Social Structure and Interaction -Week 3

Question 1

What is macrosociology ?

Answer 1

the study of large-scale society, focusing on the social structures that exist within a society that endure from one generation to the next

Question 2

What is microsociology ?

Answer 2

deals primarily with the small interactions of daily life

Question 2

What are social structures ?

Answer 2

patterns of relationships that endure from one generation to the next
ex. marriage, education, work - arrangements of systems
by which people in a society interact and are able to live together

Question 3

what is culture ?

Answer 3

the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors and material objects that are important enough to be passed on to future generations. touches every aspect of our lives and our society

Question 4

What is a group ? primary/secondary ?

Answer 4

any number of people with similar norms, values, and behaviors who frequently interact with one another. include athletic clubs, workplaces, and even a family group

primary- small, intimate, enduring groups ex; family, close friends

secondary-formal, superficial, temporary groups ex relationships with other classmates

Question 5

Terms to remember

Answer 5

solidarity shift to mechanical to organic solidarity

Question 6

what is the difference between gemeinschaft and gesellschaft

Answer 6

Gemeinschaft- community connections that involving personal relationships based on friendship and kinship ties
ex. family (pre-industrial)

Gesellschaft- society connections that are more formal and impersonal (post -industrial)

Question 7

Why was marx concerned about alienation during industrialization ?

Answer 7

He was concerned about alienation from production because human labor was divided up among machines and no one person could claim production. Marx was also concerned about alienation from the product (no longer were products the result of one’s own creativity and brilliance), alienation from the fellow workers (see each other as competitors; competing for the few jobs now available for people as opposed to machines), and alienation from the self (not valued for uniqueness but rather treated as replaceable).

Question 7

How can people interact smoothly with people they know nothing about?

Answer 7

They eliminate “stranger-ness” by identifying the social position or social status of the strangers with whom they interact. Knowing a person’s social status gives us some idea of the behaviors we can expect from someone in that status. It also affects how we will interact with that person.

Question 8

What is status? Achieved status / ascribed /master status ?

Answer 8

status - the position that you occupy within the social structure that closely linked to social class

Achieved status- a position that you can earn or do something to attain

ascribed status- a position in society that is assigned

master status- what we gravitate towards ;may be what is more important to us
ex. status as a parent
or what is most important to others such as one’s race or economic standing

Question 9

How is social status related to social structure ?

Answer 9

social structure- 2 or more people interacting and interrelating in expected ways, regardless of the unique personalities involved

role- the behavior expected of a status in relationship with another status

Question 10

What are the distinctions b/t status and role

Answer 10

people occupy statuses (position)
people enact roles (behavior)
We determine another person’s status in relation to our own, we interact on the basis of role expectations attached to that status relationship.

Question 11

What are rights?

Answer 11

rights associated with a role define what a person assuming that role can demand or expect from others depending on his or her status
ex. teacher has the right to demand and expect that students will be prepared for class.

Question 12

What are obligations ?

Answer 12

a role define the appropriate relationship and behavior that the person enacting the role must assume towards other occupying a particular status
ex. a teacher has an obligation to their students to be prepared to teach

Question 13

What is the sick role that Talcott Parsons argues for?

Answer 13

exempts people from “normal” social obligations when they are ill

Question 14

What are the differences b/t role strain, role conflict, and role set ?

Answer 14

Role Strain- a a predicament in which contradictory expectations are associated with a person’s role.
ex. military doctor are obligated to save lives of soldiers that are consistently put in dangerous situations that threaten their lives

Role Conflict- a predicament in which the expectations associated with 2 or more roles in a role set are contradictory
ex. mother with cancer needs to be both a good patient and mom, but being a patient interferes with the ability to be a good mom

role set- an array of roles associated with every status
ex. doctor- has roles in conjunction with patients, nurses, other doctors, a patients family
role varies depending upon who you are interacting with

Question 15

What is the sociological significance of statuses and roles is that they make it possible for us to interact with other people without knowing them?

Answer 15

if we can identify one’s role and status in the social structure in relation to our own, we can use the norms of behavior to understand the expectations of our interactions. Our interaction depends upon these roles and statuses, we are not even required to be polite (it’s preferable for a kind society but not required).

Question 16

Who and why discuss the dramatical model of social interaction? What does back and front stage mean in his discussion?

Answer 16

Erving Goffman argues that social interaction is like a theater, people are actors and roles are performances. That we live our lives as as series of performances we create back stages-the region out of sight where people can go do things that would be inappropriate or unexpected on the front stage and front stages -the region where people take care to create and maintain expected images and behavior throughout our interactions

Question 17

What is impression management ? what is the dilemma ?

Answer 17

The process by which people in social situations manage the setting and their dress ,words, and gestures to correspond to the impressions they are trying to make or the image they are trying to project. we don’t know we act this way because it’s viewed as “normal” for us
dilemma we face - may risk offending others if we act on true feelings but feel deceitful if we do not