Deck 21: Networks, Groups, and Bureaucracies

Question 1

Research shows that there are only about six degrees of separation between us and anyone else in Canada.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Primary groups are larger and more impersonal than secondary groups.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Heads of bureaucracies generally have a good handle on what is happening in their organizations.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Weber's research preoccupation with bureaucracies focused on the behaviour of worker networks and triads.

Question 5

In his research,Mark Granovetter found that strong ties are more important than weak ties when trying to find a job.

Question 6

Sandra needs help getting a job.According to Mark Granovetter,who of the following is most likely to be able to offer assistance?

A) Sandra's brother
B) Sandra's mother
C) Sandra's best friend
D) a friend of Sandra's best friend

Question 7

The president of the company was frustrated that his directive to hire 100 new employees had not been carried out.Upon investigation he discovered that the hiring practices involved three interviews and a formal vetting process,designed to ensure that the best person was hired for each position.What was inhibiting the growth of the company's workforce?

A) bureaucratic ritualism
B) bureaucratic inertia
C) hierarchical procedures
D) employee scrutiny

Question 8

Structures of authority tend to result in people rebelling and being disobedient.

Question 9

Less than 10 percent of Poland's Jewish population survived World War II.

Question 10

Functionalists caution us to recognize that too much conformity can be dangerous.

Question 11

During the Vietnam War,American soldiers massacred 504 unarmed civilians in a village called My Lai.What dynamic explains the cause of this calamity?

A) norms of solidarity
B) boot camp effect
C) kill or be killed instinct
D) innovative cruelty

Question 12

We live in a shrinking world because our social networks tend to be local and isolated.

Question 13

According to Ferdinand Tönnies,what does a society consist of?

A) relationships connected by self-interest
B) intimate and emotionally intense ties
C) a community of extended families
D) rural local and small villages

Question 14

The president of the company made many rules and regulations.However,she always requested feedback from her employees to ensure that the rules and regulations were effective and not hindering productivity.What kind of leadership style did this president follow?

A) authoritarian
B) democratic
C) laissez-faire
D) effective

Question 15

Conformity ensures group cohesion.

Question 16

Secondary groups generate more pressure to conform than do primary groups.

Question 17

Weber tended to ignore both the informal side of bureaucracies and the role of leadership in bureaucracies.

Question 18

Much social life in a complex society involves belonging to secondary groups.

Question 19

Dr.Jeffrey Wigand was the vice-president of research and development for the Brown and Williams Tobacco Corporation and reported that the company was adding ammonia and other chemicals to cigarettes to enhance nicotine absorption and speed up addiction.

Question 20

In bureaucracies,information may be lost,blocked,or distorted as it moves up the hierarchy.

Question 21

The Crooked River Trail Runners are a network of people who come together to participate in races,have an annual party,and give out awards to top competitors.What kind of group is this?

A) primary group
B) social category
C) running club
D) social group

Question 22

Many people believe that former U.S.president George W.Bush and the senior political bureaucrats of his government seized too much power when running the American government.Which idea about bureaucracy do these criticisms reflect?

A) monopolization
B) patriarchy
C) oligarchy
D) conglomeration

Question 23

Which statement explains the ability of humans to perpetrate atrocities against their own kind?

A) We are biologically predisposed to violence.
B) It is in the nature of bureaucracies.
C) Group hatred is an empirical and historical fact.
D) Humans are by nature animals.

Question 24

Juan said to Hector,"You can't quit your job because then Carlos will have to support us both.It doesn't matter if your boss is mean;it wouldn't be fair to Carlos." What kind of relationship is demonstrated in this conversation?

A) dyad
B) triad
C) guilt circle
D) economic partnership

Question 25

Adam has an authoritarian leadership style.When members of his work team were asked to submit an evaluation of Adam,what would they most likely say about him?

A) Adam involves us when decisions need to be made.
B) Adam would be hard-pressed to win a popularity contest.
C) We rarely see Adam since he expects us to work out our own problems.
D) Adam is continuously seeking our input for streamlining the flow of work.

Question 26

What does the text call a group composed of people whom an individual uses in order to evaluate his or her situation or conduct?

A) primary group
B) work group
C) formal organization
D) reference group

Question 27

What major global trend has overtaken business organizations over the past 40 years?

A) Corporate and management environments have become more laissez-faire.
B) U.S.and Japanese corporate management styles have diverged.
C) Corporate and management environments have become more authoritarian.
D) U.S.and Japanese corporate management styles have converged.

