Interactionism
Encyclopedia
In sociology, interactionism is a theoretical perspective that derives social processes (such as conflict, cooperation, identity formation) from human interaction. It is the study of individuals and how they act within society. Interactionist theory has grown in the latter half of the twentieth century and has become one of the dominant sociological perspectives in the world today. Interactionism was first linked to the work of James Parker
. George Herbert Mead
, as an advocate of pragmatism and the subjectivity of social reality, is considered a leader in the development of interactionism. Herbert Blumer
expanded on Mead's work and coined the term "Symbolic interactionism."
Interactionism has several subdivisions:
and believes that meaning is produced through the interactions of individuals.
The social interaction is a face-to-face process consisting of actions, reactions, and mutual adaptation between two or more individuals. It also includes animal interaction such as mating. The interaction includes all language (including body language) and mannerisms. The goal of the social interaction is to communicate
with others. If the interaction is in danger of ending before one intends it to, it can be conserved by conforming to the others' expectations, by ignoring certain incidents or by solving apparent problems. Erving Goffman
underlines the importance of control in the interaction. One must attempt to control the others' behaviour during the interaction, in order to attain the information one is seeking and in order to control the perception of one's own image. Important concepts in the field of interactionism include the "social role" and Goffman's "presentation of self".
as an issue, and would say that we cannot generalize that everyone from one social class thinks in one way. Instead they believe everyone has different attitudes, values, culture and beliefs. Therefore it is the duty of the sociologist to carry out the study within society. They set out to gather qualitative data.
) data, a method preferred by structuralists
. These methods include; experiment
s, structured interview
s, questionnaire
s, non-participant observation and secondary source
s.
They have a few basic criticisms, namely:
s, covert participant observation
, overt participant observation
, and analysing historical, public and personal documents by content analysis
.
Interactionist methods generally reject the absolute need to provide statistics. Structuralists argue this allows cause and effect
to be shown , as well as isolating variables so that relationships and trends can be distinguished over time.
Instead, interactionists want to "go deep" to explain society. This draws criticisms such as:
Despite these criticisms, interactionist methods do allow flexibility. The fact that there is no hypothesis means that the sociologist is not rooted in attempting to prove dogma or theory. Instead, researchers react to what they discover, not assuming anything about society. (This is not entirely true. There can be hypotheses for many studies using interactionist methods. The researcher may then be inclined to observe certain events happening while ignoring the bigger picture. This will still bias the results, if such studies are not well conducted.) This is arguably why some theorists have turned to this method.
It also shows how human behaviour is affected and altered through interactions i.e. socialization.
is the idea that the "public gets what the public wants." It is the notion that our lives offer choice like a representative democracy
. This idea of consumer choice means that each individual has power as a consumer to change any aspect of life if he/she wishes to do so. The situation that exists is, according to the theory, a reflection of the norms, values and beliefs of the majority of people. It fits with the idea of individual power, although interactionist sociologists may not accept the idea that we are all labeled as "consumers".
James Parker
James Parker may refer to:*Jim Parker , founder of Parker College of Chiropractic and Parker Seminars*Jim Parker , British composer*Jim Parker , American professional football player...
. George Herbert Mead
George Herbert Mead
George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher, sociologist and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. He is regarded as one of the founders of social psychology and the American sociological tradition in general.-...
, as an advocate of pragmatism and the subjectivity of social reality, is considered a leader in the development of interactionism. Herbert Blumer
Herbert Blumer
Herbert George Blumer was an American sociologist. Continuing the work of George Herbert Mead, he named and developed the topic of symbolic interactionism. According to Blumer himself, his main post-graduate scholarly interests were symbolic interactionism and methodological problems...
expanded on Mead's work and coined the term "Symbolic interactionism."
Interactionism has several subdivisions:
- Phenomenology
- VerstehenVerstehenVerstehen is an ordinary German word with exactly the same meaning as the English word "understand". However, since the late 19th century in the context of German philosophy and social sciences, it has also been used in the special sense of "interpretive or participatory examination" of social...
- Social action
- EthnomethodologyEthnomethodologyEthnomethodology is an ethnographic approach to sociological inquiry introduced by the American sociologist Harold Garfinkel . Ethnomethodology's research interest is the study of the everyday methods people use for the production of social order...
