Chapter 4

These flashcards cover key concepts from Chapter 4 of the Essentials of Sociology, focusing on social structure, statuses, roles, and sociological perspectives.

Macrosociology

The study of broad features of society.

Microsociology

The study of everyday social interactions.

Social Structure

The relationship of people and groups to one another, which guides behavior.

Ascribed Status

A social status assigned at birth or arbitrarily by society without individual control.

Achieved Status

A social status that results from individual choices and accomplishments.

Master Status

A key or core status that dominates interactions and relationships.

Social Class

A division of society based on wealth, income, education, and occupation.

Role

An expectation or norm of behavior associated with a particular status.

Role Strain

Stress experienced when the expectations of a single status are incompatible.

Role Conflict

Incompatibility between expectations of different statuses occupied by an individual.

Group

A collection of individuals who regularly interact and have interconnected statuses and roles.

Institution

An enduring set of cultural patterns and social relationships organized to accomplish fundamental social tasks.

Gemeinschaft

A community characterized by intimate, personal relationships.

Gesellschaft

A society characterized by impersonal relationships and individual self-interest.

Symbolic Interactionism

A perspective in sociology that focuses on the symbolic meanings and interactions in social life.

Thomas Theorem

The principle stating that if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.

Breaching Experiment

A method in ethnomethodology that disrupts social norms to reveal underlying assumptions.

Impression Management

The process of controlling how one is perceived by others during social interaction.