**3.2 Situations and scenes**

The round of everyday life consists in a series of encounters with others in 'social situations' which are in turn often physically embedded in 'scenes'. Goffman referred to this highly encompassing level of social life as the 'interactional order' although broader terms are used by other sociologists. Situations differ in whether or not they are focused or unfocused and are sites in which we perform the day to day manoeuvres and tasks of our lives. Situations shape behaviour since in most we endeavour to present our 'selves' in a good light and to cover up mistakes and difficulties. The whole panoply of concepts developed by social interaction sociology applied very vividly at this level. Some sociologists see situations as so

The study of people's lives is not exhausted by social structural analyses. Such analyses merely endeavour to understand what is involved with people's experiences, activities and longer term fates as these are caught up within social structures, but which remain unique

This hierarchy has been carefully developed and it is argued (although not definitively) that each of these levels have particular properties which separate it from those lying at other

At each of these levels, the social unit focused on has 'internal' and 'external' features: the elements that make it up and its relationships to other units within which it is contextualized. In a network approach, which is a major way of investigating the latter issue, relations between nodes are studied, not characteristics of nodes themselves. Network linkages within any type of social entity (e.g. between individuals but also between organisations) are possible. This interest in linkages can be taken to **follow** approaches looking at characteristics of social entities (on the grounds that you need to know something about x and about y before you examine their relationship). However, often network analysis is seen as the study of relationships amongst people rather than relations amongst

It is important to note that the various levels do NOT neatly (at least not necessarily) nest within each other in a linked-up hierarchy. Social structures at various levels cross-cut and interweave and may (or may not) have any connection with others operating at different

The round of everyday life consists in a series of encounters with others in 'social situations' which are in turn often physically embedded in 'scenes'. Goffman referred to this highly encompassing level of social life as the 'interactional order' although broader terms are used by other sociologists. Situations differ in whether or not they are focused or unfocused and are sites in which we perform the day to day manoeuvres and tasks of our lives. Situations shape behaviour since in most we endeavour to present our 'selves' in a good light and to cover up mistakes and difficulties. The whole panoply of concepts developed by social interaction sociology applied very vividly at this level. Some sociologists see situations as so

The sequence builds up from a foundation towards higher levels of organisation:

to each individual within them.

**3. Units** 

**3.1 Levels of units** 




levels in the hierarchy.



scales or with different trajectories.

**3.2 Situations and scenes** 


any type of social unit as it is depicted in this chapter.

enveloping that they refuse to recognise the existence of any social units at a 'higher' level that encompass situations and those social integrationists who do emphasise the socially constructed nature of any larger social entity. Situations are embedded in flows and sequences which are partly designed (as in the day to day scheduling of many activities) and partly (and occasionally totally) unplanned and replete with exigencies, which those involved must react to.

Socially-constructed scenes (such as buildings, stages, streets, rooms) are the physical backdrop for situations and can shape these, but they also have a social life of their own since they may be occupied in turn by various groupings which place their own meanings and behaviours on how the setting gets used.
