Sociology 101 Exam 2 Questions and Complete Solutions

Sociology 101 Exam 2 Questions and Complete Solutions Social Group - Answer: consists of two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and who share a common identity. Primary Group - Answer: Small,characterized by extensive interaction and strong emotional ties, and endures over time. (ex. family, sports teams) Secondary Group - Answer: groups that are larger and more impersonal and exist, often for a relatively short time, to achieve a specific purpose. (ex. organizations, classes (umaine) work place) Social Category - Answer: collection of individuals who have at least one attribute in common but otherwise do not necessarily interact. (ex. "women", students who go to UMO, Patriots fans) Social Aggregate - Answer: Collection of people; same place, same time but interacting superficially. No specific identity (ex. crowds @ a sporting event, crossing street w/ someone) Reference Group - Answer: groups that set a standard for guiding our own behavior and attitudes (ex. dressing different to be part of a new group, doing what your parents want to avoid them getting mad at you) Social Networks - Answer: All of relations we have, including people we don't even know. All people you know & all people they know. Utilitarian Organizations - Answer: provide an income or some other personal benefit. (ex. businesses from corporations and small grocery stores, colleges and universities) Normative Organizations - Answer: Allow people to pursue their moral goals and commitments. Members do not get paid and instead contribute their time or money bc they like or admire what the organizations does. (ex. Boy and Girl Scouts) Coercive Organizations - Answer: Involuntary organizations, total institutions seek to control all phases of their members lives. (prisons and mental institutions) Bureaucracies - Answer: formal organizations with a certain organizational features designed to achieve goals in the most efficient way possible. Max Weber's ideal Bureaucracy Characteristics - Answer: 1.) Specialization- division of labor in which specific people have specific tasks-and only those tasks to do. 2.) Hierarchy- equality does not exist, instead resembles pyramid (few jobs on top, many more lower down) 3.) Written rules and regulations- written in a manual or handbook (communications through e-mail instead of verbal) 4.) Impersonal/Impartial- hiring,promotion and firing would be better this way for large organizations 5.) Record Keeping- all large organizations do this Disadvantages to Bureaucracies - Answer: 1.) Impersonality & alienation 2.) Red tape- greater devotion to rules and regulations than to organizational goals 3.) Trained incapacity 4.) Bureaucratic incompetence 5.) Goal displacement & self-perpetuation Deviance - Answer: Behavior that violates social norms and arouses negative social reactions (disapproval) Crime - Answer: behavior that violates these laws and is obviously an important type of deviance that concerns many Americans Social Control - Answer: ways in which a society tries to prevent and sanction behavior that violates norms Relativity of Deviance - Answer: depends on circumstances under which it occurs. ( killing people; military during war vs. just because, defense) Solomin Asch Experiment - Answer: How group membership can affect perception (x. ____ ) X is equivalent to: a. __ b. ____ c. ________ • 1/3 of time naive students gave wrong answer • 1/2 of 1/3 said they gave the wrong answer because they didn't want to look different (wanted to conform) • other 1/2 of 1/3 thought they weren't seeing it right. Thought perception was wrong * groups can get us to doubt our own perception of reality Stanley Milgram Experiement - Answer: • unstanding how natzi haulocaust happened (possible) • fake shock experiment, to see how far people would go to give the shock. • predicted no one would make it past 200 mV. Almost all made it to the very end where they thought the person was almost dead. Social Stratification - Answer: differences in wealth and other resources a society values Life chances - Answer: how well people do in such areas as education, income and health Vertical Mobility - Answer: chances of rising up or falling down the stratification ladder. Closed societies - Answer: an individual has virtually no chance of moving up or down stratification ladder Open societies - Answer: more vertical mobility, as some other people, and perhaps many people, can move up or even down. Caste System - Answer: people are born into unequal groups based on their parents status and remain in these groups for the rest of their lives. Class System - Answer: a person is born into a social ranking but can move up or down from it much more easily than in a caste system or slavery society. Wealth - Answer: total value of an individual or family, including income, stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets. Power - Answer: the ability to influence others to do your bidding, even if their don't want to Prestige - Answer: status and esteem people hold in the eyes of others Functionalist View - Answer: 1. some jobs are more important than others (brain surgeon vs. shoe shiner) 2. Some jobs require more skills and knowledge than other jobs (brain surgery vs. shoe shining) 3. Relatively few people have the ability to acquire the skills and knowledge to do the important, highly skilled jobs, society must promise them higher incomes or other rewards (brain surgeons get paid more than shoe shiners; an incentive) Conflict Theory - Answer: stratification stems from a fundamental conflict between the needs and interests of the powerful or "haves", in society and those of the weak or "have-nots"