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Social Structure

The organized patterns of relationships and institutions that shape society.

Social Interaction

The ways in which individuals respond to one another within the social context.

Macrosociology

A level of analysis focusing on the broad social features of a society.

Mesosociology

Level of sociological analysis linking individual action and social institutions.

Microsociology

Analysis of social interactions, often using perspectives like symbolic interactionism.

Culture

A group's language, beliefs, values, behaviors, and gestures.

Social Class

A measure of a person's place in the social structure based on income, education, and occupation.

Social Institutions

Organized patterns of beliefs and behaviors centered on basic social needs.

Social Status

A person's position within a group, which can be ascribed or achieved.

Roles

Expectations for behavior and privileges associated with a social status.

The Thomas Theorem

If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.

Social Construction of Reality

The process by which individuals create and maintain a shared social reality.

Ethnomethodology

The study of how people make sense of their everyday lives.

Dramaturgical Analysis

A perspective that analyzes social life as a series of performances.

Primary Groups

Small social groups characterized by face-to-face interaction and emotional connections.

Secondary Groups

Formal, impersonal groups formed to pursue specific goals.

Groupthink

The tendency for group members to conform to a consensus and suppress dissenting opinions.

Utilitarian Organizations

Voluntary organizations that reward people for their efforts, such as workplaces.

Bureaucratic Alienation

A feeling of being disconnected or unappreciated within an organization.

Social Control

The patterned ways society guides and restrains individual behavior to maintain norms.