What makes up a minority group? What qualifications must be present?

In simple terms: "A minority or subordinate group is a sociological group that does not constitute a politically dominant voting majority of the total population of a given society." in a more complete deffinition the group does not need to be mathimaticaly a minority but rather: A sociological minority is not necessarily a numerical minority — it may include any group that is subnormal with respect to a dominant group in terms of social status, education, employment, wealth and political power. To avoid confusion, some writers prefer the terms "subordinate group" and "dominant group" rather than "minority" and "majority", respectively.

Now that you have the terminology, look at it this way: If you belong to a group that has a a certain belief and you comprise a heafty 40% of the total of a larger group, say a class in school, but the other groups while each having only a 10% slice yet, if they are allied together against your group (in politics it is called a coalition) then they are the Majority and you the Minority!

The issues are diverse and you may be in the Majority on one issue but the Majority on another. Case in point, if you are white in America you are in the Majority while at the same time you are a Mormon, then you are part of the minority. but if you are a Democrat you are in the Majority! while last year you would have been in the Minority.

Hope this explains it for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_group

For your addition:----"if you are talking about a societal minority, it just depends on how far you want to drill down. Is that right?"

That is correct! you can have Minorties within a Majority group IE: The Democrats are a Majority in Congress, Yet there is a Black Caucus within Congress comprising both Democrats and Republicans but they are still considered a Minority and the same could be said for women! Women are not a Mathimatical minority at least not significantly but they are a Minority because they are "Underrepresented" in Politics and the Board room. In that same Minority "Black Caucus" as a Minority, there would also be women within that group and would represent a Minority within a Minority. I suppose that the term "Underrepresented" would be the qualification that need be present! Not just numerical Underrepresentation but the quality/effectivness of that representation must also be considered!

As for just how far you want to "drill down", the answer is yes you could say that there are fewer Blonde Females in College so they are a minority but they get the Majority of the Dates (Joking of course to make the point) But may again be a Minority in that they may (Joking again) get the lower grades! So again depending on how you define a sub group then it may be Majority or Minority within the larger group and may even have sub/sub groups within the sub group comprising Minorities and or majorities.

Conclusion is that It is pretty much in how you define the group. If you define it narrow enough you can make it anything you want to suit your purpose! That is exactly what politicians and propogandist do! Sometimes it is advantages to be in the Majority while at others it is better to be in the Minority!

Hope this is not too confusing but there is no strict deffinition!

Edit:-----What is the "larger question you allude to? "...hummm, I'll have to think about this as it relates to my larger question." ?

Edit:-----You bring up Interest group so here is what the encyclopedia Britanica says on the subject:

"interest group

political science

also called special interest group or pressure group

Main

any association of individuals or organizations, usually formally organized, that, on the basis of one or more shared concerns, attempts to influence public policy in its favour. All interest groups share a desire to affect government policy to benefit themselves or their causes. Their goal could be a policy that exclusively benefits group members or one segment of society (e.g., government subsidies for farmers) or a policy that advances a broader public purpose (e.g., improving air quality). They attempt to achieve their goals by lobbying—that is, by attempting to bring pressure to bear on policy makers to gain policy outcomes in their favour."

It would seem to me that in this sense where we are not talking simple a minority/majority based on numerical factors but that the difference would be if there were an element of "Descrimination" wheras, a group may be in need of Protection in order to prevent unjust harm from occuring. An interest group may be a minority in their own eyes simply because they are a small group that wants something and is seeking preferential treatment under the law to obtain it rather than protection from overt harm. They are not being harmed by others but rather seek to obtain a larger gain or "piece of the pie" such as people who think their work is of equal value to someone elses in a different field without consideration of education/experience/supply and demand etc.! There is no overt action to harm the group, their demands are simply not agreed to! This in my mind would not constitute a Minority group. Additionally, in my mind to be a Minority there would need be a counter Majority group!

I hope this helps to understand!

Proud Vet

well a minority group is just basically a group of people who share something like race, class, religion or political affiliation and are less than the majority of people in the world or the area you are talking about. an interest group is a group of people who share an interest in something, such as racial equality or views on the death penalty.

the qualifications are that you have to be less than the current population basically.

pretty much you have to have government recognition to be an official minority for the purposes of law concerning minorities. So if you want to qualify for some minority legislation, you much meet their standards as they define it. This could be as simple as a definition listed in the bill to a standard test applied to all homes (education usually uses the income based test for children on free or reduced lunch prices to determine poverty levels, etc.)

Anyone except white heterosexual males.