CHAPTER vv... human behavior always comes with meaning,
with intentions and purposes.
That is to say, the way others see and react to what you do
is powerfully affected by what they think you mean,
what you are trying to do
and why.
So if the social scientist wants to describe the sequence of the interaction,
he cannot omit what it means to the actors.
He studies not just behavior
but action.
Sam Beer, “Letter to a Graduate Student” (2005)
As a culture, we were aware of the seals and the walruses on top of the ice,
but we didn’t know what they were doing underneath the ice.
Joe Seungetuk
Inupiaq artist/writer
Address to the Public Administration Theory Annual Conference
University of Alaska-Anchorage, June 19, 2003