THE subject of this volume is the exposition and illustration of a conceptual scheme for
the analysis of social systems in terms of the action frame of reference. It is intended as a
theoretical work in a strict sense. Its direct concern will be neither with empirical
generalization as such nor with methodology, though of course it will contain a
considerable amount of both. Naturally the value of the conceptual scheme here put
forward is ultimately to be tested in terms of its usefulness in empirical research. But this
is not an attempt to set forth a systematic account of our empirical knowledge, as would
be necessary in a work on general sociology. The focus is on a theoretical scheme. The
systematic treatment of its empirical uses will have to be undertaken separately.