Social System

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The Concept of Social Structure in Sociology

By Ashley Crossman

Definition: A social system is an interdependent set of cultural and structural elements that can be thought of as a unit. The concept of a social system embodies one of the most important sociological principles: that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Examples: If we have two sticks of wood and joint them together to form a Christian cross, no amount of understanding of the sticks themselves can fully account for our perception of the cross as a particular arrangement of sticks in relation to each other. It is the arrangement of the parts that makes the whole what it is, not merely the characteristics of the parts themselves.