Chapter 5 Key Term

Question 1

roles

Answer 1

The expected behaviors of people occupying particular social positions. The idea of social role originally comes from the theater, referring to the parts that actors play in a stage production. In every society, individuals play a number
of social roles.

Question 2

status

Answer 2

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 3

social position

Answer 3

The social identity an individual has in a given group or society. Social positions may be general in nature (those associated with gender role(s) or more specific (occupational positions).

Question 4

impression management

Answer 4

Preparing for the presentation of one’s social life.

Question 5

civil inattention

Answer 5

The process whereby individuals in the same physical setting glance at each other and quickly look away to indicate awareness of each other but not intrusiveness.

Question 6

nonverbal communication

Answer 6

Communication between individuals based on facial expression or bodily gesture rather than on language.

Question 7

response cries

Answer 7

Seemingly involuntary exclamations individuals make when, for example, they are taken by surprise, drop something inadvertently, or want to express pleasure.

Question 8

unfocused interaction

Answer 8

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

Question 9

focused interaction

Answer 9

Interaction between individuals engaged in a common activity or in direct conversation with one another.

Question 10

encounter

Answer 10

A meeting between two or more people in a situation of face-to-face interaction. Our daily lives can be seen as a series of different encounters spread out across the course of the day. In modern societies, many of these encounters are with strangers rather than with people we know.

Question 11

time-space

Answer 11

When and where events occur.

Question 12

regionalization

Answer 12

The division of social life into different regional settings or zones.

Question 13

back region

Answer 13

Areas apart from front-region performance, as specified by Erving Goffman, in which individuals are able to relax and behave informally.

Question 14

front region

Answer 14

Settings of social activity in which people seek to put on a definite “performance” for others.

Question 15

clock time

Answer 15

Time as measured by the clock, in terms of hours, minutes, and seconds, as opposed to measuring it by the rising and setting of the sun.

Question 16

social interaction

Answer 16

The process by which we act and react to those around us.

Question 17

agency

Answer 17

The ability to think, act, and make decisions independently.

Question 18

personal space

Answer 18

The physical space individuals maintain between themselves and others.

Question 19

ethnomethodology

Answer 19

The study of how people make sense of what others say and do in the course of day-to-day social interaction. Ethnomethodology is concerned with the “ethnomethods” by which people sustain meaningful interchanges with one another.

Question 20

conversation analysis

Answer 20

The empirical study of conversations, employing techniques drawn from ethnomethodology. Conversation analysis examines details of naturally occurring conversations to reveal the organizational principles of talk and its role in the production and reproduction of social order.

Question 21

interactional vandalism

Answer 21

The deliberate subversion of the tacit rules of conversation.

Question 22

compulsion of proximity

Answer 22

People’s need to interact with others in their presence.