social capital

Answer 17

increased network centrality

Question 18

strong/weak ties

Answer 18

strong: people interested in your success (family)
weak: not close, but more connection - easier to get job

Question 19

structural hole

Answer 19

space between 2 networks

Question 20

bridging connection

Answer 20

allowing information flow from one densely portioned network to another

Question 21

lowest degrees of network centralities

Answer 21

peripheral nodes on the outside

Question 22

mean network size

Answer 22

average number of connections per employment categories

Question 23

social isolates

Answer 23

no discussion patterns, not on network map

Question 24

potential for a raise is dependent on

Answer 24

position in network structure

Question 25

what were the finds associated with good ideas

Answer 25

• people with HS education have just as good ideas as people with a PHD
• education, age, company rank aren’t associated with good ideas when network density is considered

Question 26

network constraint and good ideas

Answer 26

as network constraint increases, positively evaluated ideas decrease

Question 27

informal structure

Answer 27

spontaneously created
- friends

Question 28

formal structures

Answer 28

thought out, participants can be easily replaced

Question 29

organizations (formal networks) can develop into

Answer 29

bureaucracy

Question 30

bureaucracy

Answer 30

formal organization with jobs, formal roles, salaries

Question 31

max weber’s iron cage of bureaucracy

Answer 31

• increasing bureaucratization of society
• more difficult to deviate from expectations of structure
• more difficult to get someone to do something that deviates
• difficult for firm to adapt to product becoming obsolete

Question 32

institutions

Answer 32

made up of multiple organizations that are formally networked
- criminal justice systems made up of police, prosecutors, courts, prisons

Question 33

institutionalization

Answer 33

when networks go from informal to organized and recognized (both structural and cultural)

Question 34

history of institutionalization

Answer 34

character today can only be understood if we reference history of how it emerged

Question 35

unlike informal networks, institutions are resistant to

Answer 35

change