Final answer:
Max Weber advocated for 'verstehen,' a deep empathetic understanding, when studying human action, influencing symbolic interactionism in sociology.
Step-by-step explanation:
Max Weber helped lay the groundwork for symbolic interactionism by promoting the concept of verstehen, which means to understand social behavior from an insider's perspective with deep empathy. This approach in sociology contrasts with positivist approaches that seek to predict human behavior through objective data, as Weber believed cultural influences play a significant role and understanding these requires subjectivity. Therefore, Weber suggested that a social scientist should approach the study of human action through verstehen, acknowledging personal experiences and cultural influences, rather than through methods such as psychoanalysis or solely focusing on the disenchantment and bureaucracy of modern society.