DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE HANDOUT

The Meaning of Social Science

 In general, social sciences focus on the study of society and the relationship among
individuals within society.
 Social science covers a wide spectrum of subjects, including economics, political
science, sociology, history, archaeology, anthropology, and law.

10 Reasons why we need Social Science in our lives:

1. Social scientists help us imagine alternative futures.

- Social science can open up debate and give us a say in shaping our
collective future.
- Social science helped people understand the consequences and application
of the new technologies of the age, the growth of railways and factories not
only transformed the economy and the world of work, but also changed
forever the way people organized their family lives and leisure. Today
nanotechnology and advances in medical research will have a significant
impact on the way we live.

2. Social science can help us make sense of our finances.

- Social science is not just important for the future but for what’s happening
now.
- With the knowledge and understanding that social science offers us, we will
feel empowered to act for ourselves, and to influence decisions being made
on our behalf.

sociologists and political scientists, for example ‐ can help us understand the
- A range of social scientists – not just economists but also psychologists,

economic crisis and weigh up decisions we make for ourselves and those
which governments make on our behalf.

3. Social scientists contribute to our health and well‐being.

- From sports sociologists to public health experts, from those interpreting
medical statistics to those evaluating policies for our care in old age, social
scientists are working hard to make sure that our health, leisure and social
care services work to best effect.

4. Social science might save your life.

- Accidents at work happen even in the best regulated companies that provide
staff training and take all necessary precautions.

5. Social science can make your neighborhood safer.

- One common myth is that if you take measures to reduce crime in one
neighborhood the criminals simply move on, leading to increased crime in
another area. Sociologists worked closely with police to reduce crime through
a method involving scanning for crime patterns.
- They were able to identify patterns that regular police work had not picked
up, so avoiding guess work and lost time. A technique called situational crime
prevention developed by the same team is now regularly used by the police,
working with the public and private sectors to prevent crime. Together they
make things more difficult for would‐be criminals.
 6. We need social scientists as public intellectuals.
- In a knowledge‐based world, we need people who can integrate a variety of
different types of knowledge, and that come from different intellectual roots
and from a range of institutions to work together.

7. Social science can improve our children’s lives and education.

- All societies and all governments want to show they are doing the best for
children. Yet too often education reform seems to take place without regard
for the best interests of the learners. Education research shows that many
parents, particularly parents of younger children, are more concerned that
their children enjoy school, than that they are academic stars.
- By working with students of all ages to understand their perspectives on
schooling, researchers have discovered new insights into what makes
effective schools, and what makes for effective school leadership.

8. Social science can change the world for the better.

- We can generally agree that world needs to be a safer place where all people
can enjoy basic dignity and human rights. This is the case even when we
can’t always agree on what we should do to make this happen. Social
scientists working in interdisciplinary teams have made their mark in the area
of human welfare and development.

9. Social science can broaden your horizons.

- For debates about feminism, peace, ecology, social movements, and much
more, social science offers each of us new perspectives and new ways of
understanding. Whether your idea of relaxation is visiting a museum,
watching soaps, or chatting online, social science encourages a fresh look at
our everyday activities and culture.
- Social scientists are making an impact on museums across the world, with
the goal of making them more inclusive, abler to challenge prejudices, inspire
learning and be more relevant in contemporary society.

10. We need social science to guarantee our democracy.

- Social science offers multiple perspectives on society, informs social policy
and supports us in holding our politicians and our media to account.
- Individual citizens may feel empowered by this but there are risks in turning
away from traditional journalism, including fewer opportunities for in‐depth
analysis and critique of powerful interests. This work by social scientists is
critical in protecting a modern and transparent democracy.

What is Humanities?
 The humanities are the stories, the ideas, and the words that help us make sense of
our lives and our world.
 The humanities introduce us to people we have never met, places we have never
visited, and ideas that may have never crossed our minds. By showing how others have
lived and thought about life, the humanities help us decide what is important in our own
lives and what we can do to make them better. By connecting us with other people,
they point the way to answers about what is right or wrong, or what is true to our
heritage and our history.
 The humanities help us address the challenges we face together in our families, our
communities, and as a nation.
What is the difference between social science and natural science?
Nature – conjures an image of random and structured forces that shape a given area,
and usually follow a general pattern of law or patterned ever since the world existed.
Society – on the other hand, is organized, structured and deliberately formalized and
bound by rules drafted and implemented by the people who themselves constitute a society.

