Social Action

Question 1

what does Weber believe?

Answer 1

• structure + action approaches necessary for understanding
• aimed for verstehen
  marxist eval saying proletariat arent in control as have false class consciousness
• instrumental rational action
• value rational action
• routine traditional action
• affectual action

Question 2

what is instrumental rational action

Answer 2

calculated to achieve certain goal in most effective way eg working hard at uni

Question 3

what is value rational action

Answer 3

inherit value of an action (right thing to do) eg going uni cos respected to do

Question 4

what is routine traditional action

Answer 4

routine customary behavioureg going uni cos family expects it

Question 5

what is affectual action

Answer 5

expression of emotion eg going uni cos enjoy learning

Question 6

why is webers useful for society today/ criticisms

Answer 6

• explains why people choose to do certain things
• c: a lot of actions still influenced by societys values. feminists would say cant get vertshen as man ab womens experiences

Question 7

what is symbolic interactionism?

Answer 7

Mead + Blumer
- places people, things, events into categories ‘symbols’
- agreed ways to behave towards symbols + they depend on who we are
- looking glass self- response of others towards us act like mirror
- to know how to interact must find out who we are thr game playing + role taking in childhood

Question 8

what are the 2 aspects of the self by Mead

Answer 8

1. me- how see self in particular role
2. i- opinion of self as whole

Question 9

what part is the most important in symbolic interactionism

Answer 9

interaction- when symbol + self come together with others. all people in interaction must actively engage in constructing situation, reading rules + symbols correctly

Question 10

eval of symbolic interactionism

Answer 10

• explains why sterotypes exist
• explains labelling
• explains friendships/cultures

Question 11

what is dramaturgical analogy

Answer 11

Goffman
- life is like big play
- each day act out few diff roles/parts
- use props + costumes to help us act convincingly
- difficult to know who our true self is we just act out diff versions of ourselves

Question 12

eval of drama analogy

Question 13

what is ethnomethodology?

Answer 13

• humans most comfortable when behav + situations are predictable
• agreed on standard way of behaving in each situation we think society is structured + orderly
• structure + order only exists bc we created it
• indexicality- when answers are made sense by placing them in particular context
• Garfinkel asked students to behave unpredictably in own homes and watch how uncomfortable it made people

Question 14

eval of ethnomethodology

Question 15

what is structuration

Answer 15

Giddens
structural + action= society controls us + we control society
our behaviour can change institutions + institutions can change our behaviour
- eg if lot of people take drugs in society may be legalised however Lea can control our behav everyday

Question 16

eval of structuration

Answer 16

• better understanding of society bc combines approaches
  -explains how campaign groups have power to change society
• Marx- thought actions could change society arguably best theories understand structures + social action
• too much emphasis on people’s ability to change society so underestimates constraints under which people operate

Question 17

evaluation of social action

Answer 17

• fails to recognise power of structures have got power to create/change
• society is independent of + influences individuals not other way round
• fails to recognise behaviour is guided by those with power
• research is unreliable, unrepresentative, subjective
• impossible to measure human thought
  -where do symbols come from? socialisation?