ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with symbolic interactionism not as a philosophical doctrine but as a perspective in empirical social science-as an approach designed to yield verifiable knowledge of human group life and human conduct. Accordingly, its methodological principles have to meet the fundamental requirements of empirical science. The chapter begins with the redundant assertion that an empirical science presupposes the existence of an empirical world. Such an empirical world exists as something available for observation, study, and analysis. The direct examination of the empirical social world is not limited to the construction of comprehensive and intimate accounts of what takes place. It should also embody analysis. Inspection is the appropriate procedure for carrying out the other part of social analysis – the isolation of relations between analytical elements. Such a relation presumes the existence of a meaningful connection between the components in the empirical world.
