Ch5: Groups and Networks

Question 1

Dyad (def & characteristics)

Answer 1

-Group of two
-Most intimate form of social life
-Members are mutually dependent for group existence
-No third person to mediate, buffer, or perceive the interaction
-No collective influence

Question 2

Triad (def, characteristics, third party’s roles, iron law)

Answer 2

-Group of three
-Collective power: group can continue existing even if someone leaves.
-There can be secrets
-Politics because of multiple points of view
-The third party can take the role of mediator (tries to resolve the conflict), tertius gaudens (benefits from others’ disagreement), or divide et impera (intentionally drives a wedge between others)
-Iron Law: two relationships reinforce the third (there are three actual, not just possible, relationships in a triad)

Question 3

Small group (characteristics)

Answer 3

-Face-to-face interaction
-Unifocal
-Lack of formal arrangement of roles
-Equality

Question 4

Party

Answer 4

Same as small group but multifocal

Question 5

Large group

Answer 5

There is a formal structure that mediates interaction and status differentiation

Question 6

Primary Group (characteristics)

Answer 6

-limited number of members, allowing face-to-face interactions
-it’s an end unto itself, not means
-key agents of socialization
-loyalty, members are noninterchangeable
-relationships are enduring

Question 7

Secondary Groups (characterstics)

Answer 7

-impersonal, don’t need to know everyone
-instrumental, means to an end
-affiliation is conditional
-roles are more important than the individuals (who are interchangeable)

Question 8

In-group

Answer 8

Most powerful in defining normal thoughts and behaviors

Question 9

Out-group

Answer 9

Stigmatized, less powerful

Question 10

Reference groups

Answer 10

Help us understand or make sense of our position in society relative to other groups

Question 11

Social Network

Answer 11

Set of relations held together by ties between individuals

Question 12

Tie

Answer 12

Content of a relationship, connection/story between two people.

Question 13

Narrative

Answer 13

Set of stories contained in a set of ties

Question 14

Embeddedness

Answer 14

Degree to which a social relationship is reinforced through indirect paths which a network

Question 15

Strength of Weak Ties

Answer 15

They provide novel information and opportunities

Question 16

Structural Hole

Answer 16

Gap between network clusters, or even two individuals, if those have complementary resources

Question 17

Elastic Tie

Answer 17

Social connection with characteristics of strong ties (help and care for) while maintaining a degree of social distance (not know names or consider them friends)

Question 18

Social Capital

Answer 18

Information, knowledge of people or things, and connections that help individuals enter, gain power in, or otherwise leverage preexisting networks

Question 19

Organization

Answer 19

Any social network that’s defined by a common purpose and has a boundary between its membership and the rest of the social world. They can be formal, meaning they have a set of governing structures and rules for their internal arrangements, or informal, meaning they don’t.

Question 20

Organizational Culture

Answer 20

Shared beliefs and behaviors within a social group

Question 21

Organizational Structure

Answer 21

Ways in which power and authority are distributed within an organization

Question 22

Isomorphism

Answer 22

Constraining process that forces one unit in a population to resemble other units that face the same set of environmental conditions