1 Kajian Kritis

Pilihan Rasional dalam Pemanfaatan Perpustakaan Perguruan tinggi oleh Masyarakat akademik
oleh :Agus Rusmana (agsrsmana@yahoo.co.id) Prodi Sosiologi, Fisip Unpad 2011 Perpustakaan perguruan tinggi merupakan salah satu komponen pendukung keberhasilan proses pendidikan dalam perannya sebagai penyedia pengetahuan yang sudah terolah sekaligus menjadi sumber utama materi belajar mengajar. Di samping itu perpustakaan juga merupakan sumber rujukan utama dalam kegiatan ilmiah seperti penelitian dan pengabdian masyarakat. Perpustakaan perguruan tinggi disediakan untuk dimanfaatkan secara optimal oleh seluruh masyarakat akademik, mulai dari dosen, mahasiswa, pejabat struktural, sampai karyawan administratif di perguruan tinggi. Namun ternyata data menunjukkan bahwa pemanfaatan perpustakaan sebagai sumber belajar mengajar serta kegiatan ilmiah lainnya masih sangat rendah. Dari catatan kunjungan dan peminjaman bahan pustaka, diketahui bahwa setiap hari kerja, anggota masyarakat akademik yang berkunjung tidak mencapai 1% (satu persen) dari keseluruhan mereka yang berada dan beraktivitas di kampus pada satu hari. Walaupun sudah banyak perbaikan yang dilakukan oleh pengelola perpustakaan perguruan tinggi untuk meningkatkan pemanfaatan perpustakaan, namun pemanfaatan perpustakaan oleh masyarakat akademik tidak sesuai denga harapan. Berbagai penelitian telah juga dilakukan untuk mendapat gambaran tentang pendapat masyarakat akademik mengenai perpustakaan. Akan tetapi sebagian besar penelitian memberikan gambaran tentang pendapat mereka tentang perpustakaan, bukan memberikan gambaran tentang alasan mereka tidak menggunakan perpustakaan walaupun mereka memberikan apresiasi tinggi pada keberadaan perpustakaan perguruan tinggi. Oleh karena itu dapat diasumsikan bahwa terdapat sumber lain yang dijadikan pilihan oleh masyarakat akademik sebagai sumber informasi dan pengetahuan selain perpustakaan perguruan tinggi. Selain itu terdapat kemungkinan adanya alasan tindakan yang rasional sebagai pendorong pemilihan sumber informasi dan pengetahuan di luar perpustakaan, dan akibat dari pengalaman dalam interaksi antara masyarakat akademik dan pengelola perpustakaan. Penelitian ini secara umum ditujukan untuk: 1. Mendapatkan gambaran tentang pilihan sumber informasi dan pengetahuan yang digunakan masyarakat akademik selain perpustakan. 2. Mendapatkan gambaran tentang alasan masyarakat akademik memilih sumber selain perpustakaan perguruan tinggi. 3. Mendapatkan gambaran tentang pengalaman masyarakat akademik dalam berinteraksi dengan pengelola perpustakaan. 2. Rumusan Masalah Penelitian Dari tujuan penelitian yang ingin dicapai melalui penelitain ini maka dirumuskan sebuah masalah yaitu: Terdapat pilihan rasional yang mempengaruhi tindakan pemanfaatan perpustakaan perguruan tinggi oleh masyarakat akademik. 3. Kajian Pustaka 3.1 Pilihan Rasional Sebagai Pendorong Tindakan Pengertian Umum/ Definisi: Attempts to explain all (conforming and deviant) social phenomenon in terms of how self-interested individuals make choices under the influence of their preferences . It treats social exchange as similar to economic exchange where all parties try to maximize their advantage or gain, and to minimize their disadvantage or loss . RCT's basic premises are that (1) human beings base their behavior on rational

