Home / Dramaturgy Dramaturgy is a sociological perspective developed by Erving Goffman, which views social life as a theatrical performance. People behave like actors on a stage, presenting themselves in ways that secure approval, manage impressions, and control how others perceive them. At its core, dramaturgy argues that identity is

Home / Symbolic Interactionism Symbolic Interactionism is a major sociological perspective associated primarily with George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley. Cooley’s famous idea of the “Looking Glass Self” explains how individuals develop their identity through social interactions and perceived judgments of others. For example, if a person is repeatedly

Home / Ethnomethodology Ethnomethodology, introduced by Harold Garfinkel, examines how people use everyday, common-sense knowledge to interpret situations, organise interactions, and act in the social world. Rather than offering a research method, it studies the methods people themselves use to make sense of reality—hence, it is best described as the

Home / Phenomenology in Sociology Phenomenology argues that the subject matter of social sciences fundamentally differs from that of natural sciences, and therefore, the latter’s methods cannot be mechanically applied to the study of human beings. Social phenomenology focuses on how human consciousness shapes social action, interactions, and the world