Social Interaction, Groups, and Social Structure

Question 1

achieved status

Answer 1

a social position that a person attains largely through their own efforts

Question 2

agrarian society

Answer 2

the most technologically advanced form of preindustrial society. members engage primarily in the production of food, but increase their crop yields through technological innovations such as the plow

Question 3

alienation

Answer 3

a condition of estrangement or dissociation from the surrounding society

Question 4

ascribed status

Answer 4

a social positon assigned to a person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics

Question 5

bureaucracy

Answer 5

a component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency

Question 6

bureaucratization

Answer 6

the process by which a group, organization, or social movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic

Question 7

classical theory

Answer 7

an approach to the study of formal organizations that views workers as being motivated almost entirely by economic rewards

Question 8

coalition

Answer 8

a temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal

Question 9

formal organization

Answer 9

a group designed for a special purpose and structured for maximum efficiency

Question 10

gemeinschaft

Answer 10

a close-knit community, often found in rural areas, in which strong personal bonds unite members

Question 11

gesellschaft

Answer 11

a community, often urban, that is large and impersonal, with little commitment to the group or consensus on values

Question 12

goal displacement

Answer 12

overzealous conformity to official regulations of a bureaucracy

Question 13

group

Answer 13

any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis

Question 14

horticultural society

Answer 14

a preindustrial society in which people plant seeds and crops rather than merely subsist on available foods

Question 15

human relations approach

Answer 15

an approach to the study of formal organizations that emphasizes the role of people, communication, and participation in a bureaucracy and tends to focus on the informal structure of the organization

Question 16

hunting-and-gathering society

Answer 16

a preindustrial society in which people rely on whatever foods and fibers are readily available in order to survive

Question 17

hyperconsumerism

Answer 17

the practice of buying more than we need or wants, and often more than we can afford; a preoccupation of postmodern

Question 18

ideal type

Answer 18

a construct or model for evaluating specific cases

Question 19

industrial society

Answer 19

a society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services

Question 20

in-group

Answer 20

any group or category to which people feel they belong

Question 21

iron law of oligarchy

Answer 21

a principle of organizational life under which even a democratic organization will eventually develop into a bureaucracy ruled by a few individuals

Question 22

labor union

Answer 22

organized workers who share either the same skill or the same employer

Question 23

master status

Answer 23

a status that dominates other statuses and there determines a person’s general position in society

Question 24

McDonaldization

Answer 24

the process by which the principles of bureaucratization have increasingly shared organizations worldwide

Question 25

mechanical solidarity

Answer 25

a collective consciousness that emphasizes group solidarity, characteristic of societies with minimal division of labor

Question 26

organic solidarity

Answer 26

a collective consciousness that rests on mutual interdependence, characteristic of societies with a complex division of labor

Question 27

out-group

Answer 27

a group or category to which people feel they do not belong

Question 28

Peter principle

Answer 28

a principle of organizational life according to which every employee with a hierarchy tends to rise to their level of incompetence

Question 29

postindustrial society

Answer 29

a society whose economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and control of information

Question 30

postmodern society

Answer 30

a technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images

Question 31

primary group

Answer 31

a small group characterized by intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation

Question 32

reference group

Answer 32

any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior

Question 33

role conflict

Answer 33

the situation that occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person

Question 34

role exit

Answer 34

the process of disengagement for a role that is central to one’s self-identity in order to establish a new role and identity

Question 35

role strain

Answer 35

the difficulty that arises when the same social position imposes conflicting demands and expectations

Question 36

scientific management approach

Answer 36

another name for the classical theory of formal organizations

Question 37

secondary group

Answer 37

a formal, impersonal group in which there is little social intimacy or mutual understanding

Question 38

social institution

Answer 38

an organized pattern of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs

Question 39

social network

Answer 39

a series of social relationships that link a person directly to others, and through them indirectly to still more people

Question 40

social role

Answer 40

a set of expectations for people who occupy a given social position or status

Question 41

social structure

Answer 41

the way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships

Question 42

sociocultural evolution

Answer 42

long-term social trends resulting from the interplay of continuity, innovation, and selection

Question 43

technology

Answer 43

cultural information about the ways in which the material resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires

Question 44

trained incapacity

Answer 44

the tendency of workers in a bureaucracy to become so specialized that they develop blind spots and fail to notice obvious problems