Question 28

Susannah and her two sons,Richard and Paul,form what type of a social relationship?

A) dyad
B) triad
C) quadrad
D) myad

Question 29

Rhianna was put in charge of an important project at work,requiring her to assemble a team of employees for the task.Based on Solomon Asch's work and subsequent research,what should she do to minimize the likelihood of conformity within the team she creates?

A) She should aim for a group size of three or four members.
B) She should comprise a group of visible minority individuals.
C) She should select individuals that have already worked together on a number of projects.
D) She should ensure that there is at least one member who is comfortable with disagreement.

Question 30

Daniel needed to see a famous doctor quickly,but no one he knew had any connections to the doctor.At least,that was the case until he realized that he had an acquaintance who had a similar illness and who had seen the same doctor.Daniel contacted the acquaintance,who was able to help him.According to Granovetter,which phenomenon does this demonstrate?

A) importance of asking for help
B) strength of weak ties
C) benefits of health networks
D) use of strong ties

Question 31

The paper announced the upcoming meeting of parents looking to adopt children from overseas.Which of the following is this a meeting for?

A) social category
B) social group
C) social organization
D) social network

Question 32

You are an auto worker in an assembly plant,working on a line with a small team of other workers.In addition to doing their own jobs,all team members are also responsible for checking the quality of the work being performed.What is the term given to this style of worker authority?

A) quality guarantee
B) quality circle
C) quality effort
D) quality plan

Question 33

What is exemplified by a person who is less likely to help someone because there are a lot of people present?

A) groupthink
B) group polarization
C) bystander apathy
D) situational anonymity

Question 34

On January 28,1986,the space shuttle Challenger exploded after launch.An investigation later determined that safety warnings about fuel seals leaking had been ignored by NASA administrators and seal manufacturers.What is the term for this kind of corporate decision making?

A) risk taking
B) groupthink
C) negligence
D) human error

Question 35

Which of the following was NOT addressed in Weber's definition of bureaucracy?

A) impersonal rules
B) extensive paperwork
C) hierarchy of officials
D) salaries

Question 36

A student told all of his friends a wrong answer for a subjective test question just before the test.The teacher could find no reference to the answer in the textbook,but since 10 students in the class had put the same answer,he figured it must be right and marked it correct.Which social phenomenon is this an example of?

A) testing
B) subjectivity
C) objectivity
D) conformity

Question 37

According to the text,which leadership style is most effective?

A) laissez-faire
B) authoritarian
C) democratic
D) direct-command

Question 38

What strategy have researchers found to be effective at breaking down in-group/out-group barriers?

A) controlled conflict between groups until an intervention can occur
B) small-group counselling addressing group differences
C) educational classes highlighting the arbitrariness of group distinctions
D) face-to-face contact when solving a challenge facing both groups

Question 39

Which charactieristic of bueaurcracy is exemplified by long waits at the emergency department of a hospital,having to "take a number," and interacting with workers who seem more mired in routine than concerned about you?

A) people processing
B) dehumanization
C) people changing
D) bureaucratizing people

Question 40

Every year Canada's Auditor General files a report to parliament describing the waste of millions of dollars in government bureaucracies.Each report is almost a photocopy of the previous year's report.Which aspect of bureaucracy is captured by this waste?

A) bureaucratic inertia
B) corporate steadfastness
C) organizational waste
D) sticking bureaucracy

Question 41

Who conducted experiments on conformity using perception of line lengths and group judgments?

A) George Herbert Mead
B) Stanley Milgram
C) Ferdinand Tönnies
D) Solomon Asch

Question 42

What did Rosabeth Moss Kanter find when studying a corporation with very few female managers?

A) The people with the best qualifications typically rise to the top of an organization.
B) The employees who work hard and are cooperative have the greatest chance for promotion.
C) Company policies need to be designed to address discrimination against women.
D) An informal network of social relations can determine an employee's corporate fate.

Question 43

What did Solomon Asch most famously research?

A) conformity
B) obedience
C) bureaucracies
D) bystander apathy

Question 44

According to the text,we live in a small world.What is behind this assertion?

A) rapid transit,such as jet airliners
B) mobile communication
C) social networks connect us
D) the effects of globalization

Question 45

When is groupthink most likely to occur?

A) when group members desire control
B) when group members desire harmony
C) when group members desire power
D) when group members desire freedom

Question 46

On her first day at the company,Tara was introduced to the president,three vice-presidents,five directors,and 10 managers.The line of authority was clearly explained to her so that she would take any of her issues to a manager,who would report to a director,and so forth up the chain.According to the text,what kind of organizational structure was used by the company?

