Understanding Symbolic Interactionism in Sociology

 
Symbolic interactionism
 
Concept
Characteristics
Types
 
Symbolic interactionism
 is a school of thought
in sociology that explains social behavior
in 
terms
 of how people interact with each
other via symbols; in this view, social
structures are best understood in 
terms
 of
such individual interactions. ... Mead believed
that one's self develops through social
interactions.
 
Symbolic interactionism provides
opportunities for analyzing ways in which
different socializing experiences affect an
individual's life cycle, the argument being
that individuals do not react automatically
to special stimuli, but through their own
constructive processes use symbols to
define their actions and meanings .
 
Disciplinary roots –social psychology
Central questions- what conman set of
symbols and understandings have emerged
to give meanings to peoples interactions?
 
Symbolic interactionalism stems from social
psychology and has been used to great
extent in linguistics as well.
A premise of symbolic interactionism is the
belief that people act according to how they
understand the meaning of words ,things
and acts in their environment
.
 
Importance
 
It is important for teachers in our
multicultural society to understand that the
students coming from different cultural
backgrounds will understand the world
differently.
Test performance, motivation to do well in
school and like will differ depending upon
the students cultural history.
 
Research using a symbolic interactionism
perspective might investigate how different
children from different backgrounds
perceive and comprehend the school
environment.
 
Data analysis
 
Organizing the data
The method of organizing data will differ
upon the research strategy and data
collection techniques used.
Interview data may be organized according
to individual respondents or  if a standard
format is used with a number of individuals
by grouping answers together across
respondents
 
Similarly observations may be considered
individually or grouping similar types of
occurances together while looking for
differences among individuals settings or
times .
 
Second stage
 
Data analysis ,description
The researcher describes the various
pertinent aspects of the study including the
settings both temporal and physically the
individual being studied
The purpose of any activities examined ,the
viewpoint of participants and the effects of
any activities on the participants.
 
Third stage
 
Analysis ,interpretation
Involves explaining the findings  answering
why questions attaching significance to
particular results and putting patterns into
an analytic framework.
Interpretation of qualitative research data is
more dependent on researcher background
skills, biases and knowledge than conclusion
drawn from quantitative research.
 
Challenges in qualitative data
analysis
 
To make sense of massive amount of data.
Reduce the volume of information.
Identify significant pattern.
Construct a framework for communicating
the essence of what the data reveal.
 
Symbolic interactionism
 
The view of social behaviour that
emphasizes linguistic or gestural
communication and its subjective
understanding, especially the role of
language in the formation of the child as a
social being.
 
Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical approach to
understanding the relationship between humans and
society. The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is
that human action and interaction are understandable
only through the exchange of meaningful
communication or symbols. In this approach, humans
are portrayed as acting, as opposed to being acted upon.
The main principles of symbolic interactionism are:
Human beings act toward things on the basis of the
meanings that things have for them
These meanings arise out of social interaction
Social action results from a fitting together of individual
lines of action
 
This approach stands in contrast to the strict behaviorism of
psychological theories prevalent at the time it was first
formulated (the 1920s and 1930s).
According to symbolic interactionism, humans are distinct from
infra humans (lower animals) because infra humans simply
respond to their environment (i.e., a stimulus evokes a response
or stimulus 
 response),
whereas humans have the ability to interrupt that process (i.e.,
stimulus 
 cognition 
 response). Additionally, infra humans
are unable to conceive of alternative responses to gestures.
Humans, however, can. This understanding should not be taken
to indicate that humans never behave in a strict stimulus 
response fashion, but rather that humans have the capability of
responding in a different way, and do so much of the time.
 
According to symbolic interactionism, the objective
world has no reality for humans; only subjectively
defined objects have meaning.
 There is no single objective “reality”; there are only
(possibly multiple, possibly
conflicting) 
interpretations
 of a situation.
 Meanings are not entities that are bestowed on
humans and learned by habituation; instead,
meanings can be altered through the creative
capabilities of humans, and individuals may
influence the many meanings that form their society.
 Human society, therefore, is a social product.
 
 
categories
 
situated,
 personal and
 social.
(Situated identity refers to the ability to view
themselves as others do
).
 