2 calculations, (2) they act with rationality when making choices, (3) their choices are aimed at optimization of their pleasure or profit . This concept has applications in economics and marketing, and in criminology and international relations. RCT, however, cannot explain the existence of certain social phenomenon such as altruism, reciprocity, and trust, and why individuals voluntarily join associations and groups where collective and not individual benefits are pursued . Not to be confused with theory of rational expectations . Also called theory of reasoned action. (BusinessDictionary.com ) Russell Hardin , Although much of rational choice theory explains behavior as a response to interests, such theory need not be so narrowly restricted. In its more general form, it explains behavior as the product of preferences, which can cover virtually anything from values to interests. For example, holding all else constant, you might prefer a higher to a lower income. But you might prefer a lower income with peace to a higher income in a state of war, even if your safety and livelihood are not at risk in the war. Mike Howells At its core, rational choice theory postulates that, when making a decision, people first weigh the likely positive benefits against likely negative consequences, and then base their choice on what they think will ultimately benefit them the most . By taking into consideration various additional factors such as the strength of an individual's preferences, relative indifference between certain options, their intelligence, and time available to reach a decision it is possible to generate useful behavior models for a variety of situations. In this way, through an understanding of the choices rational decision-makers tend to make, it is also possible for researchers to take into account the ones that deviant deciders are likely to make. Through empirical observation, a percentage of individuals can be defined, within a whole, who for whatever reason make choices inconsistent with what rational choice theory would prescribe. For instance, there are some people who choose to pay more for a product at a particular store, even with the knowledge that the same product is cheaper at another. Voting for the well-being of others at the expense of one's own profit is also, according to rational choice theory, a deviant behavior. Jonathan Turner, Assumptions of Rational Choice Theory Humans are purposive and goal oriented. Humans have sets of hierarchically ordered preferences, or utilities. In choosing lines of behavior, humans make rational calculations with respect to: - the utility of alternative lines of conduct with reference to the preference hierarchy - the costs of each alternative in terms of utilities foregone - the best way to maximize utility. Emergent social phenomena -- social structures, collective decisions, and collective behavior -- are ultimately the result of rational choices made by utilitymaximizing individuals. Emergent social phenomena that arise from rational choices constitute a set of parameters for subsequent rational choices of individuals in the sense that they determine: - the distribution of resources among individuals - the distribution of opportunities for various lines of behavior - the distribution and nature of norms and obligations in a situation.

Kritik terhadap teoritisi Pilihan Rasional (Rational Choice Theories) Michael Hechter and Satoshi Kanazawa Thick models of individual action, advocated long ago by Max Weber, are substantively richer, for they countenance some aspects of intentionality. Since people have

3 reasons for what they do, their behavior is predictable only if we know what motivates them. Thick models therefore specify the individuals existing values and beliefs. Ebey Soman There are major impediments to the rational choice theory that prevents it from being an effective policy making tool. A policy maker is never fully aware of all circumstances involved in a problem and can even be faced with major intelligence gaps that may lead to wrong cost-benefit analysis or implementation problems of a goal. There is also a psychological factor present in the decision process that does not let the policy maker factor in new intelligence data or new information regarding the problem during the cost benefit analysis. The fact that this rational choice theory is slow and time consuming is also a impediment as policy makers sometimes does not have the luxury of time to explore all options available to them. Thus policy makers jump the gun and choose the first policy option that is made available to them sometimes with drastic undesirable consequences. On a more personal note, Presidents (major policy making actor in US foreign policy) sometimes tend to trust and take the advice of family, personal friends, lobbyists and acquaintances over the advice of the intelligence community or bureaucrats which can lead to disastrous outcomes. 3.2 Teori Tindakan Beralasan Jill Levine and Cara Pauls Theory of reasoned action/theory of planned behavior Wicker conducted an extensive survey and literature review on the subject and he determined "it is considerably more likely that attitudes will be unrelated or only slightly related to overt behaviors than that attitudes will be closely related to actions" (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 25). As a result of these developments, Fishbein and Ajzen joined forces to explore ways to predict behaviors and outcomes. They assumed that individuals are usually quite rational and make systematic use of information available to them. People consider the implications of their actions before they decide to engage or not engage in a given behavior" (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 5). This theory provides a framework to study attitudes toward behaviors. According to the theory, the most important determinant of a person's behavior is behavior intent. The individual's intention to perform a behavior is a combination of attitude toward performing the behavior and subjective norm. The individual's attitude toward the behavior includes; Behavioral belief, evaluations of behavioral outcome , subjective norm, normative beliefs, and the motivation to comply. If a person perceives that the outcome from performing a behavior is positive, she/he will have a positive attitude forward performing that behavior. The opposite can also be stated if the behavior is thought to be negative. If relevant others see performing the behavior as positive and the individual is motivated to meet the exceptions of relevant others, then a positive subjective norm is expected. If behaviors are not fully under volitional control, even though a person may be highly motivated by her own attitudes and subjective norm, she may not actually perform the behavior due to intervening environmental conditions. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was developed to predict behaviors in which individuals have incomplete volitional control. 1. Human beings are rational and make systematic use of information available to them. 2. People consider the implications of their actions before they decide to engage or not engage in certain behaviors. Kedua pendekatan teori Pilihan Rasional dan Tindakan Beralasan ini dapat menjelaskan mengapa seseorang atau sekelompok individu memilih sebuah tindakan

4 atau memilih untuk tidak bertindak sama sekali. Walaupun teori ini lebih banyak digunakan untuk kepentingan politik (memilih/ tidak memilih) dan ekonomi (alasan untung dan rugi), nampaknya juga dapat digunakan untuk menjadi landasan mengkaji mengapa masyarakat akademik memilih untuk menggunakan perpustakaan atau tidak.