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Social Structure and Social Interaction
Learning Objectives
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As you read Chapter 5, use these learning objectives to organize your notes. After completing your reading, briefly state an answer to each of these objectives, and review the text pages in parentheses.
- Differentiate between macrosociology and microsociology and indicate which are most likely to be used by functionalists, conflict theorists, and symbolic interactionists. (96)
- Discuss social structure and explain why one’s location in this structure affects one’s perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours. (97-98)
- Explain what social institutions are, identify the social institutions common to all industrialized societies, and summarize the basic features of each. (98)
- Compare and contrast functionalists’ and conflict theorists’ views of social institutions. (98-101)
- Use Durkheim’s concepts of mechanical and organic solidarity and Tönnies’ typologies of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft to explain what holds societies together, and discuss their continuing relevance. (101)
- Define the following concepts: culture, social class, social status, roles, and groups. (102-105)
- Explain why groups are so important to individuals and to societies. (103)
- Distinguish between a group, an aggregate, and a category. (104)
- Define each of the following: primary groups, secondary groups, in-groups and out-groups, reference groups, and social networks. (105-107)
- Identify the changes that have contributed to the emergence of the electronic community. (108)
- Explain the concept of group dynamics and indicate how group size affects interaction. (108-110)
- Describe the two types of leaders in groups, the three basic styles of leadership and why researchers have concluded that democratic leaders are more effective than authoritarian or laissez-faire ones. (110-111)
- Discuss the impact of peer pressure on conformity by analyzing the Asch experiment. (111-112)
- Explain the following about the Milgram experiment: purpose of study, how it was conducted, conclusions reached, and why the methodology was questioned. (112-113)
- Discuss groupthink, explain how it can be dangerous for a society, and identify how this can be prevented. (112-113)
- State the key assumptions of the symbolic interaction perspective regarding social life. (114)
- Explain how stereotypes influence an individual’s expectations and behaviour. (114)
- Explain the concepts of personal space and touching and discuss how they are used differently in different cultures. (114-116)
- Outline the key components of the dramaturgical view of everyday life and discuss how we manage our impression using sign-vehicles, teamwork, and face-saving behaviour. (116-120)
- Discuss what background assumptions are, according to ethnomethodology. (118-120)
- Explain what “the social construction of reality” means and how this is related to the Thomas theorem. (121)
- Indicate why macrosociology and microsociology are both needed to understand social life. (121-122)
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