                              
THANKS
 
 
 
Dr Kalpana Patni Lakhera
Assistant Professor,Education
Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani.
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Symbolic Interactionism is a school of thought in sociology that focuses on how individuals interact with each other through symbols, shaping social structures. It highlights the role of symbols in defining actions and meanings in social interactions. The concept explores how different socializing experiences impact an individual's life cycle and how individuals construct their realities through symbols. Symbolic Interactionism is rooted in social psychology and is crucial for teachers in multicultural settings to recognize cultural differences in students' perceptions and motivations. Research using this perspective can delve into how children from diverse backgrounds perceive school environments. Data analysis methods vary based on research strategies and data collection techniques, such as organizing interview data by individual respondents or grouping responses.


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  1. Symbolic interactionism Concept Characteristics Types

  2. Symbolic interactionism is a school of thought in sociology that explains social behavior in terms of how people interact with each other via symbols; in this view, social structures are best understood in terms of such individual interactions. ... Mead believed that one's self develops through social interactions.

  3. Symbolic interactionism provides opportunities for analyzing ways in which different socializing experiences affect an individual's life cycle, the argument being that individuals do not react automatically to special stimuli, but through their own constructive processes use symbols to define their actions and meanings .

  4. Disciplinary roots social psychology Central questions- what conman set of symbols and understandings have emerged to give meanings to peoples interactions?

  5. Symbolic interactionalism stems from social psychology and has been used to great extent in linguistics as well. A premise of symbolic interactionism is the belief that people act according to how they understand the meaning of words ,things and acts in their environment.

  6. Importance It is important for teachers in our multicultural society to understand that the students coming from different cultural backgrounds will understand the world differently. Test performance, motivation to do well in school and like will differ depending upon the students cultural history.

  7. Research using a symbolic interactionism perspective might investigate how different children from different backgrounds perceive and comprehend the school environment.

  8. Data analysis Organizing the data The method of organizing data will differ upon the research strategy and data collection techniques used. Interview data may be organized according to individual respondents or if a standard format is used with a number of individuals by grouping answers together across respondents

  9. Similarly observations may be considered individually or grouping similar types of occurances together while looking for differences among individuals settings or times .

  10. Second stage Data analysis ,description The researcher describes the various pertinent aspects of the study including the settings both temporal and physically the individual being studied The purpose of any activities examined ,the viewpoint of participants and the effects of any activities on the participants.

  11. Third stage Analysis ,interpretation Involves explaining the findings answering why questions attaching significance to particular results and putting patterns into an analytic framework. Interpretation of qualitative research data is more dependent on researcher background skills, biases and knowledge than conclusion drawn from quantitative research.

  12. Challenges in qualitative data analysis To make sense of massive amount of data. Reduce the volume of information. Identify significant pattern. Construct a framework for communicating the essence of what the data reveal.

  13. Symbolic interactionism The view of social behaviour that emphasizes linguistic or gestural communication and its subjective understanding, especially the role of language in the formation of the child as a social being.

  14. Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical approach to understanding the relationship between humans and society. The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols. In this approach, humans are portrayed as acting, as opposed to being acted upon. The main principles of symbolic interactionism are: Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that things have for them These meanings arise out of social interaction Social action results from a fitting together of individual lines of action

  15. This approach stands in contrast to the strict behaviorism of psychological theories prevalent at the time it was first formulated (the 1920s and 1930s). According to symbolic interactionism, humans are distinct from infra humans (lower animals) because infra humans simply respond to their environment (i.e., a stimulus evokes a response or stimulus response), whereas humans have the ability to interrupt that process (i.e., stimulus cognition response). Additionally, infra humans are unable to conceive of alternative responses to gestures. Humans, however, can. This understanding should not be taken to indicate that humans never behave in a strict stimulus response fashion, but rather that humans have the capability of responding in a different way, and do so much of the time.

  16. According to symbolic interactionism, the objective world has no reality for humans; only subjectively defined objects have meaning. There is no single objective reality ; there are only (possibly multiple, possibly conflicting) interpretations of a situation. Meanings are not entities that are bestowed on humans and learned by habituation; instead, meanings can be altered through the creative capabilities of humans, and individuals may influence the many meanings that form their society. Human society, therefore, is a social product.

  17. categories situated, personal and social. (Situated identity refers to the ability to view themselves as others do).

  18. THANKS Dr Kalpana Patni Lakhera Assistant Professor,Education Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani.

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