1. Social Interaction and Everyday Life
Social construction of everyday life
Studying social interaction and everyday life
Linking micro with macro

2. Social construction of everyday life
Social action (Weber): behavior that involves thought and is directed toward others; meaningful, intentional behavior
Social interaction: the process of acting and reacting in relation to others

3. Social structure
underlying regularities and patterns in behavior and relationships
Social status (position): social identity an individual has in a given society; position in relation to others
Social role: socially defined expectations of an individual in a given status or position

4. Social construction of everyday life: definition of the situation
“Preliminary to any self-determined act of behavior there is always a stage of examination and deliberation which we may call the definition of the situation.” Thomas

5. Social construction of everyday life: definition of the situation
Social interaction involves active negotiation of the definition of the situation
Therefore, social structure is a product of social construction

6. Studying social interaction and everyday life
Ethnomethodology

7. Ethnomethodology Theoretical approach developed by Garfinkel
Study of the folk or lay methods we use to make sense of what others are saying and doing
Background rules and knowledge are taken for granted
Use of demonstration (or breeching) experiment to reveal them
Conversation analysis

8. Nonverbal communication
Basic facial expressions are innate, universal
Gestures are culturally specific
Body position also conveys meaning
Civil inattention: avoiding eye contact to convey absence of aggression

9. Interaction in context
Compulsion of proximity: need to interact with others in “copresence”, face-to-face
Social context shapes interaction
Is internet interaction the same?
“Interactional vandalism”; if Mudrick is saying nice things why is it harassment? (89-92)

10. Studying social interaction and everyday life
Dramaturgical analysis

11. Dramaturgical analysis
Theoretical approach developed by Erving Goffman
“all the world’s a stage, and we are all actors upon it.”

12. Unfocused interaction
Mutual awareness of others in group or crowd
No direct verbal communication
Nonverbal communication through body and gestures
Involves civil inattention

13. Focused interaction Direct attention to others in the group
An encounter is a case of focused interaction
Encounters require openings to signal end of civil inattention: e.g., “ ’sup?”
Encounters separated by markers, also known as brackets

14. Presentation of self in everyday life
Impression management
Roles: socially defined expectations of a person in a
Status: social position
Status set
Ascribed status
Achieved status
Master status
Front regions: formal roles
Back regions: relaxed, preparation for front
Face work
Facebook?

15. Linking micro with macro
Micro level of social structure: roles & statuses, groups
Middle or meso level: organizations, subcultures, institutions
Macro level: society, culture, world system

16. Linking micro with macro
society
institutions
Self: roles & statuses