Social Science Natural Science

- a major category of academic - a branch of science concerned
disciplines, concerned with with the description, prediction,
society and the relationships and understanding of natural
among individuals within a phenomena, based on
society. It in turn has many observational and empirical
branches, each of which is evidence.
considered a "social science”. - Developed a sophisticated way
- Human actions, behaviors, on how to investigate nature by
patterns of activities and using a rigorous mental and
decision making were done in methodical process known as
more efficient, legal, and logical “scientific method”.
manner which maximizes the
fullest potential of society itself.

SOCIAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES

ANTHROPOLOGY

- The term originates from two words in Greek:

• (1) anthropos meaning “man” as in “human being”
• (2) logos meaning “study”.
- Consequently, we can determine that anthropology can be defined as:
“the study of human beings”.
- Yet many other humanities, sciences and social sciences could also be defined as
“the study of human beings” since the definition itself is so broad.

What then is unique characteristic of anthropology?

- anthropology is transcultural; looks all human groups, large and small; distant and
near.
- anthropology spans all of human history, the ancient and the modern. We must
know past to understand present.
- anthropology is holistic; seeks to demonstrate how aspects of cultures are linked,
how they affect one another; seeks to understand all aspects of human behavior. It
is a multi-faceted approach to the study of human behavior.

Anthropology seeks to find the generalities about human life while also explaining the
differences. To do this the examples must include a transcultural and historical perspective.

Anthropology seeks to understand and explain why people do the things they do and say the
things they say. A goal is to create better understanding among people.
In sum, anthropologists often say that “anthropology is the most humane of the sciences and
the most scientific of the humanities”.
SUB-FIELDS of ANTHROPOLOGY as a SOCIAL SCIENCE
 - Biological anthropology - seeks to understand human behavior from a biological
base especially focusing upon human evolutionary history and biological variation
among human populations.
- Cultural anthropology - seeks to understand universals and variations in human
cultures both past and present.
- Archaeology seeks to understand human history through the study (primarily) of
materials remains. Sometimes the work of archaeologists overlaps with the work of
historians in a specialization, historical archaeology.
- Linguistics seeks to understand human language, written and non-written, spoken
and non-verbal. The study of how languages change over time is termed historical
linguistics. The study of how language is used in social contexts is termed socio-
linguistics.
- Ethnology seeks to understand the patterns of human thought and behavior over
time. A holistic, detailed description of a culture is termed an ethnography.

Methods of Anthropological Research

- ethnography and the making of ethnographic methods;
- ethnographic fieldwork, participant-observation and the
‘tacit dimension’;
- interviewing, biography and life histories;
- visual and auditory methods in anthropological research;
- multi-sited research and the changing ethnographic ‘field’;
- research ethics;
- research design and proposal writing;
- reflexivity, home and away;
- ethnographic analysis – field notes, transcription, coding.

ECONOMICS

- The term originates from the Greek word oikonomia:

• (1) oikos meaning “house”
• (2) nemein meaning “manage”.
- Consequently, we can determine that economics can be defined as:
“the household management”.
- It is a social science concerned with the production, distribution and consumption of
goods and services.
- It studies how individuals, businesses, governments and nations make choices on
allocating resources to satisfy their wants and needs, and tries to determine how
these groups should organize and coordinate efforts to achieve maximum output.

SUB-DISCIPLINES of ECONOMICS as a SOCIAL SCIENCE

- Microeconomics – is the study of economics at an individual, group or company
level.
- Macroeconomics – the study of national economy as a whole.
- International Economics – focuses on international economic activity such as world
market.
- Political Economy – intersection of politics and economics such as how global
economic pressure impacts trade unions or regional integration changes trade
patterns.
- Financial Economics – looks at finance topics and structures such as product
pricing.
- Behavioral Economics – blends psychology and economics to gain insights into how
biases and other psychological factors impact decision making with regards to
economics.
 - Experimental Economics – uses controlled experiments (usually with paid test
subjects) to understand economic problems.
- Environmental Economics – focuses on the economics of natural resource usage.
- Public Economics – tax policy, government spending, that sort of thing such as the
transparency.
- Industrial Organization – studies the structure of firms in markets.
- Labor Economics – focus on labor markets. Determinants of income, effects of the
minimum wage on employment.
- Development Economics – applies insights from a broad set of fields to poor
countries, in order to figure out what is the optimal policies are to start growth and
lower poverty.
- Law and Economics – analysis to legal issues to figure out which laws are
economically efficient, and what are the impact of changes in the legal structure will
be.

