action theories

Question 1

social action theory
weber

Answer 1

to gain full understanding of human behaviour, the sociological explanation involves the level of cause and meaning

Question 2

weber identified 4 types of action associated with human behaviour

Answer 2

instrumentally rational action
value rational action
traditional action
affectual action

Question 3

instrumentally rational action

Answer 3

the actor calculates the most efficient means of achieving a given goal

Question 4

value rational action

Answer 4

action towards a goal that is desirable for ones own sake

Question 5

traditional action

Answer 5

customs, habitual actions - often automatic

Question 6

affectual action

Answer 6

action which expresses emotion

Question 7

symbolic interactionism
labelling theory 2 concepts

Answer 7

the definition of the situation
the looking glass self

Question 8

the definition of the situation
thomas

Answer 8

if we attach a label to something, it will affect the way we act and has real life consequences

Question 9

the looking glass self
cooley

Answer 9

self concept comes from the ability to take the role of the other, this allows us to see ourselves as others see us - leads to self fulfilling prophecy as we become as others see us

Question 10

what does mead say about actions and interactions

Answer 10

we create our world through actions and interactions which are based on meanings we give to situations, our behaviour is not fixed and we give meanings to things which are important to us by attaching symbols to the world

Question 11

what does mead say about what we do when something happens

Answer 11

when something happens, we embark on an interpretive phase before responding to it, to select an appropriate response

Question 12

what does mead say about meanings

Answer 12

we work out meanings by taking the role of the other - to function in society, we must see ourselves as others do which helps us share symbols and language to act as others require us to

Question 13

blumer - 3 key principles to our actions

Answer 13

1. our actions are based on meanings we give to situations and are not instinctive
2. these meanings come from the interaction process, they are not fixed and are changeable to an extent
3. the meanings we give to situations are dependent on the interpretive process we use, especially by taking the role of the other

Question 14

goffman - elements of dramaturgical model

Answer 14

• actively constructing ourselves through manipulating other people’s impressions of us
• uses the analogy of drama to analyse social interaction; we are actors who use scripts and props with the aim of giving a convincing performance
• we seek to control the presentation of self concept; give people a particular impression of us and to do this we must control our impression management
• our roles are interchangeable; there are backstage roles where we can be ourselves and front stage roles where we act out roles

Question 15

phenomenology
schutz

Answer 15

typifications are categories and concepts shares with other members of society - they allow us to stabilise meaning and make sure we agree on meanings of things, making it easier to cooperate and communicate - without the , social order would not be possible

Question 16

phenomenology
husserl

Answer 16

we never have definite knowledge of what the world outside our mind is really like - only what our sense tells us about it - the world only makes sense because we classify and clarify information into mental categories, we can only get knowledge through the process of categorising

Question 17

ethnomethodology
garfinkel

Answer 17

social order is created from the bottom up, order and meaning are therefore an accomplishment - something members actively construct in everyday life using common sense knowledge. ethnomethodology is therefore different to interactionism because it does not focus on the effect of meanings, but instead how meanings were created in the first place

Question 18

garfinkel believes in indexicality…

Answer 18

nothing has a fixed meaning, it depends on the social context