Interaction perspective(not symbolic Interactionist)

Max Weber (1860-1920)

• Verstehen
• Understanding the meaning of human action
• Thought to be characteristic of the social sciences opposed to the
natural sciences
• Identifies different kinds of authorities
• Traditional
• Charismatic
• Rational
• Ideal types
• Institutionalised social action
• Iron cage

1
Max Weber- The Conflict Theorist?
• Max Weber is a special sociologist because he cannot be labeled
under just one theory.
• Because he wrote partly as a response to some of Karl Marx’s ideas,
many consider him to be a conflict theorist.
• Weber accepted that social classes influence our outcomes, however
he felt Marx’s social class system was too simple/basic.
• He proposed that all people have economic, political and cultural
conflicts that are related to their relative social position
Max Weber-The Functionalist?
• In other ways, Weber appeared to take a more functional approach.
• Weber proposed that rational and ideal bureaucracies naturally occur
because we need them.
• They provide clear lines of authority, divide tasks so workers can
specialize, and clearly define rules and expectations.
Max Weber-The Symbolic Interactionist?
• Weber’s ideas seem to lay the foundation for the symbolic
interactionist school of thought.
• He pointed out how values influence our goals and affect our
behavior.
• In his book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber
clearly linked a person’s religious value to the societal creation of a
capitalist economy.
Weber on study of Sociology
• Weber also discussed how values are important to the study of
sociology.
• Weber stressed that sociology should be value-free.
• In other words, sociologists
should study society as
it is, not as they would like it to be.
• Sociologists should put their biases aside when analyzing a topic.
• He implied that personal values may impact social research, and
therefore sociologists must strive to put such values aside when they
make their analysis
• Weber’s analysis of • Weber’s basic concepts
modern societies and theories

• Rationalization • Social action and social

• Bureaucracy relationships
• The “Iron Cage” • Power and legitimate
order (authority – Three
types)
• Class, status and Party
(political power)
Rationalization
• Refers to:
• Social actions, social relationships, and social institutions becoming
increasingly more rational. The two meanings of the term rational:
1. Not based on traditional values, human feelings and passions, and
moral values.
2. Based on the consideration of the most effective means of achieving
the ends.
• The latter is called by Weber “instrumental rationality.”
Bureaucracy
• Refers to the institutional aspect of rationalization, e.g. the
universities, the government and the big private corporations, which
are:
• 1. dispassionate, impersonal, and predictable
• 2. the only effective way of managing big organizations (e.g.
Government and Corporations).
Max Weber
 Weber’s Method of Science
 Value-free objective research
 Verstehen – understanding of any culture
or society from the person’s point of view
 Criticises Marxists – fails to separate
description from normativity.
 Nomothetic vs Idiographic
(statistical/number based vs human
experience /psychology based)
Causality
 Social phenomenon arises out of multi-causation
 This causation is probabilistic for Weber
The Inevitability of History
 Predictable historical laws cannot be derived.
 Capitalism arose from series of accidents, such as
industrialization, rationalized technologies, ownership
laws, and the Protestant spirit of capitalism
Class
 Weber distinguishes between “Class” and “Status Group”
 People of the same class have:
 (1) Causes in life chances
 (2) economic interests in the possession of goods and opportunities for income
 (3) similar market conditions

 Property
 Prestige
 Power Class Status
Status
 Definition: the likelihood that life chances are determined by prestige or
honor
 Normally are communities with common lifestyles
 Wealth is associated with status, but not a determinant
 Can be ethnic, religious, political, or communal
Types of Rationality
 Practical
rationality
 Theoretical
rationality
 Substantive
rationality
 Formal
rationality
Practical Rationality
 Goal/Ends oriented
 The use of some rational
means and action to achieve
these goals
 Pragmatic: links rationality
with praticality
 Example: calculating the most
expedient and cheapest ways
of coming to work or school,
or profit from business
Theoretical Rationality
 Abstract logico-
theoretical reasoning
 Attempt to explain the
world with models
constructed from reasoning
and empirical data
 Need not be associated
with social action
 Examples: Used by moral
philosophy, science, religion
Substantive Rationality
 Value-oriented
Rationality
 Subject to values and ethics
 Does not take into account
the nature of outcomes.
 In direct conflict with
formal rationality
 Examples: pursuit of
personal or spiritual values
may be hindered by
These punks are on their way to an bureaucratic organizations.
interview with a bureaucratic
organisation … tough luck!
Formal Rationality
 Calculative, efficient,
non-value driven
 characterizes organizations,
especially bureaucracies
 “Universally applied rules,
laws and regulations”
 Examples: Legal and
judicial systems, corporate
decision-making, university
processing of new student
intake
Reasons for Development of Formal Rationality
 Appropriation of Property: resources necessary for production can be
exchanged on a market
 Rational Technology: Technology allow costs to be accurately calculated
 Calculable Law: Laws and administrative procedures allow for predictable
arbitrary rules -> rational calculation
 Free Market/Labor: Social structure that makes possible capitalistic rational
calculations
 Commercialization of Economic Life: Provide incentive for profit
maximization any commercialized areas
Categories of Social Action

 Zweckrational
 Wertrational
 Affective action
 Traditional action
Zweckrational
 Instrumental action
 Goal-directed (towards
a certain end)
 Examples: A college
student’s consideration
to go into graduate law
school (goal) by
boosting his resume
(means)
Wertrational
 Means to attain it is rational
 Goal-directed (towards a
certain end)
 Goals are determined by
broader societal values and
preferences
 “Ends justify the means”
 Examples: Hey, let’s dump
our rubbish into the ocean
because it cuts our losses!
Affective
 Based on
emotions/affection
s
 Not Rational
 Example: Love,
friendship,
compassion, need
to watch a movie,
or purchase a
favorite video game
Traditional
 Guided by custom or
habits
 Normally unquestioned,
taken-for-granted
 Examples: Adherence to
Confucian tradition in 12th
century China, Indian caste
system, staunch belief in
Christianity before
Reformation period.

