Consistent with a view of society as a continuing number of people living in the same region in a relatively permanent unit, social structure is the way in which people's relations in society are arranged to form a network. These networks are relatively organized in the sense that there is thought to be some degree of structure and system to the patterns of social interaction of which any society is composed.
The structure of society is thought to be composed of similar elements of statuses, roles, groups and institutions.
Besides being determined by the social context of statuses and roles, behavior is also thought to be largely determined by the definition of the situation.
Status
An ascribed status is automatically conferred on a person with no effort made or no choice involved on their part such as race or sex. It is involuntarily assumed--for example, being American Indian, a son, or widow. The opposite status, one that is assumed largely through one's own doings or efforts, is referred to as achieved status. Master status is the status with which a person is most identified. It is the most important status that a person holds, because it affects almost every aspect of a person's life and has great symbolic value. Status set consists of all the stuses that a person occupies.
Roles
Roles are the component of social structure that bring statuses to life. You occupy a status, but you play out a role. The socially determined behaviors expected of a person performing a role are called role expectations. In reality, people's role performance-their actual