Methods of Economic Research

- Statistics
- Surveys
- Feasibility Study
- Quantitative Analysis

GEOGRAPHY

- The term originates from the Greek word geographia:

• (1) geo meaning “earth”
• (2) graphia meaning “writing”.
- Consequently, we can determine that geography can be defined as:
“the study of places and the relationships between people and their
environments”.
- Geographers explore both the physical properties of earth’s surface and the human
societies spread across it.
- A field of science devoted to the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants,
and the phenomena on earth.
- Geography has been branded a unique science of bridging the gap between social
sciences and natural sciences.

SUB-DISCIPLINES of GEOGRAPHY

- Physical Geography – studies all processes and pattern that can be considered
natural on Earth’s surface and since it is having been established in the science that
the earth came into existence before humans, the physical environment is always
studied first.
o Geomorphology – earth’s form and structure
o Hydrology – study of all forms of water
o Climatology – study of long-term weather
o Biogeography – study of plant and animal life and processes
o Pedology – the study of soils

- Human Geography – studies the people, cultures and communities existing in the
world with a view of understanding its effects on the environment and vice versa.
o Cultural Geography – trying to understand and describe the occurrence of
various cultural groups with reference to space.
o Economic Geography – studying the relationship between economic
systems.
 o Historical Geography – understanding world history in terms of space and
time.
o Population Geography – studying the cultural composition, growth, migration
patterns as related to nature of places.
o Political Geography – studying political and governmental features of regions.
o Settlement Geography - defining what could be termed rural and urban areas
and why?
o Health Geography – health and disease study across space and time.

Methods of Geographic Research

- Potential Evapotranspiration (dryness or wetness of climate)
- Field Observation/Exploration
- Remote Sensing (demotes piece of information from detection of electromagnetic
signals from satellites)
- Sampling and Choice Observations
- Display and Analysis (formalized procedures in making maps)
- Cartography (map and geography)
- Geographic Information Systems (displaying geographical reference information)
- Locational Coding
- Geographic Visualization (use of concrete visual representation)

HISTORY

 History (from Greek word, historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by

investigation") is the study of the past as it is described in written documents. Events
occurring before written record are considered prehistory.
 History is the study of the past, particularly people and events of the past. History is a
pursuit common to all human societies.
 Human beings have always been interested in the past, for many reasons.
o History is a tremendous story, a rolling narrative filled with great personalities,
struggle and suffering, turmoil and triumph.
o Each passing generation adds its own chapter to history, while reinterpreting and
finding new things in those chapters already written.
o History also gives us a sense of identity, helping us to understand who we are.
o History provides a sense of context for our lives and our existence, teaching us
where we have come from and how we should approach the future.
o History shows us what it means to be human and highlights the tremendous
achievements and the great follies of the human race. History also gives us
lessons about how we should organize and manage our societies, for the
betterment of all.
 Historiography – the writing of history, especially the writing of history based on the
critical examination of sources, the selection of particular details from the authentic
materials.

Sub-Disciplines of History
 History of the Arts
- Histories written about architecture, sculpture, painting, music, dance, theatre,
motion pictures, television and literature. The history in accordance of aesthetics.
 Biography and Psychohistory
- Ancient biography especially the entire genre subordinated by any treatment of
individual character and information.
 Diplomatic History
 - The history involving the work of main good relations between the governments
of different countries relating with diplomats of their work.
 Economic History
- The history of economic growth of different countries.

 Intellectual History
- The history of thought synonymous with the history of ideas and human actions
which have to be explained by intentions and intentions cannot be formed
without ideas.
 Military History
- Soldiers in battle were the theme of the earliest Greek epic and the earliest
history. The history influenced by the military warfare with their different
maneuvering styles and techniques in battle.
 Political History
- For many people, and for many years, history simply meant political history. A
large proportion of published works by historians was devoted to political history.
 History of Science
- The history of all the branches of learning. It has been part of intellectual history
that has been written by practicing scientists.
 Social and Cultural History
- The branch of history that emphasizes social structures and the interaction of
different groups in the society rather than affairs of state.
 Women’s History
- Women’s history would have been inconceivable, because history was so
closely identified with war, diplomacy, and high politics from all of which women
were virtually excluded.
 World History
- The most recent historical specialty in which characterized by medieval
chronicles proposed a single-story line for human race, governed by divine
providence, in far more sophisticated form and in the speculative philosophies of
history.

