Question 1

Which of the following phenomena is a reason why group efficiency declines as groups increase in size?

Accepted Answer

A)   social loafing
B)   rationalization
C)   socialization
D)   identification A

Question 2

Which of the following strategies might help solve or at least alleviate the problem of social loafing?

Accepted Answer

A)   assigning more group members to a project
B)   giving names to teams and T-shirts to their members
C)   randomly assigning members to teams
D)   making sure dissent is never welcome or tolerated B

Question 3

According to social psychologist Ivan Steiner,actual group productivity can never equal potential productivity.Why not?

Accepted Answer

The textbook identifies two major sources of inefficiency that come with the group process,and both get worse as the group's size increases.The need to organize team members,such as coordinating activities and delegating responsibilities,is one potential source of inefficiency.This is because organization takes time and energy that could have been applied to accomplishing the task at hand.
Another source of inefficiency is the phenomenon known as social loafing,which means that each person does less work as more individuals are added to a task.Furthermore,it becomes harder to discern individual effort as more people become involved in a project.Motivation usually suffers if it is impossible for any one person to receive either credit or blame.

Question 4

According to Max Weber's typology of power,what type of authority does a king wield?

Accepted Answer

A)   legal-rational authority
B)   influential power
C)   traditional authority
D)   charismatic authority

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of bureaucratic organization at colleges and universities?

Accepted Answer

A)   deans teaching sociology courses
B)   professors choosing which text to use in class
C)   students being issued ID numbers
D)   soccer coaches being hired because of interest rather than skill

Question 6

What are the three different types of authority identified by Max Weber? Explain the premise of each.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are the three different types of...

Question 7

What is the Twenty Statements Test? Why was it developed? What does it analyze?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the Twenty Statements Test? Why...

Question 8

Sociologists are interested in how social groups have changed over time.Of particular note is the degree to which individuals base their identities on group membership.How has this changed in recent American history?

Accepted Answer

A)   Americans today are more likely to base their self-concepts on group membership.
B)   The degree to which Americans base their identities on group membership has changed very little in the past few decades.
C)   Americans today are more likely to base their identities on secondary groups.
D)   Americans are less likely to identify themselves as group members today than in the past.

Question 9

Members of which of the following think of themselves as belonging together and interact with one another?

Accepted Answer

A)   an aggregate
B)   a group
C)   a category
D)   a queue

Question 10

What is the strongest type of conformity that can occur as a result of social influence or peer pressure?

Accepted Answer

A)   social loafing
B)   identification
C)   internalization
D)   compliance

Question 11

There is a social tie between my best friend's uncle and me even though I've never met him.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

What is groupthink and how does it work? Provide an example from the textbook.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is groupthink and how does it...

Question 13

Explain how reference groups influence individual behavior.Give an example of a reference group in your own life.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain how reference groups influence individual behavior.Give...

Question 14

One of the baristas at José's local coffee shop always greets him by name.She often asks how school is going and seems to care about his answer.How would we characterize José relationship with the barista?

Accepted Answer

A)   She is a "consequential stranger" who bridges the gap between primary and secondary groups.
B)   She fits perfectly into what would be considered a primary group.
C)   She fits perfectly into what would be considered a secondary group.
D)   She is a member of the bourgeoisie.

Question 15

If a sociologist measured group cohesion within a neighborhood and found a high level of group cohesion,which response would you LEAST expect to find on the survey?

Accepted Answer

A)   "Overall, I find this neighborhood very attractive."
B)   "If my neighbors were planning something, I would think of it as something 'we' were doing rather than something 'they' were doing."
C)   "I feel a sense of loyalty to my neighbors."
D)   "I feel comfortable in all sorts of neighborhoods."

Question 16

Individual members of a large group often neglect their responsibilities when a task needs to be completed because it is impossible for any one person to receive credit or blame.This phenomenon is called

Accepted Answer

A)   regression toward the mean.
B)   groupthink.
C)   group polarization.
D)   social loafing.

Question 17

What term did sociologist George Ritzer use to describe the spread of rationalization and bureaucratic ways of operating into everyday life?

Accepted Answer

A)   the spirit of capitalism
B)   legal-rational authority
C)   bureaucratic creep
D)   McDonaldization

Question 18

What kind of leadership style is typically expected of women in contemporary society?

Accepted Answer

A)   expressive
B)   rational
C)   family
D)   proscriptive

Question 19

Which of the following is an aggregate?

Accepted Answer

A)   a family with members living in different states
B)   the audience at a Broadway show
C)   a Little League baseball team
D)   a bird-watching club

Question 20

What was the Asch experiment measuring?

Accepted Answer

A)   the power of peer pressure
B)   the extent of social networks
C)   the value of teamwork compared with individual effort
D)   the type of organization that can best achieve social goals

Exam 5: Separate and Together: Life in Group