诠释社会学是创建在马克斯·韦伯的社会学概念及方法论上发展出来的社会研究路径（approach）之一，中心概念是理解（Verstehen）。其基本主张可略述如下：

Verstehen (German pronunciation:[fɛɐˈʃteːən], literally: "to understand") in the context of German philosophy and social sciences in general, has been used since the late 19th century – in English as in German – with the particular sense of the "interpretive or participatory" examination of social phenomena. The term is closely associated with the work of the German sociologist, Max Weber, whose antipositivism established an alternative to prior sociological positivism and economic determinism, rooted in the analysis of social action. In anthropology, Verstehen has come to mean a systematic interpretive process in which an outside observer of a culture attempts to relate to it and understand others.