Methods of Historical Research (Historiography)

 Surveys
 Historian’s Source
 From explanation to interpretation
 Cartography
 Archaeology
 Interview

LINGUISTICS
- from Latin word lingua "language, tongue" and ist meaning "a student of
language"
- the scientific study of language and its structure, including the study of
morphology, syntax, phonetics, and semantics.

Specific branches of linguistics include:

 sociolinguistics - the study of language in relation to social factors, including
differences of regional, class, and occupational dialect, gender differences, and
bilingualism.
 Dialectology - the branch of linguistics concerned with the study of dialects.
 Psycholinguistics - the study of the relationships between linguistic behavior and
psychological processes, including the process of language acquisition.
  Computational linguistics - the branch of linguistics in which the techniques of
computer science are applied to the analysis and synthesis of language and speech.
 Historical-comparative linguistics - is a branch of historical linguistics that is
concerned with comparing languages in order to establish their historical relatedness.
 Applied linguistics - is an interdisciplinary field of linguistics that identifies,
investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the
academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication
research, anthropology, and sociology.

Linguistics is concerned with the nature of language and communication. It deals both with
the study of particular languages, and the search for general properties common to all
languages or large groups of languages. It includes the following subareas:
- phonetics (the study of the production, acoustics and hearing of speech sounds)
- phonology (the patterning of sounds)
- morphology (the structure of words)
- syntax (the structure of sentences)
- semantics (meaning)
- pragmatics (language in context)

It also includes explorations into the nature of language variation (dialects), language change
over time, how language is processed and stored in the brain, and how it is acquired by young
children.

Linguistic Methods
 Data collection – memory, note recording, audio and video
 Intuition – judgement or correction
 Literature studies – reviews
 Observation
 Field Studies
 Deep interview
 Questionnaires
 Transcription
 Conceptual Analysis
 Drawing conclusions
 Literature study
 Historical studies
 Action research

POLITICAL SCIENCE
 Politics from Greek: Politika, definition "affairs of the cities.
 It is the process of making decisions applying to all members of each group. More
narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance and an
organized control over a human community, particularly a state.
 The systematic study of government and politics. Political science is a social science
that makes generalizations and analyses about political systems and political behavior
and uses these results to predict future behavior.
 Political science includes the study of political philosophy, ethics, international relations
and foreign policy, public administration, and the dynamic relations between different
parts of governments.

Political Science Subfields

 American Politics
 - The study of politics in the United States, including the study of national
institutions (Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, executive
bureaucracy), state and local government, and representative processes at all
levels (elections, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, protest and
extremist groups).
 Comparative Politics
- Comparative politics is the study of politics outside the United States or politics
compared across countries, possibly including the USA. The field of comparative
politics includes the study of governing institutions, electoral behavior and
procedures, public policy, political economy, social movements and
organizations, protest and revolution.
 International Relations
- International Relations is the study of political relations between nation-states. It
includes the study of diplomacy, military conflict, and conflict resolution, as well
as the international political economy, international organizations, and other
processes that operate across the boundaries of nation-states.
 Public Policy
- Public Policy is a very broad field of study that explores substantive policy areas
as well as the procedures of policy making. Examples of substantive areas
include social welfare policy, communications policy, and morality policy.
- The study of public policy is most usually linked to work on American or
Comparative Politics but an increasing number of students who study Public
Policy also study International Relations

 Political Theory
- Political theory is the oldest field in political science. Finding its roots in the
ancient theories of Aristotle and Plato, this field integrates the timeless with
timely questions about political ideology, fairness, justice, and equity.

