1. Chapter Five:
Society and Social Interaction

2. Levels of Sociological Analysis
Macrosociology
Large-Scale Features of Social Life
Microsociology
Focus on Social Interaction

3. The Macrosociological Perspective
Sociological Significance of Social Structure
Guides Our Behavior
Social location
Basic Components:
Status
Role

4. The Macrosociological Perspective
Status
position in a social group
Status Set
Master Status
Ascribed Status
Achieved Status
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5. The Macrosociological Perspective
Status Set

6. The Macrosociological Perspective
Roles – Behaviors associated with ones status
You Occupy a Status
You Play a Role
Ones role will change as ones status changes

7. Macrosociological Perspective
Groups – People Who Regularly and Consciously Interact and think of themselves as belonging together
Social Institutions – Means Developed by Societies to Meet Basic Needs

8. Microsociological Perspective
Face to face interaction
Symbolic Interaction
Examine people’s perceptions and how such interpretations influence their behavior.
Stereotypes
Labeling
Prejudice

9. Microanalytical Perspective
Stereotypes
Sets the tone for interaction
Research on Stereotypes—Snyder (1993)
Theory—People assumptions of what people are like—might be a self-fulfilling prophecy

10. Microanalytical Perspective (Personal Space)
Personal Space (Edward Hall) – a invisible bubble by which we surround ourselves
4 Levels:
Intimate
Personal
Social
Public

11. Microanalytical Perspective (Dramaturgy)
Erving Goffman
Dramaturgy – Life is like a play
Actors, audience, stage, script
Front and Back Stages
Sign Vehicles
Social setting, appearance, manner
Impression Management
Face Saving Behavior

12. Dramatury (Role Conflict and Role Strain)
Role Conflict – a conflict between two separate roles
The more roles you play, the more conflict you may experience
Role Strain – a strain within the same role
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009

14. Microanalytical Perspective (Ethnomethodology)
Background Assumptions
How people use commonsense understandings to make sense of life
Harold Garfinkle’s Student Experiments

15. Microanalytical Perspective (Thomas Theorem)
Social Construction of Reality
Thomas Theorem – W.I. Thomas
Our behavior depends not on the objective but on the subjective interpretation of reality.
We behave according to the way we perceive the world