Chapter 4-2

Question 1

Macrosociology

Answer 1

analysis of social life that focuses on broad features of society, such as social class and the relationships of groups to one another; usually used by functionalists and conflict theorists.

Question 2

Microsociology

Answer 2

analysis of social life that focuses on social interaction; typically used by symbolic interactionists,

Question 3

Social Interaction

Answer 3

what people do when they are in one another’s presence includes communication at a distance.

Question 4

Social Structure

Answer 4

the framework of society that surrounds us; consists of the ways that people and groups are related to one another this framework gives direction to and sets limits on our behavior.

Question 5

Social class

Answer 5

large numbers of people who have similar amounts of income and education and who work at jobs that are roughly comparable in prestige.

Question 6

Status

Answer 6

the position that someone occupies in a social group (also called social status)

Question 7

Status Set

Answer 7

all the statuses or positions that an individual occupies

Question 8

Ascribed Status

Answer 8

a position an individual either inherits at birth or receives involuntarily later in life.

Question 9

Achieved Statuses

Answer 9

positions that are earned, accomplished, or involve at least some effort or activity on the individual’s part

Question 10

Status Symbol

Answer 10

indicators of a status, especially items in that display prestige.

Question 11

Master Status

Answer 11

a status that cuts across the other statuses that an individual occupies.

Question 12

Status inconsistency

Answer 12

ranking high on some dimensions of social status and low on others also called status discrepancy.

Question 13

Role

Answer 13

behaviors, obligation, and privileges attached to a status.

Question 14

Group

Answer 14

people who interact with one another and who believe that what they have in common is significant; also called a social group

Question 15

Social institution

Answer 15

the organized, usual, or standard was by which society meets its basic needs.

Question 16

Social integration

Answer 16

the degree to which members of a group or a society are united by shared values and other social bonds also known as social cohesion

Question 17

Mechanical Solidarity

Answer 17

Durkheim’s term for the unity that people feel as a result of performing the same or similar tasks

Question 18

Division of later

Answer 18

the splitting of a group’s or a society’s task into specialities.

Question 19

Organic solidarity

Answer 19

Durkheim’s term for the interdependence that results from the division of labor; as part of the same unit, we all depend on others to fulfill their jobs.

Question 20

Gemeinschaft

Answer 20

a type of society in which life is intimate a community in which everyone knows everyone else and people share a sense of togetherness

Question 21

Gesellschaft

Answer 21

a type of society that is dominated by impersonal relationships, individual accomplishments, and self-interest

Question 22

Stereotype

Answer 22

assumptions of what people are like, whether true or false

Question 23

Body Language

Answer 23

the ways in which people use their bodies to give messages to others

Question 24

Dramaturgy

Answer 24

an approach, pioneered by Ervin Goffman, in which social life is analyzed in terms of drama or the stage; also called dramaturgical analysis

Question 25

Impression Management

Answer 25

people’s efforts to control the impressions that others receive of them

Question 26

Front stage

Answer 26

place where people give performances

Question 27

Backstage

Answer 27

places where people rest from their performances, discuss their presentations, and plan future performances

Question 28

Role performance

Answer 28

the ways in which someone performs a role; showing a particular “style” or “personality”

Question 29

Role Conflict

Answer 29

conflicts that someone feels between roles because the expectations are at odds with one another

Question 30

Role Strain

Answer 30

conflicts that someone feels within a role

Question 31

Sign-vehicle

Answer 31

the term used by Goffman to refer to how people use social setting, appearance, and manner to communicate information about the self.

Question 32

Teamwork

Answer 32

the collaboration of two or more people to manage impressions jointly

Question 33

Face-saving behavior

Answer 33

techniques used to salvage a performance (intersection) that is going sour

Question 34

Ethnomethodology

Answer 34

the study of how people use background assumptions to make sense out of life

Question 35

Background assumption

Answer 35

a deeply embedded, common understanding of how the world operates, and of how people ought to act

Question 36

Thomas Theorem

Answer 36

William I. and Dorothy S. Thomas’ classic formulation on the definition of the situation. “If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”

Question 37

Social construction of reality

Answer 37

the use of background assumptions and life experiences to define what is real