Definitions [1]
Morris Ginsberg: “as portions of the community, or collections of individuals, standing to each other in the relation of equality, and marked off from other portions by accepted or sanctioned standards of inferiority and superiority”.
Oxford Dictionary: “The division of society into strata based on social position or class.”
Harry Johnson: “Social stratification is the process in which layers of persons or groups are ranked differently so that anyone stratum contains many persons or groups of roughly the same rank.”
Key Points
Key Points: Types of Social Groups
- Primary groups – Close, face-to-face, emotional relations (e.g., family).
- Secondary groups – Impersonal and goal-oriented (e.g., political party).
- Formal groups – Have clear rules, structure, and defined roles (e.g., office).
- Informal groups – No fixed rules, based on personal relations (e.g., friends).
- In-group – “We” group; viewed positively.
- Out-group – “They” group; often viewed negatively.
- Tajfel’s finding – People favour their own group even when groups are formed on small differences.
