Who observed and analyzed social practices across institutions such as economics, religion, and government?

• A. Harriet Martineau
• B. Karl Marx
• C. Emile Durkheim
• D. Norbert Elias

Answer: (A)

The central idea is understanding how social life shows up across different parts of society—economy, religion, and government—and how everyday practices are shaped by those interconnected systems. Harriet Martineau stands out because she approached society as a whole, systematically observing daily life across diverse institutions. She wrote detailed studies that connect economic conditions, religious norms, political structures, and social behavior, often comparing different countries to see how institutional arrangements shape how people live, work, and interact. She even framed a method for observing morals and manners, stressing empirical, cross-institutional analysis. In contrast, Karl Marx is primarily focused on economic systems and class relations; Emile Durkheim, while examining religion and morality, centers on how social facts bind society rather than mapping multiple institutions across daily life; Norbert Elias traces long-term civilizing processes and state formation, not a broad, multi-institutional survey. So the approach that best captures observing and analyzing practices across economics, religion, and government is Harriet Martineau.