Sociology is the study of the entire social world. As human beings, we partake in social
interaction in every day of our lives. We need to interact with others every day to maximize our
social relationships. This is critical in the way we react to each other and how they react to us.
As we co-exist with others we need to be able to consider points of view that are different from
our own. For example, some people believe that religion is useless. I may not agree with that
statement, but I do have the ability to evaluate the words so I may make my own decision. I
need to be able to look at the statement in a way that allows me to consider the facts or data
that are associated with it. The use of sociological imagination is what helps us get our head
around and better understand everyday situations.
Sociology helps us to understand the concept of roles and status. Status is the social
position each person holds. For example, president and student are individual roles that a
person may hold at a single time. The respect given to the person secondary to the roles they
assume helps to determine their status. In some cases, status may be given at birth due to the
social standing of one’s family. In contrast, achieved status is what is attained later and reflects
personal achievement. Master status importance for social identity and its shapes a person’s
entire life. The role is something that is associated with a status.
Regarding some definitions based in sociology, role strain or conflict is divergence
among different types of roles. We use this information to shape our reality through social
interaction. The Thomas theorem tells us that the interpretation of a situation causes the
perceived action. Ethnomethodology is the study of the way people of a certain background
explains and makes sense of everyday surroundings. They tend to do this because they
generally share some experiences that allow them to see situations in similar ways.
Dramaturgical Analysis is a sociological perspective stemming from symbolic interactionism and
the presentation of self, performances, non verbal communication (Mitchell, 1978). As we
examine the difference between gender performances, idealization, and our intentions we can
see the effort to convince to others and ourselves that our actions are not egotistical.
Nevertheless, despite our best intentions sometimes our appearance goes wrong. Tact is the
ability to save face in the light of an embarrassing presentation. We try to protect the emotions
that are guided by society and preprogramming. These include happiness, sadness, anger, fear,
disgust and surprise.
Social interaction is best explained by Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis, the study of
social interaction in terms of social performances as outlined briefly above (Goffman, 1974). In
addition, we can look at ethnomethodology as popularized by Harold Garfinkel in 1967. An
example of this theory could be the culture seen among physicians (Garfinkel, 1967). Certainly,
doctors have a good amount in common as they have all gone to medical school. For the most
part they understand words that the average person may not necessarily be familiar with.
Furthermore, they all appear to look similar as they are usually dressed in a professional
manner so that they do not alienate any patients; this visual tends to spill over to all parts of
their lives. Physicians will behave in ways even round their family and friends that keep with
their professional or ‘doctorish’ style. Someone who has a doctor in the family may notice that
they sometimes act stiff or address issues in a clinical manner. This is an excellent example of
how a community may seem to speak the same, act the same, dress the same, etc. This
behavior may be seen by many people in organized groups.
References
Garfinkel, H. (1967) Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Mitchell, J. N. (1978). Social Exchange, Dramaturgy and Ethnomethodology: Toward a
Paradigmatic Synthesis. New York: Elsevier.