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Social & Formal Groups Analysis: A first-person perspective

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Please help me with the following. I don't know where to start!

Compose a 200- to 300-word response to the following:

o Describe a social group and a formal organization that you are currently part of or were a part of in the past.

o Review the categories in the Summing Up table on p. 121 in the text.

o Using the categories in the table, outline the main differences between the social
group and the formal organization you belong to. For example, explain how each
group or organization establishes membership, or describe how leadership is
exhibited in each group.

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Solution Summary

The Solution explains Social groups from a sociological perspective providing concise definitions and background on concepts enclosed within or related to the idea of social groups. It analyses and compares various 'types' of social groupings from/with each other by situating an individual according to his social groups from a personal perspective to ground the theories/concepts that are defined in the early part of the solution. Attached is a word version of the solution for easy printing/referencing.

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Dear Student,

Hello. I have decided to create an assumed profile of a working student in order for me to create what I think is a concise solution for the post you created. I wanted you to see how an individual places himself between a formal and a small grouping and finds aspects of his identity in it and how he moves through the social network. Prior to going into the solution I also created a quick introduction into social groups for you. I know that perhaps you have gone through this lesson already but I just want to let you understand and see the social perspective I was using when I created the profile. Your post only referred to small and formal groups but I wanted to ground them within the bigger picture of Social Groups: it is a relevant tool in understanding social dynamics. I tried to make the solution as simple as I can although you will notice that the language used in answering switched between formal and informal. This is a student after all who is talking about a personal group of friends and his social network at work. Should you need any help to clarify some points in this solution that you don't understand, please feel free to send me a message. I created this solution as adaptable to your personal circumstances as much as possible. The attachment is the word version; print it for your reference. To answer the questions provided in the posting I created a profile of a university student based on my own experience to make it align with yours. I shall assume that you are no stranger to employment (as I was a working student myself). You can rework this of course to suit your personal circumstance. For this profile the student will be working as a library assistant --- the formal and the small group (which we can say can hover between primary & secondary levels of social network) shall derive from this. You can use the additional reference books I've listed below if you want to read more on specifics of social dynamics. I hope that you'll find this solution clear and simple enough. Thank you for using Brainmass!

OTA 105878

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Quick Introduction on Social Groups (Sociology)

Sociology defines groups as a collection of individuals involved in a social network sharing particular expectations, characteristics, & obligations while working towards particular goals & through this interaction maintains a common identity. In a way, particular groups share their own culture, which becomes an identifier. As society or a community can be defined as a large group. In the social sciences, groups are seen to exhibit a sense of kinship. To an extent ethnicity & linguistic backgrounds are shared but interests & shared values also play a large part. In sociology (based on the theory of CH Cooley), groups are subdivided into primary, secondary & reference levels. Primary refers to nucleus groups that becomes a basic in an individual's life. Families are considered primary groups that are small & maintain very close interaction where members exchange implicitly personal items like love, care, support, etc. Secondary groups ...

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  • MPhil/PhD (IP), Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  • MA, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  • Certificate, Geva Ulpan (via Universita Tel Aviv)
  • BA, University of the Philippines
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