According to Max Weber, classes and status groups are differentiated…

The correct answer is Option (1) → Lifestyles

Option (1) Lifestyles — Correct. Weber wrote that classes and status groups are told apart by their lifestyles, that is, by the way people live and the goods they buy and display. This ties in with his idea of the status symbol.

Option (2) Ownership of the means of production — Incorrect. Ownership of the means of production is Karl Marx's basis for class, dividing owners from workers. Weber's basis for telling classes and status groups apart is lifestyle.

Option (3) Ritual rank in the caste order — Incorrect. Ritual rank, set by purity and pollution, decides a caste's place in the caste order. That belongs to caste hierarchy, and Weber's basis for classes and status groups is lifestyle.

Option (4) Occupational skills and training — Incorrect. Skills and training shape a person's job and income. In Weber's view of consumption, status groups are set apart by how they live and what they buy, so job skills miss his point.