Social Structure

and Social Interaction

Chapter 5
 Learning Objective
• Define society and social interaction, contrasting macro- and
micro-level analyses
• Compare and contrast different ways society is held together
• Identify the different types of society
• Explain social interaction in society, including groups, status,
roles, and everyday social interactions
• Compare and contrast the theories used to analyze social
interaction
• Examine interaction in cyberspace
What Is Society?

• Culture Holds society together.

• Culture is the general way of life, including norms, customs, beliefs,
and language.
• Human society is a system of social interaction, typically within
geographical boundaries, that includes both culture and social
organization.
• Social interaction is the foundation of society, but society is more
than a collection of individual social actions.
• This central sociological idea, that society is much more than the sum
of individuals, means that society takes on a life of its own.
• Example: Photography
Macro analysis and Microanalysis
• Sociologists use different lenses to see the different parts of society.
• sociologists try to comprehend the whole of society, how it is
organized, and how it changes. This is called macro-analysis,

• takes the broadest view of society by studying large patterns of social

interaction that are vast, complex, and highly differentiated.
• Example: Technology revolution
Macro-analysis and Microanalysis
• microscopic—that is, the focus is on the smallest, most immediately
visible parts of social life, such as specific people interacting with each
other.
• sociologists study patterns of social interactions that are relatively
small, less complex, and less differentiated.
• Example: people engage in social interaction through texting and
social media.
Social Institutions
• A social institution (or simply an institution) is an established and
organized system of social behavior with a recognized purpose.
• social institutions cannot be directly observed, but their impact and
structure can still be seen.

• For example: the family, Religion, Schools and health care, as well as
the mass media, organized sports, and the military.
Functionalist theorists:
They identified:
1. The socialization of new members of the society. This is primarily
accomplished by the family, but involves other institutions as well,
such as education.
2. The production and distribution of goods and services. The economy
is generally the institution that performs this set of tasks, but this
may also involve the family as an institution.
3. Replacement of society’s members. All societies must have a means
of replacing members who die, move or migrate away, or otherwise
leave the society.
4. The maintenance of stability and existence. Certain institutions
within a society (such as the government, the police force, and the
military) contribute toward the stability and continuance of the
society.
5. Providing the members with an ultimate sense of purpose. Societies
accomplish this task by creating national anthems, for instance, and
by encouraging patriotism.
Social Structure
• Refer to the organized pattern of social relationships and social
institutions that together compose society.

• Social class distinctions are an example of a social structure.

• Social structure, like the birdcage, confines people; their motion and
mobility are restricted; their lives are shaped by social structure.
• Social structural analysis is a way of looking at society in which the
sociologist analyzes the patterns in social life that reflect and produce
social behavior.
What Holds Society Together?
• Collective consciousness gives groups social solidarity because
members of a group feel they are part of one society.

Where does the collective consciousness come from?

