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Sociology- Theories and Methods > Action theory > Flashcards

Action theory Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What are action theories?

A

-‘Micro-level
-Bottom-up
-Voluntaristic

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2
Q

What action type does Weber look at?

A

Social action theory

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3
Q

What do we need to combine?

A
  1. Level of cause- structural factors
  2. Level of meaning- subjective meanings of individual’s actions
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4
Q

What does Weber believe in?

A

Verstehen- empathy

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5
Q

What 4 types of action did Weber identify? (VAIT)

A
  1. Value-rational- action towards a goal that an actor regards as desirable
  2. Affectual- emotion
  3. Instrumentally rational- most efficient means of achieving a goal
  4. Traditional- habits/customs
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6
Q

What is a strength of Weber?

A

His ideas are a valuable corrective to the over-emphasis on structural factors seen in functionalism

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7
Q

What are criticisms of Weber?

A
  1. Individualistic- fails to explain the shared nature of meanings
  2. Verstehen is too simplistic- we will never truly understand someone’s motives
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8
Q

What action theory does G.H. Mead look at?

A

Symbolic interactionism

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9
Q

What does Mead suggest is a difference between humans and animals?

A

Unlike animals, whose behaviour is shaped by pre-programmed instincts, humans respond to the world by giving meanings to things

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10
Q

What phase do humans have?

A

Interpretive phase

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11
Q

How do human’s interpret other people’s meanings?

A

Take the role of the other- put ourselves in the place of the other person

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12
Q

What three key principles did Blumer identify?

A
  1. Actions are based on the meanings we give to situations, people etc.
  2. Meanings are not fixed
  3. Meanings are the result of interpretive procedures
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13
Q

What is the best-known application of interactionism?

A

Labelling theory

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14
Q

What three key concepts underpin labelling theory?

A
  1. Definition of the situation= if people define a situation as real, then it will have real consequences
  2. Looking-glass self= Cooley: others act as a looking glass to us
  3. Career- applied to groups like marijuana users
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15
Q

What is Goffman’s dramaturgical model?

A

Describes how we actively construct our ‘self’ by manipulating other people’s impressions of us

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16
Q

How do we complete ‘impression management’?

A

Language, facial expressions, props like dress etc.

17
Q

What does ‘role distance’ suggest?

A

We are not really the roles we play- we have a good deal of freedom in how we play them

18
Q

What is a strength of symbolic interactionism?

A

Avoids determinism of functionalism- people create society through their choices and meanings

19
Q

Why is it criticised?

A
  1. labelling= deterministic
  2. Ignores wider social structures such as class and poverty by only focussing on face-to face interactions
  3. Not all action is meaningful e.g. traditional action is performed unconsciously
20
Q

What does phenomenology mean?

A

All we known about the world is what our senses tell us about it

21
Q

Who developed it?

A

Husserl

22
Q

What does he argue?

A

The world only makes sense because we construct mental categories to classify information information from our senses

23
Q

What are typifications?

A

Schurz
-Shared categories
-Stabilise and clarify meanings to ensure we all ‘speak the same language’

24
Q

What is ethnomethodology?

A

Methods used to produce meanings to make sense of the world

25
Q

Who talks about it?

A

Garfinkel

26
Q

What does Garfinkel argue?

A

Social order is an accomplishment- members of society actively construct using their commonsense knowledge

27
Q

What type of reality does Phenomenology and ethnomethodology see society as?

A

Inter-subjective reality

28
Q

Who talks about Structuration theory?

A

Giddens

29
Q

What does it combine?

A

Structure and action

30
Q

What does Giddens argue?

A

There is a ‘duality of structure’ i.e. through our actions we reproduce our structure over time

31
Q

What is an example of structuration?

A

Language- language is a structure e.g. set of grammar rules to obey in order to be understood
-However, it also depends on action- language would not exist if no one used it

32
Q

Who criticises Giddens?

A

Archer: Giddens underestimates the capacity of structures to resist change e.g. poor may wish to abolish poverty but lack the power/resources to do so

Sociology- Theories and Methods (8 decks)

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