Chapter 4: Social Interaction and Everyday Life in the Age of the Internet

Question 1

social interaction

Answer 1

the process by which we act with and react to those around us

Question 2

microsociology

Answer 2

the study of human behavior in contexts of face-to-face interaction

Question 3

civil inattention

Answer 3

the process whereby individuals in the same physical setting demonstrate to each other that they are aware of the other’s presence

Question 4

agency

Answer 4

the ability to think, act, and make choices independently

Question 5

structure

Answer 5

the recurrent patterned arrangements and hierarchies that influence or limit the choices and opportunities available to us

Question 6

unfocused interaction

Answer 6

interaction occurring among people present in a particular setting but not engaged in direct face-to-face communication

Question 7

focused interaction

Answer 7

interaction between individuals engaged in a common activity or in direct conversation with each other

Question 8

encounter

Answer 8

a meeting between two or more people in a situation of face-to-face interaction

Question 9

nonverbal communication

Answer 9

communication between individuals based on facial expression or bodily gestures rather than on language

Question 10

status

Answer 10

the social honor or prestige that a particular group is accorded by other members of a society;

status groups normally display distinct styles of life - patterns of behavior that the members of a group follow;

status privilege may be positive or negative

Question 11

social position

Answer 11

the social identity an individual has in a given group or society;

social positions may be general in nature (those associated with gender roles) or may be more specific (occupational positions)

Question 12

What are social roles?

Answer 12

Roles are socially defined expectations that a person in a given status (or social position) follows.

ex: role = teacher

Question 13

What are front and back regions in terms of social life?

Answer 13

Front regions are social occasions or encounters in which individuals act our formal roles - “on-stage performances”

Back regions are where people assemble the props and prepare themselves for interaction in the more formal setting - “back stage or off-camera activities”

Question 14

impression management

Answer 14

preparing for the presentation of one’s social role

Question 15

ethnomethodology

Answer 15

the study of how people make sense of what others say and do in the course of day-to-day social interaction;

is concerned with the “ethnomethods” by which people sustain meaningful exchanges with one another

Question 16

Garfinkel argued that to understand the way people use context to make sense of the world, sociologists need to…

Answer 16

…study the “background expectancies” with which we organize ordinary conversations

ex: When someone says “How are you?” it’s just polite speech and it’s expected the response to be “Well, and you?” etc.

Question 17

interactional vandalism

Answer 17

the deliberate subversion of the tacit rules of conversation

(cases in which a subordinate person breaks the tacit rules of everyday interaction that are of value to the more powerful)

Question 18

response cries

Answer 18

seemingly involuntary exclamations individuals make when, for example, being taken by surprise, dropping something inadvertently, or expressing pleasure

Question 19

personal space

Answer 19

the physical space individuals maintain between themselves and others

Question 20

time-space

Answer 20

when and where events occur

Question 21

regionalization

Answer 21

the division of social life into different regional settings or zones

ex: a house regionalized into rooms, hallways, and floors/stories - zoned in space and in time (bedroom for night, etc.)

Question 22

clock time

Answer 22

time as measured by the clock, in terms of hours, minutes, and seconds

~before the invention of clocks, time reckoning was based on events in the natural world, such as the rising and setting of the sun

Question 23

compulsion of proximity

Answer 23

people’s need to interact with others in their presence

Question 24

Microsociology vs. Macrosociology

Answer 24

Microsociology is the study of everyday behavior in situations of face-to-face interaction

Macrosociology is the study of the broader features of society like race, class, or gender hierarchies