Vy Bui, Sook Young Chae, Bo Liu, Yang Zhang

Professor Coleman
Sociology 1
10 June 2015
Social Structure and Interaction
1.

How do ascribed and achieved statuses serve to identify who a person

is in a culture? What are reference groups? How are reference groups

experienced in society?
Ascribed statuses are the attributes that is given to a person through societal
standards without considering their characteristics or skills. Achieved statuses are
statuses that are in our ability to modify. Ascribed and achieved statuses is what
makes a society a whole because it serves to give people a certain role in society and
that will further define a person. Reference groups are any sort of group in society
that a person will utilize as a model for self-evaluation and reflective perspectives.
Reference groups are experienced in society through given efforts a person puts out
to create communication with a group of their common interests. These will help
build relational skills and qualities that will further help one in future goals and
careers. People will seek for reference groups that share common characteristics as
them because it will assist to what is needed to be known. Reference groups are
beneficial because it can help one get answers and also attain new ideas. (Vy Bui)
2.

What is a social role (give examples)? How does one violate his or her

role? What is meant by role exit? And how does role exit relate to the
socialization process?Distinguish between primary and secondary groups (give
examples).
A social role is set of behaviors, responsibilities, expectations that someone who
occupy status. For examples women are social status and after she gave a birth, she
became mother and mother loves and cares her children. Another example is polices
have responsibilities to protect their society, therefore, they arrest criminals. Most people
change their social role depends on situation and circumstances. If someone who did not

set their behaviors properly in the right positions, then he or she violated role. A role
exit is someone became disengagement from one role to new role. Socialization process is
people learn from others. The role exit relate to the socialization process because role
exit move out to new role, then people already learned behaviors and beliefs and support
experiences through socialization process. They can well adopt themselves into new
roles. Primary groups are small scale and intimate relationship. For examples couples
and families are primary groups. Secondary groups are impersonal and can be small or
large. For examples are co-workers and teacher and student. (SookYoung Chae)

3.

What is meant by in-group and out-group? How is in-group

connected to primary group? How is out group connected to secondary group?

In-group and out-group are social groups to which individuals identify themselves
according to their sense of belonging. In-group is the group that people identify as
being a member and feel a sense of belonging. Like primary group to which members
share close relationship, common values and culture, such as family, friends, and
influential social group, in-group is also consist of our people, from family to
whole society and nations. Both members of primary group and in-group have feeling
of cohesiveness, and shared sense of intimacy, sense of identity, and sense of
connection. On the other hand, out-group is the group that people feel no sense of
belonging. The out-group members show dissimilar, culture, behavior, and attitude
towards the in-group members because they dont have connection and good
relationship with each other. As out-group refers to any groups outside the in-group,
secondary group also refers to any groups outside the primary group. Secondary
group serves for instrumental function, so the group only has few connections among
the members like the out-group have few or no connection with the in-group. Both
secondary group and out-group are feeling of disconnection and not share a sense of
identity with other groups. However, everyone think their own group is better than
the out-group, such as ethnocentrism. The members of in-group will have prejudice
against the out-group members and might judge them based on race and culture. All

the groups have double standard toward their own in-group and their out-group.
(Yang Zhang)

4.

What are the five functional prerequisites that a society must satisfy if

it is to survive? Describe the differences between organic and mechanical

solidarity.
1.Socialization: The newborn baby have to learn the social systems. Society
provides a mechanism through which they learn the ways of social living. 2.
Replacement: Old members die. New members usually take their place. Otherwise
society may die. Replacement is accomplished by the reproductive. 3. A system of
production: It involves technology and organization. Human learning to produce
these technologies through observation, participation and guidance. Production of
individual and collective aspects. People through collective efforts to do a lot of
things. 4. Goal attainment: It includes the determination of goals, the motivation of
the members of the society to attain these goals and the mobilising of the members
and their energies for the achievement of goals. 5.Social control: some people in a
society according to the aspirations of the community who do not take action. In
order to make these people enter the line, each society has invented a social control
mechanism. From social control, each social norm to its members of antisocial
activities.
In the mechanical solidarity, the individual directly belong to society, and the
society is embodied by the mutual affection and common belief of all the members of
the group. Collective personality completely absorb the individual personality. In the
organic solidarity, the individual depends on the society by forming all parts of
society. Everyone has their own spheres of action, they are able to attain from its
territory,has their own personality.-(Bo Liu)