Case Study p.82/AKA The Kevin Bacon Theory

A Small World example…

Krakow Poland 1998

The Experiment

Six Degrees of Separation

Study Confirms “Kevin Bacon Theory. Article 8/2/08

http://oracleofbacon.org/

Ch 4 Section 5Formal Organizations

Formal Organization:A highly organized group with specific goals or purposes and a clearly defined set of roles.

The system in which it operates is called a bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy defined: a ranked authority structure that operates according to specific rules and procedures.

We are surrounded by bureaucracy!

Help us we are being

held captive in

Sociology!

Weber’s Model of Bureaucracies

•A clear cut division of labor

•Clearly defined chain of command (ranking of authority)

•Employment based on formal qualifications

•A formal system of rules and regulations

•Specific lines of promotion and advancement

Some additional features:

people are virtually interchangeable

little emotional interaction among role players. (see hand out)

In theory, members of bureaucracies interact on a formal level characteristic of secondary groups.

But the people tend to have both personal and impersonal relationships.