Week 8: Groups and Networks

Question 1

Describe this week’s paradox.

Answer 1

The strength of weak ties: it is the people with whom we are the least connected with who offer us the most opportunities.

Question 2

What is a dyad?

Answer 2

A relationship of two.

Question 3

What type of relationship is a dyad?

Answer 3

This is the most intimate form of social life, partly because two members of the dyad are mutually dependent on each other. The intimacy is enhanced by the fact that no third person exists to buffer the situation or mediate between the two.

Question 4

Describe symmetry in a dyad.

Answer 4

Symmetry must exist in a dyad due to mutual dependency.

E.g. a master and servant don’t have equal power in the dyad, but there is still symmetry in the relationship. What would happen if the servant could no longer serve the master or the master no longer had the servant to carry out the deeds he couldn’t perform?

Question 5

Triad

Answer 5

A relationship of three or more.

Question 6

What type of power is there present in a triad?

Answer 6

The group had supra-individual power, which means one member of the group can leave and the relationship can continue, as there will still be a dyad left.

Question 7

What detrimental factors can manifest themselves in a triad?

Answer 7

Secrets can exist. “Who left the cap off of the toothpaste?” Politics can also exist in a group of three. Instead of generating consensus between two individuals, now you have multiple points of view and preferences that need to be balanced.

Question 8

What are the three basic forms of political relations?

Answer 8

Mediator, Tertius Gaudens, and Divide et Impera.

Question 9

Mediator

Answer 9

Tries to resolve the conflict between the other two and sometimes is brought in for that explicit purpose. E.g. marriage counselors are a good example.

Question 10

Tartius Gaudens

Answer 10

This individual profits from the disagreement of the other two, essentially playing the opposite role from the mediator. Someone in this position may have multiple roles.

Question 11

Divide et Impera

Answer 11

This person intentionally drives a wedge between the other two parties. This is similar to the Teritus Gaudens, the difference between the two being a question of intent and whether the rift preexisted.

Question 12

Small Group (U)

Answer 12

Characterized by face-to-face interaction, a unofficial perspective, lack of formal arrangements, and a certain level of equality.

Question 13

Party (M)

Answer 13

Is characterized by face-to-face interaction but differs in that it is multifocal.

Question 14

Large Group

Answer 14

A group characterized by the presence of a formal structure that mediates interaction and, consequently, status differentiation.

Business retreat.

Question 15

Primary Groups

Answer 15

Social groups, such as families or friends, composed of intimate face-to-face relationships that strongly influence the attitudes and ideals of those involved.

Question 16

Secondary Groups

Answer 16

Groups marked by impersonal, instrumental relationships (those existing as a means to an end). You may or may not know all of the members. Affiliation is contingent.

Question 17

In-group

Answer 17

The more powerful, majority group. Hyland examples.

Question 18

Out-group

Answer 18

less powerful group. Hyland example.

Question 19

Reference groups

Answer 19

A group that we compare ourselves to.

Siblings, parents, celebrities.

Question 20

Social Network

Answer 20

Is a set of relations - a set of dyads, essentially - held together by ties between individuals.

Alumni association. Facebook, and Linkedin.

Question 21

Tie

Answer 21

Is the content/story of a particular relationship.

E.g. One way to think about “the ties that bond” is a set of stories we tell each other that explain a particular relationship.

Question 22

Narrative

Answer 22

The sum of stories contained in a set of ties.

E.g. UWW is a narrative. Every person with who you have a relationship at your university forms a part of a network.

Social network + tie = Narrative

Question 23

Embeddedness

Answer 23

Degree to which ties are reinforced through indirect paths within a social network.

Ties that are reinforced. STUDYING between Melissa and Rory further embeds our relationship.

Question 24

Strength of weak ties

Answer 24

Referring to the fact that relatively weak ties, those not reinforced through indirect paths, often turn out to be quite valuable because they bring new information. The strength of a weak tie has been proven especially useful in job searches.

Question 25

Give an example of strength of weak ties.

Answer 25

Lets say you’re on the track team and that’s your primary social group. An old classmate from high school who you didn’t really know back then, you now see occasionally because he also attends your college - but he’s on the volleyball team. If they track team isn’t doing anything on a Friday night but the volleyball team is having a party, you’ve got an “in” through this relationship that’s much weaker than the ones you’ve got with the other members of the track team. That “in” is the strength of the weak tie you maintain from back home.

Question 26

Social capital

Answer 26

The information, knowledge of people, and connections that help individuals enter, gain power in, or otherwise leverage social networks.

“It’s not what you know. It’s who you know.”

Question 27

Organization

Answer 27

Any social network that is defined by a common purpose and has a boundary between its membership and the rest of the social world.

Government structure.

Question 28

Organizational structure

Answer 28

The ways in which power and authority are distributed within an organization.

Question 29

Isomorphism

Answer 29

A contrasting process that forces one unit in a population to resemble other units that face a same set of environmental conditions.

Don’t be average! Don’t just be a bank. Be a community oriented bank!

Question 30

Secondary Ties

Answer 30

Meeting new people = new info = new opportunities.