• Durkheim argued that it stems from people’s participation in common
activities, such as work, family, education, and religion—in short,
society’s institutions.
Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
• According to Durkheim, there are two types of social solidarity:
mechanical and organic.
• Mechanical solidarity arises when individuals play similar—rather
than different—roles within the society.
• Individuals in societies marked by mechanical solidarity share the
same values and hold the same things sacred.
• This particular kind of cohesiveness is weakened when a society
becomes more complex. Native Americans
• Mechanical solidarity are rare because most societies of the world
have been absorbed in the global trend for greater complexity and
interrelatedness.
• In contrast, organic (or contractual) solidarity occurs when people
play a great variety of roles, and unity is based on role differentiation,
not similarity.
• Roles are no longer necessarily similar, but they are necessarily
interlinked.
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
• German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies called gemeinschaft, a German
word that means “community”; other societies are characterized as
gesellschaft, which literally means “society”
• gemeinschafts (communities) are characterized by a sense of “we”
feeling,
• a very moderate division of labor, strong personal ties, strong family
relationships, and a sense of personal loyalty.
• a collective sense of loyalty to the whole society.
• a small community church as an example.
• Gesellschaft is characterized by less prominence of personal ties, a
somewhat diminished role of the nuclear family, and a lessened sense
of personal loyalty to the total society.
• Social solidarity under gesellschaft is weaker than in the gemeinschaft
society.
• In a single society, such as the United States, you can conceptualize
the whole society as gesellschaft, with some internal groups marked
by gemeinschaft.
Types of Societies
• a society can also shape its social organization.
• different roles that men and women engage in as they produce
goods, care for the old and young, and pass on societal traditions.
• Technologically advanced societies dominated smaller ones.
• Sociologists distinguish six types of societies based on the complexity
of their social structure, the amount of overall cultural accumulation,
and the level of their technology.
• Preindustrial societies
• Industrial Societies
• and Postindustrial Societies
Pre Industrial
societies
Postindustrial
Societies Industrial
Societies
Social Interaction and Society
• Groups
• family, friendship groups, athletic teams, work groups, racial and
ethnic groups, and so on.
• To sociologists, a group is a collection of individuals who
● interact and communicate with each other;
● share goals and norms; and,
● have a subjective awareness of themselves as “we,” that is, as a
distinct social unit.
 Status
• Status is an established position in a social structure that carries with
it a degree of social rank or value.
• A rank in a Society- Position of Presidents. (one that carries relatively
high prestige. High school teacher,
• Depends on age or seniority within the group
• status set is the complete set of statuses occupied by a person at a
given time
• Status inconsistency exists where the statuses occupied by a person
bring with them significantly different amounts of prestige and thus
differing expectations. Lawyer Working as a Cab driver.
• Achieved statuses verses Ascribed Statuses verses Master Status
Roles
• A role is the behavior others expect from a person associated with a
particular status. Statuses are occupied; roles are acted or “played.”
• Police officers: to enforce the law, pursue suspected criminals, assist
victims of crime, complete forms for reports, and obey laws
themselves.
• role modeling a process by which we imitate the behavior of another
person we admire who is in a particular role.
• role set, role conflict.
Everyday Social Interaction
• how you talk, patterns of touch, and who you are attracted to.
• Verbal and Nonverbal Communication.
• communication is not just what you say, but also how you say it and
to whom.
• Nonverbal communication body position, head nods, eye contact,
facial expressions, touching, and so on.
Theories about Analyzing Social Interaction
The Social Construction of Reality
• A simple example of the social construction of reality is to consider a
desk and chair in a classroom.
• The social context and the social interaction people have with the
object give those objects meaning.
Ethnomethodology
• Ethno for “people” and methodology for “mode of study,” is a
technique for studying human interaction by deliberately disrupting
social norms and observing how individuals attempt to restore
normalcy.
• Example : Elevator
• Tv Program: What would you do?
Example:
• For example, in one episode, a father is seen in a restaurant very
loudly scolding his own small child for accidentally dropping a few
crumbs on the floor. The extremely loud scolding represents a norm
violation in this context.
• The father is in alliance with the television producers. The point is to
see what the observing people in the restaurant do, namely, engage
in what the ethno-methodologist would call norm restoration
behavior.
• They found that many people looked but did not intervene. A few did
intervene, such as by asking the father why he was so loud, saying
that his punishment was too severe.
Impression Management and Dramaturgy
• Impression management is a process by which people control how
others perceive them.
• Example: A student impression to the instructor that it was not the
student’s fault but was because of uncontrollable circumstances (“my
computer crashed,” “the network went down,” and so on).
• Goffman regarded everyday interaction as a series of attempts to con
the other.
• According to Goffman: interaction is just a big con game!
• In front of Parents, In front of Teachers,
Social Exchange Theory (Model)
• The social exchange model of social interaction holds that our
interactions are determined by the rewards or punishments that we
receive from others.
• Example: such as gifts, recognition, and money, or subtle everyday
rewards such as smiles, nods, and pats on the back. (Rewards)
• Examples: such as public humiliation, beating, banishment, or
execution, to gestures as subtle as a raised eyebrow or a frown.
( Punishments)
Interaction in Cyberspace
• by means of personal computers—through some virtual community
such as email, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn—then they are engaging
in cyberspace interaction (or virtual interaction).
Activity 02
• Make a list of terms that describe who you are. Which of these are
ascribed statuses and which are achieved statuses?

• What do you think your master status is in the eyes of others? Does
one’s master status depend on who is defining you?

• What does this tell you about the significance of social judgments in
determining who you are?