The ecological perspective, also known as the social ecological model, is a methodological framework used in the social sciences to examine the dynamic relationships between individuals and includes multiple levels of perspective of the social environment. The ecological perspective is used primarily as a qualitative research perspective borrowed from the natural sciences, where environmental factors are influential and studied in addition to the primary subjects of the research.
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History
The ecological perspective is grounded in the biological sciences and ecology. Scientific studies in these fields showed that, within ecosystems, all organisms are interrelated. Social sciences, traditionally, have studied society on two levels: the macro (institutional) level and the micro (individual) level. In the 1950s, social scientists began to apply concepts from the natural sciences and view society with the perspective that individuals interacted with each other at multiple levels within the larger social environment.
Conceptual Framework
The ecological perspective is a systems theory for social science that attempts to provide a "big picture" perspective to social phenomena that occur at different levels in society and within different systems. Essentially, the ecological perspective takes into account the influence of environmental factors at multiple levels (e.g. family, school, nation) that shape individual behavior. A key concept of the framework is embeddedness, in which each system functions within the operation of another system.
Levels of Examination
The ecological perspective allows researchers to examine various levels of the individual, such as the biological, relational and cultural levels within social organizations and larger structural influences. Thus, the ecological perspective provides insight into research through investigation of the issue or problem from multiple perspectives.
Significance
The ecological perspective is important in many fields as a way to understand why individuals take or do not take certain actions in society. This is important research for politicians developing policies that are aimed at changing a social problem such as domestic violence, poverty or environmental degradation.
Example
The ecological perspective can be applied to a social problem such as eating disorders in youths. When exploring the problem, a researcher may find that an individual may develop an eating disorder based on individual attitude and knowledge about food (intrapersonal), or that eating disorders may also be the result of peer pressure of social groups (interpersonal), a lack of healthy eating options at school (institutional), a general lack of healthy fruits and vegetables in the region (community) or the lack of affordable foods available (public policy).
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