1. SOCIAL INTERACTION Social interaction - emphasizes how people react when in the presence others. Social structure - patterned relationship between people that persist over time. Status refers to the position that an individual occupies. Status set - all statuses a person holds at a given time.

2. Ascribed status-- assume involuntarily Achieved status-- assume voluntarily Master status -- has special importance for social identity Role - behavior, obligations, and privileges attached to a status. Role set – A single status has several roles

3. Role conflict—conflict among roles corresponding to two or more statuses. Role strain -- incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status. Role exit -- process by which people disengage from social roles. Social construction of reality -- process of creatively shaping reality through social interaction.

4. DRAMATURGICAL APPROACH Dramaturgical approach hold that social interaction follows familiar, predictable cultural scripts. Erving Goffman main authority in this field. Saw life as series of improvisational plays or skits. Impression management --peoples’ efforts to control what others think about them.

5. Frontstage and Backstage Frontstage -here people are required to play their roles with all the skills they have. Backstage - “decompression” zone.

6. ETHNOMETHODOLOGY Refers to ways in which people create order through everyday interactions. BREECHING EXPERIMENTS establishes the power of culture and unstated norms.

7. Example: interpret this casual greeting Acquaintance:[waving cheerily] How are you? Student: How am I in regard to what? My health, my finances, my school work, my peace of mind, my….? Acquaintance:[red in the face and suddenly out of control] Look! I was just trying to be polite. Frankly, I don’t give a damn how you are.