action theory

Question 1

weber: social action theory - 2 levels of sociological explanation AO1

Answer 1

level of cause - explaining the structural factors that shape behaviour

level of meaning - understanding the subjective meanings that people attach to their actions

Question 2

weber: social action theory - 2 levels of sociological explanation (cause) AO2

Answer 2

the protestant reformation introduced a new belief system, Calvinism - this changed peoples behaviour

Question 3

weber: social action theory - types of action

Answer 3

Weber classifies peoples actions into 4 categories
they include:
instrumentally rational action - actor calculates the most efficient means of achieving a goal.

affectual action - expresses emotion

Question 4

weber Ao3 - Schutz

Answer 4

social action theory is too individualistic and cannot explain the shared nature of meanings

Question 5

weber Ao3 - problems with verstehen

Answer 5

we can never truly understand an individual’s actions so can never be sure we’ve understood their motives

Question 6

weber social action theory AO1 - verstehen

Answer 6

to fully understand the meaning behind an individual actions sociologist must get into their shoes and interpret the meaning behind the action

Question 7

symbolic interactionism - G.H Mead - symbols vs instincts

Answer 7

behaviour is not shaped by pre-determined instincts
instead we respond to the world by giving meanings and attaching symbols

we don’t respond to a stimulus in an automatic way we interpret it

Question 8

symbolic interactionism - G.H Mead - understanding others

Answer 8

we interpret others meanings by putting ourselves in the place of th other

we need the ability to see ourselves as other se us - through shared symbols we become aware of the way we need to act

Question 9

symbolic interactionism - Blumer’s 3 key principles include…

Answer 9

1. our actions are based on the meanings we give to situations, people …
2. these meanings are based on interactions we experience and are not fixed

Question 10

symbolic interactionism - Blumer Ao3

Answer 10

however,
functionalists see the individual as a puppet. social control ensures the individual conforms to society’s norms in fixed predictable ways

Question 11

symbolic interactionism - labelling - 3 key concepts that underpin labelling

Answer 11

1. definition of the situation - definition os something is its label, so if you label a situation as real its consequences will be real
2. looking glass self - the way we develop our self-concept. it arises out of our ability to take the role of the other - and see ourselves how we see them. self-fulfilling prophecy occurs, we become what others see us as

3.career

Question 12

symbolic interactionism - Goffman’s dramaturgical model

Answer 12

we actively construct our ‘self’ by manipulating what others think of us

we are all actors with the aim of carrying a convincing performance

1. impression management - we seek to present a particular image of ourself - so we study our audience for reactions and adjust our performance to present the convincing image
2. roles - there’s a gap between who we really are and the roles we play = ‘role distance’

Question 13

symbolic interactionism AO3 - labels

Answer 13

it fails to explain the origin of ladles or the consistent patterns we see in people behaviour

Question 14

symbolic interactionism AO3 - not all action is meaningful

Answer 14

like Weber’s traditional action (habitual routine) much is performed unconsciously or routinely and may have little meaning
interactionism lacks the means to explains this

Question 15

symbolic interactionism AO3 - ethnomethodologists

Answer 15

say that interactionism fails to explain how actors create meanings but it is correct to focus on meanings

Question 16

phenomenology -what it means

Answer 16

we can never have definite knowledge of what the world is outside our minds - we only know what our sense tell us

Question 17

phenomenology - Husserl

Answer 17

the world only makes sense because we impose meanings and order on it

we con struct mental categories to classify information

Question 18

phenomenology - Schutz

Answer 18

applied Husserl’s ideas to the social world

we share the mental categories they aren’t unique = these shared categories are clued typifications

Question 19

phenomenology - Schutz - typifications

Answer 19

these shared categories are clued typifications

help us to stabilise and clarify meanings by ensuring we all agree on the meanings of things

we have a shared ‘life world’ shared common-sense and assumptions

thus us ‘recipe knowledge’ the ability to interpret a situation without really thinking about tit

Question 20

phenomenology - Ao3 - Berger and Luckman

Answer 20

it is right to focus on the common sense knowledge
disagree with the idea that reality is an subjective reality
although reality is socially constructed once it is constructed it takes on a life of its own and reacts back on us.

