Social Differentiation Essay

Question 1 Social differentiation is a term that is commonly associated with social stratification. Some can come to believe that they are the same thing but they are different sociological elements. Social differentiation is just a simple way to differentiate between people within a society. The differentiation can be as simple as biological factors. These factors consist of things like age, gender, and other biological traits and characterizes. Social differentiation can involve differentiating people through their jobs. This differentiation does not put the jobs in order, just lists them simply. Differentiation can lead to social stratification. The list of jobs can soon become a list that is ranks in importance. The ranks then determine

A society is based on its economy and resources. Marx uses an economic base to determine the aspect of stratification in any society. The economy is the factor that determines everything else about the society. Institution and social influences all are based on the economy of a society. The way people in a society go about producing their needs and resources, determine many things. This mode of production is the systems that are used for production. It is the economic foundation of the society. The mode of production provides the materials that society values and deems

He created a system that involved more components than Marx’s. He suggested that there were many more classes in a society. People could have a high status in society and not own the means of production. Society is therefore more complex than what Marx theorized. Weber proposed 3 dimensions of stratification. One of the dimensions is class. Class consists of people who are in similar positions. They have similar opportunities to gain societal resources. The skills and the credentials of people in society can help place them in a certain class. This creates more to a society then just the 2 classes Marx suggested. People can earn a high income to gain rewards without being the owner of production. Another dimension mentioned by Weber is status. Status is not based on economic factors the way class is. It deals more with the lifestyle of a person. Two people can have similar incomes but live very different lifestyles. This creates a different status for the two people. Many thing can factor into status. Education is an important status in society. People with a good education, generally have higher status than those without. These status groups can gain power from gaining some type of control over social institutions. They can gain power from controlling goods, as well. (Iceland,