- Symbolic interactionismSymbolic interactionismSymbolic Interaction, also known as interactionism, is a sociological theory that places emphasis on micro-scale social interaction to provide subjective meaning in human behavior, the social process and pragmatism.-History:...
- Social constructionismSocial constructionismSocial constructionism and social constructivism are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts. A social construction is a concept or practice that is the construct of a particular group...
Interactions
Interactionism is micro-sociologicalMicrosociology
Microsociology is one of the main branches of sociology, concerning the nature of everyday human social interactions and agency on a small scale. Microsociology is based on interpretative analysis rather than statistical or empirical observation, and shares close association with the philosophy of...
and believes that meaning is produced through the interactions of individuals.
The social interaction is a face-to-face process consisting of actions, reactions, and mutual adaptation between two or more individuals. It also includes animal interaction such as mating. The interaction includes all language (including body language) and mannerisms. The goal of the social interaction is to communicate
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
with others. If the interaction is in danger of ending before one intends it to, it can be conserved by conforming to the others' expectations, by ignoring certain incidents or by solving apparent problems. Erving Goffman
Erving Goffman
Erving Goffman was a Canadian-born sociologist and writer.The 73rd president of American Sociological Association, Goffman's greatest contribution to social theory is his study of symbolic interaction in the form of dramaturgical perspective that began with his 1959 book The Presentation of Self...
underlines the importance of control in the interaction. One must attempt to control the others' behaviour during the interaction, in order to attain the information one is seeking and in order to control the perception of one's own image. Important concepts in the field of interactionism include the "social role" and Goffman's "presentation of self".
Interactionist methodology
Interactionists want to understand each individual, and how they act within society. In extreme cases, they would deny classSocial class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
as an issue, and would say that we cannot generalize that everyone from one social class thinks in one way. Instead they believe everyone has different attitudes, values, culture and beliefs. Therefore it is the duty of the sociologist to carry out the study within society. They set out to gather qualitative data.
Rejection of Structuralist methods
Interactionist reject that is statistical (quantitativeNumerical data
Numerical data is data measured or identified on a numerical scale. Numerical data can be analyzed using statistical methods, and results can be displayed using tables, charts, histograms and graphs. For example, a researcher will ask a questions to a participant that include words how often, how...
) data, a method preferred by structuralists
Structuralism
Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism...
. These methods include; experiment
Experiment
An experiment is a methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results...
s, structured interview
Structured interview
A structured interview is a quantitative research method commonly employed in survey research. The aim of this approach is to ensure that each interview is presented with exactly the same questions in the same order...
s, questionnaire
Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case...
s, non-participant observation and secondary source
Secondary source
In scholarship, a secondary source is a document or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. A secondary source contrasts with a primary source, which is an original source of the information being discussed; a primary source can be a person with direct...
s.
They have a few basic criticisms, namely:
- Statistical data is not "valid". This is to say that these methods don't provide us with a true picture of society on the topic being researched.
- Research is biasBiasBias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
ed and therefore not objective. Whilst the sociologist would be distant, it is argued that a hypothesis means the research is biased towards a pre-set conclusion (Rosenhan experimentRosenhan experimentThe Rosenhan experiment was a famous experiment into the validity of psychiatric diagnosis conducted by psychologist David Rosenhan in 1973. It was published in the journal Science under the title "On being sane in insane places." The study is considered an important and influential criticism of...
in 1973). This is again rejected by Interactionists, who claim it is artificialSocial artifactSocial artifact is any product of individuals or groups or of their social behavior.Artifacts are the objects or products designed and used by people to meet re-occurring needs or to solve problems....
, and also raises ethical issues to experiment on people.
Preferred Interactionist Methods
Interactionists prefer several methods to contrast with Structuralist methods, namely; unstructured interviewUnstructured interview
Unstructured Interviews are a method of interviews where questions can be changed or adapted to meet the respondent's intelligence, understanding or belief...
s, covert participant observation
Covert participant observation
Covert participant observation is a method in social science research. Participant observation involves a researcher joining the group he or she is studying, and in the case of covert observation, the researcher's status is not made known to the group....
, overt participant observation
Participant observation
Participant observation is a type of research strategy. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly, cultural anthropology, but also sociology, communication studies, and social psychology...
