Social group
consists of two or more people who interact with one another and who share a common identity
Examples: family, friends, athletic team
A primary group
is a relatively small group of people who engage in intimate face-to-face interaction over an extended period of time.
Examples: families and close friends
Secondary group
A secondary group is usually large, formal, impersonal, and a temporary collection of people that pursues a specific goal or activity.
Examples: classes, work groups, volunteer organizations
in-group
share a sense of identity that excludes outsiders.
Out-groups
are people who are viewed and treated negatively because they are seen as having values, beliefs, or other characteristics different from one's own.
reference group
is a group of people that shape our behavior, values, and attitudes.
ideal types
general traits that describe a social phenomenon.
Groupthink
refers to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgments that results from in-group pressures
social network
is a web of social ties that links an individual to others.
Formal organizations
complex and structured secondary groups deliberately created to achieve specific goals
Voluntary association
is created by people who share a common set of interests and who are not paid for their participation.
A bureaucracy
is a formal organization that is designed to accomplish goals and tasks by large numbers of people in the most efficient and rational way possible.
Goal displacement
a preoccupation with rules and regulations rather than achieving objectives
Alienation
isolation, meaninglessness, powerlessness
Parkinson's Law
work expands to fit the time available
Peter Principle
promotion to one's level of incompetence
Iron Law of Oligarchy
domination by a small group of individuals
McDonaldization of Society
the organizational principles that underlie McDonald's dominate more and more sectors of society.
functionalists
groups and formal organizations are composed of interrelated, mutually dependent parts.
Conflict theorists
contend that organizations are based on differences in power and control.
Feminist scholars
emphasize the different positions of men and women in organizations
glass ceiling
attitudes or organizational biases in the workplace that prevent them from advancing to leadership positions
Symbolic interactionists
emphasize that how people define a situation shapes group dynamics and organizations.