Max Weber (1864-1920), one of the founding fathers of sociology, said that Verstehen (understanding of human behavior) is crucial to understand human action. (Social Action Theory)
Verstehen: According to Max Weber, "There's always a meaning behind a human action, that's why it should be known before ascertaining the cause of an action." He argued that religious ideas (of Protestant) are behind the emergence of Capitalism.
Weber's four basic types of Social Action could easily be understood from the life of a school going student;
A student attends school;
As a tradition set by his family and society. (Traditional Social Action)
Because he/she enjoys learning. (Affective Social Action)
His/her religion encourages learning. (Value Rational Social Action)
To get an amazing job in the future. (Instrumental Rational Social Action)
In his (Max Weber's) opinion, the modern world gave too much weight on efficiency, modernization and job accomplishment on the expense of tradition, ethics and affection, making people alienated. It is pertinent to mention here that Max Weber and Karl Marx were on one page that Capitalism has alienated people, but they were different on the causes. The former blamed bureaucracy while the latter blamed the class difference.