A) presidential system
B) authoritative proprietorship
C) efficiency structure
D) bureaucracy

Question 47

How many dyadic relationships are possible among 50 people?

A) 350
B) 925
C) 1225
D) 1650

Question 48

When the work of killing people is subjected to a bureaucratic division of labour,what is the consequence?

A) Inefficiencies creep in due to lack of communication.
B) People do their job because they want to kill.
C) Far fewer people are killed as a result.
D) The many tasks depersonalize the horrible truth.

Question 49

A president of a large corporation sends out an email memo to initiate some corporate cultural change,but after six months is frustrated with the lack of results.Why might this be the case?

A) A president's work is mainly public relations,not leading the company.
B) No one really reads their memos.
C) His ideas are impractical,since he lacks knowledge about the company's base.
D) Just because someone has the authority to do something doesn't mean he has the respect.

Question 50

Donna worked in a large factory sewing collars on blouses day after day.In order to decrease the monotony,she treated it as a game-trying to exceed her output from the previous day.A co-worker took her aside and told her to stop,or management would increase everyone's quota.What does this action demonstrate?

A) positive relationship between output and ability
B) work slacker syndrome
C) laissez-faire leadership
D) social networks affect productivity

Question 51

Who is credited with saying: "It is always possible to say no,even to the worst tyrant"?

A) Jean-Paul Sartre
B) René Descartes
C) Stanley Milgram
D) Socrates

Question 52

According to the text,what does the term laissez-faire translate to in English?

A) least intervention
B) no supervision
C) let them do it
D) strict compliance

Question 53

In the classic experiment on prejudice,what strategy did the researchers use to break down the in-group/out-group barriers between 11-year-old boys at a summer camp?

A) They controlled the conflict,and then performed an intervention.
B) They created emergencies that required the boys to work together in order to solve them.
C) They had small-group counselling sessions focused on resolving group differences.
D) They conducted classes,highlighting to the groups that their in- and out-group distinctions were meaningless.

Question 54

Many of the secondary groups we belong to are a paradox in the sense that we are close to some members yet distant from most others.Which statement best identifies how people foster their shared sense of group belonging?

A) Group belonging is an illusion.
B) Group belonging is delusional.
C) Group belonging is imagined.
D) Group belonging is created.

Question 55

Selecting Common Ground is an organization that brings together Muslim,Jewish,and Christian children for summer camps.What strategy is being employed here toward breaking down in-group and out-group conflict?

A) time out for energy renewal
B) face-to-face contact
C) conversion to another faith
D) a vacation from conflict

Question 56

During World War II,German in-group boundaries included defining out-group membership as any person who had a Jewish grandparent.What effect did this have on German society?

A) It was unnecessary,as the German/Jewish boundary was already well defined.
B) It created a strong boundary that cut deeply into the fabric of German society.
C) It solved a big problem that had been challenging German census takers.
D) It deeply unified people of faith and conscience against the German government.

Question 57

Most of us develop some degree of loyalty to secondary groups in our lives-such as school loyalty or company loyalty-yet we may know only a fraction of the members in these groups.According to the text,how is this commitment fostered?

A) by faith
B) by feelings
C) by imagination
D) by experience

Question 58

What is the most elementary network unit?

A) triad
B) quadrad
C) dyad
D) myad

Question 59

In a crisis situation,what is the most effective leadership style?

A) authoritarian
B) democratic
C) laissez-faire
D) traditional

Question 60

Which term describes a web of social ties that link people who identify and interact with one another?

A) formal organization
B) ingroup
C) club
D) network

Question 61

What is the concept of bystander apathy related to?

A) level of altruism
B) idea of groupthink
C) belief in individualism
D) concept of conventionality

Question 62

Some difficult cuts had to be made in the school budget and everyone on the board knew there had to be consensus on the decisions.Even though many members disagreed with certain recommendations,each one received either unanimous support or defeat and no one offered conflicting viewpoints.Which concept is best described by this example?

A) group apathy
B) groupthink
C) majority rule
D) obedience to authority

Question 63

Bonnie asserted that Stanley Milgram's experiment demonstrates that even under artificial conditions people will obey structured authority.Which of the following would Bonnie provide to substantiate her statement?

A) transcripts of the follow-up interviews of the participants
B) additional studies that have replicated Milgram's experiment
C) historical examples of people obeying authority figures
D) results showing the large number of subjects prepared to administer intense shocks

Question 64

A president of a large corporation sends out an email to initiate some corporate cultural change,but after six months is frustrated with the lack of results.Why might this be the case?