, and analysing historical, public and personal documents by content analysis
Content analysis
Content analysis or textual analysis is a methodology in the social sciences for studying the content of communication. Earl Babbie defines it as "the study of recorded human communications, such as books, websites, paintings and laws."According to Dr...
.
Interactionist methods generally reject the absolute need to provide statistics. Structuralists argue this allows cause and effect
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
to be shown , as well as isolating variables so that relationships and trends can be distinguished over time.
Instead, interactionists want to "go deep" to explain society. This draws criticisms such as:
- Information and sociological research cannot be compared or contrasted, hence we can never truly understand how society changes. Data are not reliable.
- The information that is gathered is interpreted (hence the name "Interpretivist") by a sociologist, therefore it isn't objective, but biased.
Despite these criticisms, interactionist methods do allow flexibility. The fact that there is no hypothesis means that the sociologist is not rooted in attempting to prove dogma or theory. Instead, researchers react to what they discover, not assuming anything about society. (This is not entirely true. There can be hypotheses for many studies using interactionist methods. The researcher may then be inclined to observe certain events happening while ignoring the bigger picture. This will still bias the results, if such studies are not well conducted.) This is arguably why some theorists have turned to this method.
It also shows how human behaviour is affected and altered through interactions i.e. socialization.
Case Studies
- Field experimentField experimentA field experiment applies the scientific method to experimentally examine an intervention in the real world rather than in the laboratory...
s: David RosenhanDavid RosenhanDavid L. Rosenhan is an American psychologist. He is best known for the Rosenhan experiment.Rosenhan received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yeshiva University...
1973. StudiedRosenhan experimentThe Rosenhan experiment was a famous experiment into the validity of psychiatric diagnosis conducted by psychologist David Rosenhan in 1973. It was published in the journal Science under the title "On being sane in insane places." The study is considered an important and influential criticism of...
the treatment of mental health in California and got 8 normal researchers to carry out the study at 12 hospitals. Critics say the method is unethical, and the vast majority of Interactionists concur. - Unstructured interviewUnstructured interviewUnstructured Interviews are a method of interviews where questions can be changed or adapted to meet the respondent's intelligence, understanding or belief...
s: William LabovWilliam LabovWilliam Labov born December 4, 1927) is an American linguist, widely regarded as the founder of the discipline of variationist sociolinguistics. He has been described as "an enormously original and influential figure who has created much of the methodology" of sociolinguistics...
1973. Study of socio-linguisticsSociolinguisticsSociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society...
. Joan SmithJoan SmithJoan Alison Smith is an English novelist, journalist and human rights activist, who is a former chair of the Writers in Prison committee in the English section of International PEN.-Life and work:...
1998. Aaron CicourelAaron CicourelAaron Victor Cicourel, who is currently professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, San Diego,specializes in sociolinguistics, medical communication, decision-making, and child socialization. Early in his career, he was intellectually influenced greatly by Alfred Schutz, Erving...
and John Kitsuse 1963 ethno-methodology study in American schools. Howard Becker 1971. - Participant observationParticipant observationParticipant observation is a type of research strategy. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly, cultural anthropology, but also sociology, communication studies, and social psychology...
: John Howard GriffinJohn Howard GriffinJohn Howard Griffin was an American journalist and author much of whose writing was about racial equality. He is best known for darkening his skin and journeying through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia to experience segregation in the Deep South in 1959...
, Michael Haralambos.
Interactionist links to other theories
Interactionism, or the idea that individuals have more awareness, skill and power to change their own situation, links to several other theories.Pluralism
PluralismPluralism (political theory)
Classical pluralism is the view that politics and decision making are located mostly in the framework of government, but that many non-governmental groups use their resources to exert influence. The central question for classical pluralism is how power and influence is distributed in a political...
is the idea that the "public gets what the public wants." It is the notion that our lives offer choice like a representative democracy
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
. This idea of consumer choice means that each individual has power as a consumer to change any aspect of life if he/she wishes to do so. The situation that exists is, according to the theory, a reflection of the norms, values and beliefs of the majority of people. It fits with the idea of individual power, although interactionist sociologists may not accept the idea that we are all labeled as "consumers".