Status: socially defined

position in a group or
society.
Social Differentiation:
process by which
different statuses in any
group develop.
Social Stratification:
fixed arrangement in
society by which groups
have different access to
resources, power, and
perceived (realize) social
worth.
 Estate System: the elite (upper
have total control over
class)

societal resources, including

property
 Caste System: assigned to an
individual at birth.
 Class System: possibility of
changing over time, based on
achieved status.
 Social class is the
social structural
position that groups
hold relative to
economic, social, and
political, and cultural
resources of society.
 Life Chances:
opportunities that
people in a particular
class have in
common, education,
jobs, housing
 Measures that represent concepts:
 Income * Race
 Education level * Gender
 Occupation * Ancestry (family)
 Place of residence
 Material goods
 Functionalism: emphasizes the stability and
integration in society
 Conflict Theory: sees society as organized
around the unequal distribution of resources,
held together by power and enforcement.
 Symbolic Interaction: emphasizes role of
individuals in giving meaning to social
behavior, thereby creating society