A) The president should know that email is not effective communication.
B) Information in the hierarchy gets blocked or changed.
C) It takes that long for email memos to circulate in the organization.
D) The vice-president may have sent out a similar message.

Question 65

On the final exam,William was asked to define groupthink.Which of the following would he write?

A) Groupthink is when an attitude becomes stronger in group presence.
B) Groupthink is the tendency to do less when working in a group.
C) Groupthink is agreeing with group members because you feel pressure to conform.
D) Groupthink is the loss of identity due to being in a group situation.

Question 66

What characteristics of bureaucracies did the Hawthorne studies reveal?

A) Technology dictates the effectiveness of bureaucracies and quality of employee work.
B) Bloated bureaucracies cause employees to underperform.
C) Employees are members of networks that regulate worker output.
D) Increased bureaucratization results in employees exceeding productivity expectations.

Question 67

Nobody spoke up when the authorities asked who in the company the leader of the scam was.The media report commented on how all of the employees stood by the company,despite the fact that laws had been broken.According to the text,which reason would NOT have played a role in building the loyalty of this staff?

A) strong sense of solidarity among the staff
B) strong pride in their work
C) strong authority structure
D) well-oiled bureaucratic machine

Question 68

What did Solomon Asch's experiment in the mid-1900s investigate?

A) obedience
B) attitude formation
C) conformity
D) social networking

Question 69

An undergraduate student in his early 20s befriends a new,but shy,sociology professor only slightly older than himself.With the guidance of his professor friend,the student eventually becomes a sociology professor,too.How was this accomplished?

A) getting multiple degrees
B) by hard work and merit
C) by politics at a micro level
D) networking and mentorship

Question 70

How do triads differ from dyads?

A) Triads divide responsibilities more equally.
B) In triads,the potential for conflict increases.
C) In triads,relations are more intimate.
D) Triads share resources more equally.

Question 71

Which type of leader trusts the group members to develop their own potential with very little supervision?

A) traditional
B) authoritarian
C) democratic
D) laissez-faire

Question 72

In the early 1970s,social psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment.He told participants it was a study of the effect of punishment on learning.What was Milgram actually researching?

A) the abuse of power in the learning process
B) the willingness of participants to disregard their personal conscience and follow the instructions given by an authoritative figure
C) the ability of participants to learn more when there is no fear of punishment
D) the willingness of participants to be socialized into a whistle-blowing mindset

Question 73

What did Solomon Asch's study require subjects to make judgments about?

A) length of lines
B) right and wrong answers
C) degrees of connectedness
D) levels of solidarity

Question 74

Based on the findings of Milgram's experiment,who would you be most likely to obey?

A) fellow student
B) employer
C) politician
D) employee

Question 75

Which statement best reflects Max Weber's perspective of bureaucracies?

A) They are the least efficient secondary group.
B) They are the most efficient secondary group.
C) They are a force destructive to social solidarity.
D) They contribute to social solidarity.

Question 76

When are the dangers of groupthink the greatest?

A) in highly controversial settings
B) in low-risk circumstances
C) in high-stress situations
D) in unfamiliar surroundings

Question 77

Why are democratic leaders the most effective in noncrisis situations?

A) They have a very traditional approach to work and working relationships.
B) They have a hands-off policy,allowing group members to work things out on their own.
C) They require strict compliance from the workers,which reduces the possibility of crisis situations.
D) They tend to widely distribute decision-making authority and rewards.

Question 78

According to the text,if you had the opportunity to run a large bureaucratically structured corporation for a day,what changes should you make in order to overcome bureaucratic inefficiency?

A) Make a flatter hierarchical structure and decentralize decision making.
B) Make a taller hierarchical structure and centralize decision making.
C) Eliminate all top-down communication in the organization.
D) Eliminate all bottom-up communication in the organization.

Question 79

According to the text,what is a quality circle?

A) Workers who observe and correct defects.
B) Group sessions used to motivate employees.
C) Supervisors who go around checking quality.
D) A focus group hired to evaluate product quality.

Question 80

One analyst of the 2008 global financial meltdown claimed that the large investment companies had a criminogenic work environment-only a few employees were whistleblowers.How were whistleblowers able to take action?

A) They did not adopt organizational norms.
B) They possessed a guilty conscience.
C) They did not want to go to jail.
D) They possessed good character.