Verstehen is the key concept or approach of Weber’s methodology .verstehen is a German word which means understanding ‘ .The verstehen thesis is based on the idea that meaning precedes action in fact ,we cannot act unless we knew the meaning of other acts .This meaning , Weber thought , constitutes a positive basis .To make distinction between the nature and social science. Weber used the term in the context of a theory of social action Weber believed that sociologists had an advantage over Natural scientist. In the natural sciences, we can only observe uniformities and deduce genralisations about the natural world and the other states of things .
By contrast the social sciences are subjectifying, in that they concern themselves with the “ inner states of actors who act on their understanding, (verstehen) of the acts of other and on their interpretation of social environment Therefore ,the advantage resided in the sociologist s ability to understand social phenomena .In this context , Dilthey ‘s philosophical perspective is very much related to Weber s method , Coser stated , Dilthey opposed positivism by constructing the outline of an approach to the data of human culture and human history , which though meant to be scientific , was wholly at variance with the approach of the natural science knowledge of the world of man , Dilthey claimed ,could only be attained through an internal process , through experience (erlebau) and understanding (verstehen) rather than through merely external knowledge …
The natural science (Naturevissenschaften) can do no more than explain (eklaeren) observed events by relating them to natural laws .In the humanistic disciplines the Geistewissenschften knowledge is not external but internal . Men are intelligible to us in their uniqueness and individuality.
Through this passage,we can say that Weber s methodological concept verstenhen is based on the real experience of the individual in a social situation .Hence , Weberian approach is very much related to the fact that natural scientists understand the natural phenomena form outside the situation while sociall scientists understand the social phenomena through participation in the situation.