Ok, well a key insight of phenomenological social science is that a single motivation can result in a variety of different behaviors and different motivations can result in the same behavior. This can be used to critique neoclassical economics, which traditionally conflates motivation and behavior or, what amounts to the same thing, assumes a one-to-one correspondence between motivations and behaviors. Think, e.g., of the laws of supply and demand, or revealed preference theory. The insight may also be used to critique the culture of poverty theory, which assumes that certain behaviors are due to self-evident values and norms.
The upshot is that just as a word can take on different meanings depending on its context, behavior also must be interpreted. In addition, these meanings can change over time, as the economy undergoes structural change. But Kevin can probably do a better job of explaining it without making it sound trivial. mat Jim asks: Mat, could you give us a specific example of how "interpretive social science" works, perhaps in comparison to some other approach? _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