Political Science Methods of Research

 Qualitative Research
 Methods of Qualitative Research (Qualitative)
- Intensive Interviews
- Focus Groups (Qualitative)
- Administrative Records & Documents
- Case Studies
- Surveys
- Pre-existing surveys
- Longitudinal Studies
- Experiments

PSYCHOLOGY

 Derived from the two Greek words psyche (mind) and logos (study).
 Consequently, we can determine that psychology is “the science of the mind or of
mental states and processes”.
 Psychology is the science of behavior and mind, embracing all aspects
of conscious and unconscious experience as well as thought. It is a discipline of social
 science which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing general
principles and researching specific cases.
 In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist and can
be classified as a social, behavioral, or cognitive scientist. Psychologists attempt to
understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also
exploring the physiological and biological processes that underlie cognitive functions
and behaviors.
Sub-Disciplines of Psychology
 Biopsychology (behavioral neuroscience)
- investigates the physical basis of psychological phenomena
- seeks to understand the mind through understanding the electrical and chemical
activity of the nervous system.
- e.g., how are memories stored in the brain?
 Developmental
- studies the way thought, feeling, and behavior develop through the lifespan (from
infancy to death)
- e.g., can children remember experiences from their first year of life?
 Social
- examines interactions of individual psychology and group phenomena
- e.g., when and why do people behave aggressively?
 Clinical
- examines the nature & treatment of psychological processes that cause
emotional distress
- e.g., what causes depression?
 Cognitive
- examines the nature of thought, memory, sensation, perception, & language
- e.g., what causes memory loss?
 Personality
- examines people's enduring ways of responding in different kinds of situations
and the ways individuals differ in how they tend to think, feel, and behave?
- e.g., what are the underlying factors of personality

 Industrial/Organization (I/O)
- examines the behavior of people in organizations & attempts to help solve
organizational problems.
- e.g., what motivates workers to do their jobs efficiently?
 Education
- examines psychological processes in learning and applies psychological
knowledge in educational settings.
- e.g., why do some children have trouble learning to read?
 Health
- examines the psychological factors involved in health and disease.
- e.g., are certain personality types less vulnerable to disease?

Methods in Psychology
 Case studies
 Surveys
 Naturalistic observation
 Laboratory observation
  Descriptive or correlational research

SOCIOLOGY
 from Greek: Socius, meaning people together and Logos meaning study.
 the science or study of the origin, development, organization, and
functioning of human society; the science of the fundamental laws of
social relations, institutions, etc.
 the study of social problems.

Sub-Disciplines of Sociology
 Demography – the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of
disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations.
 Rural Sociology – associated with the study of social structure and conflict in rural
areas such as food and agriculture or natural resource access transcend traditional
rural spatial boundaries.
 Urban Sociology – sociological study of life and human interaction in metropolitan
areas.
 Comparative/Historical Sociology – the field which is concerned with the systematic and
explicit comparison of social phenomenon in two or more societies (cross-cultural).
 Sociological Theory – the statements of how and why particular facts about social world
are related.
 Sociology of Knowledge – the study of the relationship between human thought and the
social context within which it arises, and of the effects prevailing ideas have on
societies.
 Sociology of Science and Technology – the study of how social, political and cultural
values affect scientific research and technological innovation, and how these, in return,
affect society, politics and culture.
 Social Stratification – the society’s categorization of people into socioeconomic strata,
based upon their occupation and income, wealth and social status, or derived power
(social and political).
 Work & Labor Organizations – concerned with the social relations, normative codes,
and organizational structures that inform the behavior, experience and identities of
people during the course of their working lives.
 Sociology of Education – is the study of how public institutions and individual
experiences affect education and its outcome.

Sociological Methods
 Comparative method – comparing different societies or groups within the same society
to show whether and why they are similar or different in certain aspects.
 Historical Method – a study of events processes and institutions of past civilizations, for
the purpose of finding the origins of antecedents of contemporary social life and thus
understanding its nature and working.
 Statistical method – application of statistics in sociology referring to numerical data
collected in relation to social problems.
 Case study method – make use of various techniques such as interview,
questionnaires, schedules, life histories, relevant documents of all kinds and also
participant observation for collecting information about the case under study.
 Functional method – study of social phenomena from the point of view of the functions
that particular institutions or social structures, such as class, serve in a society.
 DOMINANT APPROACHES IN SOCIAL SCIENCE

Structural Functionalism

An approach that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote
solidarity and stability. It looks for a structure’s social function.

