Site MapHelpFeedbackSocial Interaction and Social Structure
Social Interaction and Social Structure


In this chapter, you will find the following items:

Social interaction refers to the ways in which people respond to one another. Social structure refers to the way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships. This chapter examines the basic elements of social structure—statuses, social roles, groups, networks, and institutions.

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:


1.
Understand how we define and reconstruct our social reality.
2.
Give your own examples of ascribed, achieved, and master statuses.
3.
Discuss the social roles we acquire throughout our lives.
4.
Differentiate between role conflict, role strain, and role exit.
5.
List the four stages of role exit identified by Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh.
6.
Explain what is meant by the term social network.
7.
Contrast the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist views of social institutions.
8.
Discuss Durkheim's mechanical and organic solidarity.
9.
Summarize the differences between the Gemeinschaft and the Gesellschaft community.
10.
Discuss Gerhard Lenski's sociocultural evolution approach.
11.
Describe the characteristics of the hunting-and-gathering society, the horticultural society, the industrial society, and the postindustrial and postmodern society.
12.
Summarize the concerns about the AIDS crisis from the interactionist perspective.





To learn more about the book this website supports, please visit its Information Center.
(c)2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.


Schaefer, Sociology Brief, 6/eOnline Learning Center

Home > Chapter 5