Chapter 4 Vocabulary
Social Structure – network of interrelated statuses & roles that guides
human interaction.
Status – socially defined position in a group or in a society
Role – behavior (rights & obligations) expected of someone occupying a
particular status.
Social Institution – system of statuses, roles, values and norms that is
organized to satisfy one or more of the basic needs of society
Group – set of two or more people who interact on the basis of shared
expectations & who possess some degree of common identity.
Reference Group – any group with whom individuals identify & whose
attitudes & values they often adopt
Formal organization – large, complex secondary group that has been
established to achieve specific goals.
Bureaucracy – ranked authority structure that operates according to
specific rules & procedures.
Voluntary association – non-profit association formed to pursue some
common interest
Ascribed status – status assigned according to standards that are
beyond a person’s control – age, sex, family heritage
Achieved status – status acquired by an individual on the basis of some
special skill, knowledge or ability
Master status – status that plays the greatest role in shaping a person’s
life & determining his/her social identity
Reciprocal roles – corresponding roles that define the patterns of
interaction between related statuses
Aggregate – group of people gathered in the same place at the same time
who lack organization or lasting patterns of interactions
Social network – web of relationships that is formed by the sum total of
an individual’s interactions with other people
Gemeinschaft – societies in which most members know one another,
relationships are close & activities center on the family & the community
(small rural villages – middle ages)
Gesellschaft - societies in which social relationships are based on need
rather than on emotion, relationship are impersonal & temporary &
individual goals are more important than group goals.