Do the Differences in Ideas about Social Action Influence Sociological Analysis? A Review Article

Abstract

This article reviews different thoughts of modern sociologists about social action to examine how the differences in the meaning of social action influence sociological analysis. This article also discusses the implication of these differences in the meaning of social action to sociological analysis. Four articles and two books of selected modern sociologists have been reviewed to explore the research questions of this article. This article finds that modern sociologists take social action as an important concept in sociological analysis. Classical sociologists, such as Max Weber, also suggest taking social action as a central focus in sociological study. This article observes that whether action is exerted based on structure or the actor’s self-interpreting power is one of the key issues in the ideas of modern sociologists.