Q: Why the long face?

A: I don’t know, it’s by tradition!
Bureaucracy
 Applied
rationalization
in organizations
 Dominated by
formal
rationality
 Characterises
modern
societies
Characteristics of Bureaucracy
 Formal, standardized rules
 Impersonality
 Division of labor
 Rationality-oriented
 Hierarchical system
 Information flows up and
down hierarchy vertically
 High degree of specialization
 Entry into job based on
credentials and not by
nepotism or tradition
Purpose of Bureaucracies
 Promote efficient
attainment of
organizational goal
 To mobilize large
groups of people
across society for
single-minded purposes
 Makes possible the
Makes possible all the red-taping crap
associated with modern societies too! modern society and
economy
The Irrationality of Rationality
 Secularization
 Depersonalization
 Mind-numbing routine
 Zweckrational does
not maximize ultimate
human values such as
social justice, peace,
and human happiness.
The Irrationality of Rationality
 Technical efficiency =/= moral responsibility
 Or social responsibility
 What is good for the bureaucracy =/= good
for society as a whole
 Specialization and limited responsibility of
officials = unlikely to question moral
implications of company
 Emphasis on formal rationality => breakdown
of shared common purpose => dissolution
of community
 Social Change
 Weber: bureaucracy is superior to all
others organizations
 Therefore: more bureaucratization and
rationalization is inevitable
 Evolution of an iron cage inevitable
 Iron cage: limits individual potential
rather than a technological utopia
 “For of the last stage of this cultural
development, it might well be truly
said: 'Specialists without spirit,
sensualists without heart; this nullity
imagines that it has obtained a level
of civilization never before achieved"
( Weber, 1904/1930: 181).
Types of Authority(have you already studied?)
 Traditional
 Rational-legal
 Charismatic
Traditional
 Based on custom and long-held beliefs and authority
 Characterizes pre-modern / classical / ancient societies
 Examples: Feudal, medieval Europe, or Ming China
Rational-Legal
 Based on legality of
Follow the impersonal and rational
darn rules or
yer are
rules and authority
FIRED!!!
 Characterises modern
societies and bureaucracies
 Examples: National/Military
Service, or multi-tiered huge
corporations (like this guy to
the left!)
Charismatic A Kirlian photography shows
that my aura extends
 Based on the personal thousands of miles around
him, possibly explaining my
attributes of leaders charisma!!!
 Can be unstable if the leader
dies without a successor
 Normally superseded by a
rational-legal system if the
above happens
 Examples: Gandhi, Martin
Luther King, Steve Jobs
 Sociological research

Conducting Sociological Research

• Sociologists may employ a seven-
step process when they conduct
research.
• Research approaches available to
sociologists include survey, analysis
of existing documents, observation,
and experiment.
The Research Process

Sociologists use the scientific method to conduct their

research.

Scientific Method

The scientific method is an objective, logical, and systematic way of

collecting and analyzing data.
A hypothesis is a statement that predicts what the outcome of an
experiment will be.
 Causation and Correlation
Causation
• Every event has at least one cause.
• Variables, or traits, of a social
group help determine why an event
occurs the way it does.
• Causal relationships exist when a
change in one variable causes
change in another variable.
• Independent variables cause
changes in dependent variables.
.
Correlation
• Correlation is the first step in
proving causation.
• A correlation exists when a change
in one variable is regularly
associated with a change in
another variable.
• Correlations can have a causal
relationship or not.
Evidence of a correlation is not evidence of a causation
Basic Research Methods

Survey
• Survey method is used for large numbers of people
• Researchers use questionnaires and interviews
• The data available in a short amount of time
• The answers may not be accurate
• Researchers use samples, or small groups

Analysis of Existing Sources

• Historical method uses information from the past
• Content analysis counts uses of words or symbols
Observational Studies
• Researchers watch people in detached observation.
• Researchers become part of the group being studied in participant
observation.
• A case study uses information gathered during observation.
• Case Study – intensive study of person, group, event, or problem

Experiments
• In an experiment, the data is gathered under controlled conditions.
• Researchers use a control group and an experimental group.
• Information gathered is somewhat limited because of the controlled
conditions.
Statistical Analysis
• Researchers use mathematical data.
• Statistical analysis is the analyzing of collected data to determine
the kind of relationship between two or more variables.
• The mode is the most common number in the data.
• The mean is the average of the numbers in the data.
• The median is the number that divides the data into two equal parts.
Ethical Issues in Research

• Specific rules set by the American Sociological

Association
• Rules focus on:
– Confidentiality
– Deception
– Informed consent
• Must protect the rights of subjects