ABSTRACT
Itisunfortunatethatanintroductorystudyofthischaractershouldhavetobeconcernedwithanythingasdifficult, contentiousandtechnicalasthequestionofclass.Itisunfortunatealsothattheonlyvocabularywhichisopentousto discussitshouldbethatdesignedfornineteenth-andtwentieth-centurysociety.'Statusgroups'and'class'donotfitat allwellasdescriptionsofsetsofpeoplebelongingtoStuart England,andmostoftherestoftheterminologyusedby sociologistsisinappropriatetoo.Theword'group'ismisleadingwhencoupledwithstatus,becauseitconveysasolidarity, areadinesstoacttogether,whichisquiteinappropriate. Theseexpressionshaveimplicationsbelongingtorather differentsocialstructures.
