Each of the social science disciplines emphasizes a different aspect

of social life. In a study on poverty, for example, an economist might

investigate the effect of government spending on poverty, while a

psychologist might look at how poverty level increases the risk of

mental illnesses. Remembering that sociologists investigate topics

that illuminate the connections between individuals and society, list

three topics a sociologist might investigate when studying poverty.

Sociology studies the interactions between individuals and societies, as well as the processes that maintain or change such societies. To do so, it takes different aspects and institutions into consideration, since they may all affect those interactions to some extent: religion, education, race, gender, age, etc. Having that in mind, we can easily think of three topics a sociologist might investigate when studying poverty:

1. Why different racial groups are more or less poor than others;

2. If religion is connected to seeking or not material wealth;

3. Why uneducated people have a harder time getting out of poverty.