The case method involved detailed analysis of particular instances of social interaction to infer rules and assumptions.
The Manchester School also read the works of Marx and other economists and sociologists and looked at issues of social justice such as apartheid and class conflict.
Recurring themes included issues of conflict and reconciliation in small-scale societies and organizations, and the tension between individual agency and social structure.
John Barnes, Elizabeth Bott, and J. Clyde Mitchell were all associated with Gluckman's department.
An alternative adjectival form for the Manchester School is "Mancunian" (like Cantabrigian for the University of Cambridge).