Sociology: Groups and Organizations

Groups are prevalent in our social life and provide:

• No significant way we understand and define ourselves

• An irrelevant role in society

• Help to foster shared value systems and are key to the structure of society as we know it.

• All of the above

By definition, a group is an amorphous term and can refer to a wide variety of arrangements like:

• Two people

• A club

• A regular gathering of friends

• All of the above

Which of the following examples is not necessarily a group?

• A rally

• People standing in line at a bus stop

• A crowd

• None of those are a group

Why are Millennials a category and not a group?

• Because while some of them may share a sense of identity, they do not, as a whole, interact frequently with each other

• Because they were not born necessarily in the same year

• Because they may be from different societies in the world with different characteristics from one to the other

• Because they use different social networks for their communication purposes

According to Cooley, these groups play the most critical role in our lives. They are usually fairly small and are made up of individuals who generally engage face-to-face in long-term emotional ways.

• Families

• Friends

• Primary groups

• Secondary groups

According to Cooley, these groups are often larger and impersonal, and they may also be task-focused and time-limited:

• Families

• Friends

• Primary groups

• Secondary groups

According to Sumner, this is the group that an individual feels he/she belongs to, and he/she believes it to be an integral part of who he/she is:

• In-Group 

• Out-Group

• Aggregate

• Parade

These groups use the concept of “not like us” to define others:

• Dyads

• Triads

• In-Groups

• Out-Groups

It is a group that people compare themselves to – it provides a standard of measurement:

• In-Group

• Out-Group

• Comparison Group

• Reference Group

A cultural center, a workplace, a family gathering, and even parents can be examples of:

• In-Groups

• Out-Groups

• Comparison Groups

• Reference Groups