social action: phenomenology Flashcards
1
Q
phenomenology; to understand the social world
A
- to understand we need to understand that people apply meanings to social phenomena in different ways
- role of sociologist is to understand why certain phenomena are placed in a category
2
Q
WEBER; founding father of social action theory
A
- he focused on the subjective meanings that people attach to their actions
3
Q
WEBER; there are different sets of social meanings
A
- INSTRUMENTAL ACTIONS; supported by rational social meanings where people have calculated the benefits of their actions against the possible costs
- AFFECTUAL ACTIONS; supported by emotional/irrational meanings like unconditional love and loyalty from family
4
Q
phenomenology emphasises all information of social world is the product of the human mind
A
- it sets out to understand the shared social meanings that people use to make sense of social world
5
Q
they aim to study:
A
- how people experience social action and how to make sense of the world
6
Q
phenomena
A
- when they organise elements of social world into social categories
- these are things held to have characteristics in common according to our sense
7
Q
SCHUTZ; ‘typifications’
A
- he calls the shared categorisations as typification since we use our commonsense interpretations to categorise all of these breeds under the typification
8
Q
purpose of phenomenology
A
- to understand the essence if phenomena (essential characteristics which lead to something being placed in a mental category
9
Q
phenomenologists believe research should be faithful to..
A
- to the phenomenon as it is lived which means observing it in natural context of the person being studied
10
Q
TAYLOR: phenomenological view of suicide
A
- he suggests that suicide victims mentally categorises the phenomenon of suicidal action
11
Q
2 suicidal action categories
A
- PURPOSIVE; victim is certain they want to die because they interpret their circumstances are negative and suicide is the only way out
- ORDEAL SUICIDES; suicidal acts are acts of uncertainty e.g. they gauge on how important they are to others
