Crisis experiment
In sociology , a crisis experiment describes a procedure known above all in ethnomethodology , in which implicit social norms are made recognizable. This happens through explicit disregard of social conventions, whereby the practices of the construction of social reality become visible. "By creating a crisis in everyday interactions - based on the reactions to this disturbance - the practices of creating the normal order of interaction become observable."
Examples
Harold Garfinkel
An example of a crisis experiment is given by Harold Garfinkel : A student may behave politely towards her parents, but still treat them like strangers, for example, she is. This behavior leads to irritation when the student does not change her behavior even after explicit requests. In this way, through her unexpected behavior, she has made norms clear that otherwise only implicitly guide her dealings with her parents, but which must necessarily be adhered to for a functioning and trouble-free social interaction.
In the crisis experiments, elements of disruption, confusion, "nasty surprises" etc. are introduced into the interaction with others. For example, in a restaurant, a guest is treated as if he were the waiter. In this case, it can be seen that the person concerned is trying to fend off this assignment of roles and maintain his own idea of reality. In such attempts to restore “normality”, basic rules of social action become apparent. Garfinkel describes them as universally valid basic rules that are used in every situation.
Furthermore, Garfinkel has shown in one of his most famous experiments “that the interpretation work of negotiating meanings can not only occur episodically, but always occurs and is even an expectation placed on all participants in the interaction: People react very sensitively to repeated questions about the meaning of common everyday expressions. It is assumed that one thinks along and interprets the statements of the other correctly - even if one cannot know exactly what is really meant. In this way, one is assumed to have either bad intentions or simply insanity when asked 'How are you?' replies with, What do you mean? Physically or mentally? '. Garfinkel speaks of the fundamental vagueness and need for interpretation of all utterances as indexicality. "
Erving Goffman
Another example is provided by Erving Goffman , who shows classic behavioral norms in his work Behavior in Public Places. To do this, he uses a crisis experiment in which a person deliberately avoids properly disposing of garbage in a garbage can and thereby violates a social norm. The strength of the reaction of the observers to the violation of such a norm is considered here as an indicator of the strength of the norm itself.
Stanley Milgram
Also known is Stanley Milgram 's crisis experiment in the New York subway. He instructed his students to ask people in the subway for their seat without giving a reason. 68% of the respondents were willing to leave this to the questioner.
literature
- Harold Garfinkel: Studies of the routine grounds of everyday activities In: Ders .: Studies in Ethnomethodology. Prentice-Hall 1967, pp. 35-75.
- Goffman, Erving: Interaction in Public Space , 2009, original: Behavior in Public Places. Free Press 1985.
- Luo, Michael: ' Excuse Me. May I Have Your Seat'; Revisiting a Social Experiment, And the Fear That Goes With It. The New York Times 2004, accessed May 22, 2012.
- Bernhard Schäfers / Johannes Kopp (eds.): Basic concepts of sociology . Wiesbaden 2006, p. 298.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ritzer, George (2011): Ethnomethodology. In: Sociological Theory. 8th Ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Pp. 391-415.
- ↑ a b [1] , Geimer, Alexander: Crisis experiments and local production of intersubjectivity. Free University of Berlin 2005, accessed on May 22, 2012.
- ↑ Garfinkel, Harold 1973. Studies on the routine foundations of everyday actions. In: Steinert, Heinz (ed.): Symbolic interaction. Working on a reflective sociology. Stuttgart: Velcro.