Because it does these things, it helps to serve as part of the critical inquiry which is designed to be interdisciplinary and which also looks at various human and social sciences, as these are both important and significant (What, 2005). .

             Because social theory has such an interdisciplinary approach it helps to provide some context where substantive and theoretical issues are raised in various disciplines (What, 2005). These disciplines can include philosophy, history, sociology, political science, women's studies, cultural studies, and anthropology (What, 2005). Social theory helps to explore these further and reflect upon them critically. This helps to make a very appropriate choice for many students that have a strong critical interest in human or social science on any level (What, 2005). .

             Many programs that deal with social theory allow students to take individual subjects or to major in social theory. Many programs that deal with this issue also have four major concerns or themes that they see as being noteworthy in contemporary social theory (What, 2005). These are: critical theories, science and technologies; psychoanalysis, social theory and identities; social theory and the analysis of social and political relations; and contemporary critical theories (What, 2005). .

             Working with social theory allows an individual to explore various themes in courses that are taken but social theory is not just about coursework. It had to come from somewhere and many individuals that work with social theory or did work with social theory in the past spent a lot of time dealing with phenomenology as well (What, 2005). This is one of the main reasons that phenomenology will be discussed here briefly before the discussion turns to Alfred Schutz and his contributions.

             Phenomenology.

             Phenomenology is a philosophical movement that looks at a different way to study human beings and address the uniqueness of every human being's life (McPhail, 1995).