Key Concepts

Structuralism – a method for analyzing language, narratives, and cultural phenomena that
uncovers basic elements that form structures (often binary oppositions).
Social Cohesion – defined as a cohesive society that works toward the well-being of all its
members. Fights exclusion and marginalization, creates a sense of belonging and promotes
trust.
Equilibrium – a theoretical state when there is a dynamic working balance among its
interdependent parts in the system of society.
Social Inequality – the existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social
positions or statuses within a group or society.
Interdependence – is a social exchange theory that shows how the rewards and costs
associated with interpersonal relationships collaborate with peoples’ expectation from them.
This comes from the idea that “closeness is the key to all relationships; that people
communicate to become closer to one another”.
Neo-functionalism – is the perspective that all integration is the result of past integration.

Emile Durkheim’s definition of function is that “the function of a social institution is the
correspondence between it and the needs of the social organism”.

Social Function - the consequence of any social pattern for the operation of a society as a
whole.
- Manifest Functions – are the consequences that the people observe or expect. It is
explicitly stated and understood by the participants in the relevant action. (Conscious,
deliberate and beneficial)
- Latent Functions – are those that are neither recognized nor intended. A latent
function of a behavior is not explicitly stated, recognized or intended by the people
involved, thus they are identified observers. (Unconscious, unintended and beneficial)

Social Dysfunction - any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society
- Manifest Dysfunctions – are anticipated disruption of social life.
- Latent Dysfunction – are unintended and unanticipated disruptions of order and
stability.

Marxism

An approach that acknowledges the economic relations between classes determine/structure

social and political relations.

A form of socioeconomic analysis that analyses class relations and societal conflict using a
materialist interpretation of historical development and a dialectical view of social
transformation.
Karl Marx focuses on explaining class conflict due to means of production, which he posited
was the driving force behind social evolution.

Marx sees society evolving through stages. Society evolves through different modes of
production in which the upper class controls the means of production and the lower class is
forced to provide labor.

The class conflict in each stage necessarily leads to the development of the next stage (for
example, feudalism leads to capitalism)

Class – is a group that shares common characteristics. Generally, they have a similar
socioeconomic status, which is based on income and living situation.

Is status has something to do with racial or ethnic similarity?

Status has nothing to do with racial or ethnic similarity, although Marx reasoned that race or
ethnicity was sometimes a factor. The commonality was tied up to a group’s ability or inability
to wield economic or political power. The group that held the power would always try to
maintain and grow that power by keeping those who had no power in a constant state of
powerlessness.
So those who had no power allowed themselves to be exploited by the powerful in the form of
set wages and conditions, because they had no other recourse.

Class Conflict – the conflict between entire classes over the distribution of a society’s wealth
and power.

The Two Classes

Karl Marx believed that in any system there were two types of people: the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie.
 Proletariat – consist of the working or labor class
 Bourgeoisie – can be through of as the idle, or management class

In Karl Marx's theory of class conflict, he provided very clear definitions for these two classes.
To understand Marx's stance in social history, we need to look at the two groups he believed
made up every society.

The proletariat produces and the bourgeoisie exploits the producers based on their ability to
market and sell. In an agrarian, or farming-based, society, the proletariat are the farming
families who work hard to grow crops or raise animals. The bourgeoisie are the people who
pay the farmers a small and inadequate amount of money for their products and sell them at a
much larger profit. In an industrial society, or factory-based and machine-based society, the
bourgeoisie owns the means of production (the factory) and exploits the proletariat by making
them work for low wages in dangerous conditions.

Class Struggle

Karl Marx used words like 'exploit' when speaking of how the rich managed the poor. Although
some people would disagree with his inflammatory take on the proletariat and bourgeoisie
classes, he said that capitalistic societies were indeed based on this type of arrangement.
Some people have money, either through an inheritance or other means by which they gained
wealth, whereas other people are destined to remain oppressed. But Marx wasn't concerned
with individual stories of this. He saw this as a societal issue.

Symbolic Interactionism

An approach that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals
appraise the meanings that people attach to everyday forms of interaction in order to explain
social behavior.

First Impression – In psychology, a first impression is the event when one person first
encounters another person and forms a mental image of that person. Impression accuracy
varies depending on the observer and the target (person, object, scene, etc.) being observed.

Perspective – a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

"Herbert Blumer, a student and interpreter of Mead, coined the term "symbolic
interactionism" and put forward an influential summary of the perspective: people act toward
things based on the meaning those things have for them; and these meanings are derived
from social interaction and modified through interpretation"