May 24, 2022 3:00 PM (GMT+1)
“The principal task of the social sciences lies in the explanation of social phenomena, not the behavior of single individuals. In isolated cases the social phenomena may derive directly, through summation, from the behavior of individuals, but more often this is not so. Consequently, the focus must be on the social system whose behavior is to be explained. This may be as small as a dyad or as large as a society or even a world system, but the essential requirement is that the explanatory focus be on the system as a unit, not on the individuals or other components which make it up.” (Coleman, 1994)
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.dc6c95202d2f61c6ca629df70e8b5640?rik=JQr8EvinZaXk%2FQ&riu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.max-ernst.com%2Fimages%2Fpaintings%2Foedipus-rex.jpg&ehk=4xOJPP5aZJ04pS0di3QVMsWS8%2F%2BySNsxZ69ECs%2FLifg%3D&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0
Oedipus Rex, 1922 - by Max Ernst
Self-fulfilling prophecy — Merton explains that with a self-fulfilling prophecy, even a false idea can become true if it is acted upon. e.g. Merton’s fictional example of "The Last National Bank".
Habitualization — “All human activity is subject to habitualization. Any action that is repeated frequently becomes cast into a pattern, which can then be reproduced with an economy of effort and which, ipso facto, is apprehended by its performer as that pattern. Habitualization further implies that the action in question may be performed again in the future in the same manner and with the same economical effort” (Berger and Luckmann, 1966).
Thomas theorem — “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas and Thomas, 1928).
