1. How do ascribed and achieve statuses serve to identify who a person is in a culture?

What are
reference groups? How are reference groups experienced in society?
Ascribed statuses is sometimes given to a person at birth or given by the society. Ascribing the
status of someone is very unfair to whoever the person is because it is determined by your physical
characteristics. Achieve status depends on what you have gained throughout your life and shows how
much effort you put into everything you have done. A reference group is what people in society use as a
platform to compare standards to. Just like using a reference group to achieve the same goal that the
group had and then push further to become better. Reference groups could be experienced throughout
anyones day. For example, going through Beverly Hills, almost everyone there makes at least six digits
because in order to live up to the standard of life there, you have to have the money to do so. Students
like us may aspire and say That is where I want to be in the future. The people who live in such nice
places could be used as a reference group for people to work toward those goals.
-Dylan Khuong
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).
Social roles are a set of behaviors that are expected of someone occupying a given social status.
For example, when a women becomes a mother, she is expected to play the role of a mother by caring for
and loving her children. Another example would be how it's expected of cops to take action if they see a
citizen being threatened. One violates his or her role by not playing their part properly. Roles exit means
disengaging from one role to set a new role. Socialization is the process by which children and adults
learn from others. We learn attitudes, values, and behaviors from others. Role exit is someone exiting
their identity and trying to create a new one, and in order to create that new role one will have to go
through the socialization process all over again. One will have to learn the new attitudes, values and
behaviors of a different group of people. A primary group is small, and intimate. For example, family or
teammates relationship. A secondary group is a large group, less social intimacy. For example, a teacher
and a student.
-

Yenifer Hernandez

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 refers to a group in which a person feels like they belong while on the other hand, an
out-group refers to a group in which people feel like they do not belong. In-group regard we or us while
out-group regard they or them. In a primary group, there are generally a smaller group with face-to-

face interaction in which their relationship with one another has some emotional depth. In-group connects
to primary group because we feel like we belong in that group such as being a part of a family. In a
secondary group, there are generally more people involved but with little intimacy in which their
relationship with one another is more formal and superficial. Out-group connects with secondary group
because a person may feel like they do not belong or dont have that intimate connection with every
member such as being a part of a large club. However the distinction can become blurred at times since a
club can vary in member size so a primary group could become a secondary group and a secondary
group can become a primary group. Eventually, the in-group and out-group could potentially chance.
-Martina Wong
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.
The five functional prerequisites that a society must satisfy if it is to survive are family, education,
religion, economy, and government. Families are the institution that ensures the societys continued
existence through both biological and social reproduction. Education provides members of the society
opportunities to receive more formal and public culture, as well as how to interact with people outside of
the unit of family. Religions functions as a glue that hold members of the society together and conform to
the same identity, value, and beliefs. The economy manages the production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services of a society. Government helps to maintain the order through laws,
policing, and punishment as well as forming stable relations with other societies. The mechanical
solidarity refers to the social cohesion based on shared experiences, knowledge, and skills where things
function the same way, which rarely changes while that of organic solidarity depends on the mutual
interdependence every member of the society relies on each other and everyone is expected to perform
extreme division of labor so that no one can replace another. The major difference between the two
solidarities lies in the way individuals perform tasks: individuals in the former perform tasks in the same
way with other members of the society with limited change over time; individuals in the latter work on their
own to perform the extreme divided work, but none capable of surviving alone.
-Yao Xiao