Application Project
Max Weber built his theory of social stratification on Georg Simmel’s theory of money and Karl Marx’s theory of capitalism. As he watched capitalism change in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Weber formed the notion that many factors define a variety of social and economic positions, and an individual’s “life chances” – the level of access to resources such as food, shelter, health care, education and legal representation – is determined by separate continuums of wealth, power and prestige. In Weber’s approach, social class is determined by education, the head of the family’s occupation, and the family’s income (Kendall, 2014). Two interviews were conducted to determine each individual’s social class and how their levels of wealth, power and prestige have affected their life chances.
The first interviewee, Maggie P., is a middle class 24-year-old Caucasian female who is pursuing a doctorate in Physical Therapy and working part time as a driver for Uber. Her mother holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is currently an Administrative Assistant at Love’s Travel Stops and Country …show more content…
One advantage is that misunderstandings could be easily and immediately clarified. Interviewing also allowed other interesting topics to emerge from more in-depth discussions about the questions being asked, and the interviewees could provide as much detail as they wanted. Another advantage was that interviewing in an informal atmosphere allowed the interviewee to be more open and honest, and I could adjust my questions and change direction as the interview was taking place. One disadvantage of interviewing was that by conducting only two interviews, there was not a large enough sample of evidence to be representative of a particular population. I also questioned the reliability of the data I obtained based on the biases, values, and uniqueness of the
Max Weber built his theory of social stratification on Georg Simmel’s theory of money and Karl Marx’s theory of capitalism. As he watched capitalism change in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Weber formed the notion that many factors define a variety of social and economic positions, and an individual’s “life chances” – the level of access to resources such as food, shelter, health care, education and legal representation – is determined by separate continuums of wealth, power and prestige. In Weber’s approach, social class is determined by education, the head of the family’s occupation, and the family’s income (Kendall, 2014). Two interviews were conducted to determine each individual’s social class and how their levels of wealth, power and prestige have affected their life chances.
The first interviewee, Maggie P., is a middle class 24-year-old Caucasian female who is pursuing a doctorate in Physical Therapy and working part time as a driver for Uber. Her mother holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is currently an Administrative Assistant at Love’s Travel Stops and Country …show more content…
One advantage is that misunderstandings could be easily and immediately clarified. Interviewing also allowed other interesting topics to emerge from more in-depth discussions about the questions being asked, and the interviewees could provide as much detail as they wanted. Another advantage was that interviewing in an informal atmosphere allowed the interviewee to be more open and honest, and I could adjust my questions and change direction as the interview was taking place. One disadvantage of interviewing was that by conducting only two interviews, there was not a large enough sample of evidence to be representative of a particular population. I also questioned the reliability of the data I obtained based on the biases, values, and uniqueness of the