Question 21

ethnomethodology - Garfinkel’s view

Answer 21

rejects the idea of society as a real objective structure

interested in how social order is achieved

bottom-up

members of society actively construct social order

Question 22

ethnomethodology - Garfinkel - indexicality

Answer 22

means nothing has a fixed meaning everything is dependent on context - this is a threat to social order because if meanings are unclear communication becomes difficult and relationship break down

we cannot take any meaning for granted

Question 23

ethnomethodology - Garfinkel - reflexivity

Answer 23

using common sense knowledge to interpret everyday situations to construct a sense of meaning and order to stop indexicality occurring

Question 24

ethnomethodology - Garfinkel reflexivity and suicide

Answer 24

coroners make sense of deaths by selecting particular features

when faced with future cases with similar features coroners interpret them as examples of the assumed pattern

they then seem to prove the existence of the pattern and it becomes self-reinforcing

Question 25

ethnomethodology AO3 - construct order

Answer 25

EM draws attention to ho wee actively construct order and meaning rather than just seeing us as puppets

Question 26

ethnomethodology AO3 - ignores how wider structures affect meanings

Answer 26

EM ignores how wider structures of power and inequality affect the meanings that individual construct.

marxists argue common-sense is really just ruling class ideology

Question 27

ethnomethodology AO3 - denies the existence of wider society

Answer 27

sees it as just a shared fiction. yet it assumes that a structure if norms exist beyond these contexts. for functionalists these norms are social facts not fiction

Question 28

structuration theory - Giddens

Answer 28

duality of structure - neither structure nor action can exist without each other

through our actions we produce structures and these structures are what makes our actions possible

Question 29

structuration theory - Giddens - language example of duality

Answer 29

iff we wish to use a language to communicate we must obey its rules otherwise we will not be understood - this shows our action (communication) depends on the existence of structure (language rules).

Question 30

structuration theory - Giddens - 2 elements of structure

Answer 30

rules - e.g norms

resources - e.g power

Question 31

structuration theory - Giddens - 2 ways that action reproduce existing structures

Answer 31

1. society’s rules contain a stock of knowledge about how to live our lives. as we go about our lives we reproduce the existing structure of society
2. we reproduce existing structure through our action because we have a need for security - this encourages action that maintains structures rather than changing them

Question 32

structuration theory - Giddens - 2 ways that the structure of society, action or agency changes society

Answer 32

1. we reflexively monitor our own actions and their consequences so we can adjust our actions if needed
2. there may be unintended consequences to our actions - we may change the world but not in the way we intended

Question 33

structuration theory - Giddens - 2 elements of structure - rules AO2

Answer 33

‘rules - can either be reproduced or change through action’

e.g marriage and divorce - women initially had no choice but change meant they have a right to divorce

Question 34

structuration theory - Giddens AO3 - Archer, underestimates capacity of resistance

Answer 34

Archer
Giddens underestimates the power of the structures to resist change

Question 35

structuration theory - Giddens - AO3 - Craib, it isn’t a theory

Answer 35

Craib
it isn’t really a theory at all because it doesn’t explain what actually happens in society
instead it just describes the kinds o things we will find when we study society

Question 36

structuration theory - Giddens - AO3 - Craib, fiats to unite structure and action

Answer 36

Giddens work reduces the idea of structure to the rules governing routine everyday actions
Giddens fails to explain how his theory applies to large-scale structures such as the economy

Question 37

structure theories

Answer 37

functionalism
Marxism
feminism

Question 38

action theories

Answer 38

symbolic interactionism
social action theory
ethnomethodology
phenomenology