The Breaching Experiment:
You are about to engage in some sociological research! In this project, you will break a social norm, observe your audience’s reaction and write-up a 3 page paper (minimum) detailing what you discovered.
We are often unaware of the expected background features of everyday life, taking for granted the rules and expectancies that allow us to interpret and interact in the social world. Ethnomethodology was devised by Harold Garfinkel to examine the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings. Ethnomethodologists believe that social life only appears to be orderly. In reality, social order is constructed in our minds as we take a series of potentially chaotic experiences and form them into a coherent whole. One reason we are fairly successful at this enterprise is because we learn these rules much the same way we learn our first language and soon come to take for granted their existence. Garfinkel put ethnomethodology into practice through a series of ‘breaching’ experiments, in which his students deliberately broke understood, but unspoken, rules of everyday encounters (note that, although these are called “experiments” these are not the scientific experiments we discussed in class, rather they are more like demonstrations). In general, breaching experiments seek to examine peoples’ reactions to violations of commonly accepted social rules or norms. One of Garfinkel’s best know experiments included sending his students home to pretend they were boarders in their own homes.
As mentioned in class, the norm you choose to break should be a folkway, not a more! Below is a list of possibilities. If an option is “normal” behavior for you, then choose another option. You are encouraged to use your own ideas as long as you get it okayed with me. Please do not do anything that will get you (or me!) thrown in jail or harmed. Also, be sure to treat your subjects with respect, i.e. don’t treat this as simply an opportunity to be rude.
Possibilities:
– Volunteer to pay more than the posted price for an item (not at a restaurant where it is considered a tip)
– Haggle over the price at a restaurant or anywhere else where the price is fixed
– Sit in the back seat instead of the front seat of the car when it is only you and the driver (not a taxi).
– Order a “Whopper” at McDonalds
– During a discussion mover closer and closer to the person
– When someone asks you in passing “how are you?” Ask them to explain their question.
– “Tip” your friends, parents or strangers for small kindnesses
– Greet your friends and family with handshakes
– Greet less well-known acquaintances with a hug or kiss on the cheek
– Use the wrong cutlery at a restaurant (i.e. eat spaghetti with a spoon, etc.)
Part 1: Before beginning you should first be familiar with Chapter 3.
1) Next you need to decide what norm you are going to break. I have given you a list of examples. You can use one of these or be creative and make up your own. If you choose your own make sure to get it approved by me.
2) Violate the norm where others are sure to notice. Don’t give it away or give up too early or you won’t be able to fully gauge their response. You may tell them what you are doing afterward, however. If you need moral support or an additional set of eyes you may go out in pairs but each individual must violate a different norm and write up a separate paper.
3) As soon as you are done, write down notes detailing the reactions of your audience. Notes are due with your final essay.
Part 2: Make sure you answer each of the following questions for your final essay. Grading is as follows: you must have a cover page, an introduction and conclusion for 5 points each. You must address each bullet point (listed below) for 10 points, and a reference page for 5 points with the correct citations. You must also reach the full 3 pages for the page requirements and have the correct essay format for 10 points. Lastly, submit your notes with your final essay for 10 points.
A. Describe the norm you chose to violate. What did you do and who was your audience?
B. What was the reaction of your audience? Was the reaction what you expected? Discuss your observations.
C. What does this experiment reveal about the usefulness of social norms in regulating daily social interactions? Did you learn anything about the nature of the norm you were studying? Is violating the norm acceptable under certain circumstances?
D. Explain how engaging in the behavior and/or your audiences’ reaction made you feel. Did you feel any sense of internal or external social control? What does this reveal about your own socialization?
E. If your experiment didn’t work, why? Might it have received a different reaction if performed on different type of person?
F. How might this behavior have been differently received under different circumstances?
Use the textbook as guides in helping you to compose a coherent and thoughtful essay. The essay should be 3 typed pages, double-spaced with 12 point font and one inch margins. Do not just paste together your answers to the above questions; this is an essay. While there are different ways to structure an essay they often include an introduction, discussion and conclusion.