Positionality: Research and Social World

Labelling theory has also been used to apply the interactionist theory to society; the theory, like Mead, emphasises the importance of symbols and situations in which they are used. The main interactionist concepts are the definition of the situation – if we believe in something then it could affect the way in which we behave. The looking glass –self – this was created by Cooley who argues that we see ourselves in a way in which we think others see us. These concepts have been useful in explaining why people act in certain ways in certain situations; therefore, the labelling theory is effective in the study of society.

Sociology is defined as ‘The study of human social life, groups and societies’ (Giddens, 1989). It involves describing and analysing how different forces such as social, cultural, political, and economic have on behaviour and an individuals identity. (Van Kreiken et al.2000). Furthermore, it encompasses the complex connections on a micro level along with those on a macro level thus enabling sociological imagination.

The influences of society and personal experiences contribute to the way individuals interpret the world, and is further known as the social construction of reality. It is an extremely personal and biased view of the world in which it cannot be

Research is vital in understanding why certain theories are conceived. Essentially, through research I am studying human life and more so studying human

All social interactions take place with a social structure, including those interactions that redefine social reality, for purposes of study, sociologist breaks down any social structure into six elements which are, Statues, Social Role, Groups, Social Networks, Virtual Worlds and Social Insinuations. Society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they interact with other people, Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic subjective meanings. Firstly, Status is a slot or position within a group or society. They tell us who people are and how they “fit” into groups, status can be ascribed or achieved. Secondly, Social roles are expectations for people who occupy a given social position or status, Thirdly Roles are a significant component of social structure, for Example her in Belize, we have the Belize Police Department, as to where by the police are expected to protect us and apprehend criminals. At fourth place we have Social Network which is the web of direct and indirect ties connecting an individual to other people who influence its

The study of sociology brings people to view topics in a unique way than others. The way we see the world, human behavior, as well as its connection to society from an outside point of view is called social imagination or perception. The sociological imagination “searches for the link between micro and macro levels of analysis,” a concept that basically says that a person lives

People often come across research in everyday life or are curious about a topic and decide to conduct their own research. Identify a time you wanted to research something and explain how you performed the research and what you learned as a result. How can you apply this experience to your own academic research?

According to sociocultural thought, human activity like learning and behavior are impacted by individual, social and contextual issues. Humans are considered to be social and reflexive in nature and this causes human thought and behavior to be altered by the complexities of that social world. Therefore when studying any phenomenon, it is important to keep in the mind the context in which it took place. The focus on the role of social dynamics ensures that a holistic view of the phenomenon is obtained. At times the interplay of social dynamics affects the outcome of a phenomenon.

As one of the major purposes of sociology is to comprehend ways human actions and ideologies are formed by the social structures and cultural environment,

In order to see the broader social context we must need to understand first what social context actually is?

The research I have conducted explains the way I grow and think as a human being. It will give reason to my nonsocial habits and my tendencies to focus in on problems. This research not only gives understanding to the basic of my personality traits but it demonstrated my strengths and weaknesses as well. INTPs are very logical people and can do great things. As thinkers INTPs look at wide variety of outcomes in a situation. Clarity is essential to how situations are handled. My research gave a look on how I perceive the world. My ideas sometime don’t fit into reality. Perception,

A third approach, the interpretivist perspective, better accommodates the richness of this context. An interpretivist perspective lends itself to understanding various interpretations from diverse cultures. It also provides the flexibility to conduct analyses under conditions of high complexity and high stakes. The interpretivist model that fits best with this context is sensemaking. Sensemaking refers to ongoing social processes that people use to interpret ambiguous, vague, and/or confusing issues or events (Brown, Colville, & Pye, 2014; Weick, 1995). Through sensemaking, people interpret unexpected events retrospectively to bring a sense of order and allow their organization to continue functioning (Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstefeld 2005). In

When an ordinary individual tries to understand the social world we see that the individual lives too much in the here and now to understand the complex world around them. So, you may ask how the individual above can make sense of the complex world around them. The answer is simple by looking at the world like any great social analysts would. They do this through C. Wright Mills sociological imagination. To understand the Sociological imagination we first need to understand what the term means. It is the process of the mind which allows us to understand the relationship between our individual lives (personal experience) and the larger social forces (public issues) (Ferris, P.12).

This idea falls in nicely with the widespread perception of sociology as being a subject which takes 'the wider context' or 'the wider picture' into account and seeks to place individuals into that wider social framework.

One of the fathers of sociology (HAROLD GARFINKEL) was able to define how people make sense of how others do in the cause of day to day social interaction. Harold Garfunkel theory of Ethnomethodology, the study of how people make sense of what others do in the course of day-to-day social interaction. Concerned with the ethno-methods by means of which people sustain meaningful interchanges with one another. The only way people can live is to make sure they have jobs(work) and that is the production of commodities or service to mankind and this has a close relation to workers (producer), the commodity (product) and property owner. No matter where one belongs in a society, one must socialize to keep life going. Each of these three entities (workers, commodities and the property owner) are very important to each other, that is the worker