Flexible approach
An approach
emphasising fluidity,
adjustment, lack of
prescribed rule





Modernist approach
An approach
emphasising
standardisation and
rationalisation







Scientific rationality
The understanding of
science, or knowledge,
as bound by standards
of reason presumed to
be universally
acceptable





Disciplinary society
Practices of/in a social
location where
corrective action is
used to obtain and
enforce obedience and
order






Socially constructed
meanings
The meanings that
people use to navigate
social life are
constructed in social
processes. As a result,
they are socially and
historically specific,
rather than either
natural or universal







Governance
Governance concerns
the action or manner
of governing, the
exercising of authority,
or of being governed






Micro and macro
Social scientists often
distinguish between
different levels of social
life: micro – the smallest
scale, often meaning
particular interactions
between people; meso –
an intermediate level
referring to social
organisations or
institutions, or patterns
of behaviour; and
macro – the large-scale
patterns, systems or
structures of social life.







Norms
Shared sets of values or
expectations about how
people will or should
behave