The other player, in the dark about the study, was flabbergasted and did not know how to continue. One player was asked beforehand to mark Xs and Os not in the boxes but on the lines dividing the spaces instead. For example, he set up a simple game of tic-tac-toe. He suspected that odd behaviors would shatter conventional expectations, but he wasn’t sure how. To conduct his ethnomethodology, Garfinkel deliberately imposed strange behaviors on unknowing people.
Rather, the point is to deviate from a specific social norm in a small way, to subtly break some form of social etiquette, and see what happens. But the experimenter does not simply “act weird” in public. For example, if the experimenter is, say, a man in a business suit, and he skips down the sidewalk or hops on one foot, the passersby are likely to stare at him with surprised expressions on their faces. If the breach is successful, however, these “innocent bystanders” will respond in some way. The participants are not aware an experiment is in progress. One of Garfinkel’s research methods was known as a “breaching experiment,” in which the researcher behaves in a socially awkward manner in order to test the sociological concepts of social norms and conformity. His resulting book, Studies in Ethnomethodology, published in 1967, discusses people’s assumptions about the social makeup of their communities. He believed that members of society together create a social order (Weber 2011). Sociologist Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011) studied people’s customs in order to find out how societal rules and norms not only influenced behavior but also shaped social order. Informal norms dictate appropriate behaviors without the need of written rules. Most people don’t commit even benign breaches of informal norms.
They don’t sit down at a table with strangers, sing loudly as they prepare their condiments, or nap in a booth. Customers line up to order their food and leave when they are done. In the United States, there are informal norms regarding behavior at fast food restaurants. But although informal norms define personal interactions, they extend into other systems as well. Some informal norms are taught directly-“Kiss your Aunt Edna” or “Use your napkin”-while others are learned by observation, including observations of the consequences when someone else violates a norm. People learn informal norms by observation, imitation, and general socialization. There are plenty of formal norms, but the list of informal norms-casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to-is longer. These examples show a range of enforcement in formal norms. And though there are laws to punish drunk driving, there are few systems in place to prevent the crime.
While it’s against the law to drive drunk, drinking is for the most part an acceptable social behavior. A less strictly enforced social norm is driving while intoxicated.
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People safeguard valuable possessions and install antitheft devices to protect homes and cars. It’s against the law to rob a bank, and banks go to great lengths to prevent such crimes. But even formal norms are enforced to varying degrees and are reflected in cultural values.įor example, money is highly valued in the United States, so monetary crimes are punished. Formal norms are the most specific and clearly stated of the various types of norms, and they are the most strictly enforced. Laws are formal norms, but so are employee manuals, college entrance exam requirements, and “no running” signs at swimming pools. They are behaviors worked out and agreed upon in order to suit and serve the most people. Norms define how to behave in accordance with what a society has defined as good, right, and important, and most members of the society adhere to them.įormal norms are established, written rules. These examples describe the visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured, or what sociologists call norms. So far, the examples in this chapter have often described how people are expected to behave in certain situations-for example, when buying food or boarding a bus.
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