2. Subtopic 1: Ethnomethodology
What Is Ethnomethodology?
Ethnomethodology is an approach in sociology
that studies the “common-sense” resources,
procedures, and practices through which
members of a society interpret their everyday
life and how these social interactions, when
mutually recognized within particular contexts,
create orderliness (Williams, 2001).
3. G a r f i n k e l w a s a t t e m p t i n g t o
understand the way jurors knew how to
act as jurors. After attempting to
understand the jurors' actions,
G a r f i n k e l c r e a t e d t h e t e r
m "ethnomethodology" as a way to
describe how people use different
methods in order to understand the
society they live in.
4. Ethnomethodology focuses on the study
of methods that individuals use in “doing”
s o c i a l l i f e t o p r o d u c e m u t u a l l y
recognizable interactions within a
situated context, producing orderliness.
It explores how members' actual, ordinary
activities produce and manage settings of
organized everyday situations.
5. Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011), an American
sociologist, is credited for coining the ter
m "ethnomethodology." While it was first
used in 1954 at a conference of the
American Sociological Association, it was
not until the 1967 publication of Studies in
Ethnomethodology (by Garfinkel) that the
term came into use.
6. Subtopic 2: Harold Garfinkel
Harold Garfinkel was an American sociologist and
ethnomethodologist, who taught at the University of
California, Los Angeles. Having developed and
established ethnomethodology as a field of inquiry in
sociology, he is probably best known for Studies in
Ethnomethodology, a collection of articles.
Born on October 29, 1917 Newark, New Jersey, US
Died in April 21, 2011 (aged 93) Los Angeles, California,
US
7. Garfinkel was the founding father
of ethnomethodology, and nobody
today concerned with the meaning
of social action can gainsay the
d e e p l y i n n o v a t i v e , i n d e e d
revolutionary, work carried forward
by Garfinkel for at least 60 years.
8. Subtopic 3: SOCIAL ORDER
Local Order and Social Practice
Ethnomethodology is a sociological
perspective that focuses on how people
create and maintain social order in their
everyday interactions. Here are some
examples of ethnomethodology in action:
9. • Greeting rituals: Ethnomethodologists might
study how people greet each other in different
social contexts, analyzing the unspoken rules
and expectations surrounding greetings, such as
handshakes, hugs, or verbal exchanges.
• Conversation analysis: Researchers might
examine how conversational turn-taking and
repair mechanisms function in natural
interactions, uncovering the subtle cues and
practices that allow people to communicate
10. • W o r k p l a c e i n t e r a c t i o n s :
Ethnomethodologists might observe how
employees in a workplace environment
navigate social hierarchies, coordinate tasks,
and negotiate roles and responsibilities
through their everyday interactions.
11. • Family dynamics: Studying family interactions can
reveal how members establish routines, allocate
resources, and manage conflicts through their everyday
behaviors and communication patterns.
• Public behavior: Observing how people behave in public
spaces, such as parks, transportation hubs, or shopping
malls, can shed light on the unwritten rules and norms
that govern social interactions in these settings.
12. • Online communities: Ethnomethodologists might
examine how individuals create and maintain social
order in online communities, such as forums or social
media platforms, through their use of language,
symbols, and interactional practices.
• Cultural rituals and ceremonies: Analyzing cultural
rituals and ceremonies can provide insights into how
social order is constructed and reinforced through
shared symbols, performances, and collective actions.
13. • Legal proceedings: Ethnomethodologists might study
courtroom inte ractions to und e rs tand how
participants, including judges, lawyers, witnesses, and
jurors, navigate legal proceedings and uphold
procedural norms through their speech and behavior.
These examples demonstrate how ethnomethodology
can be applied to various social contexts to uncover
the underlying practices and understandings that
contribute to the maintenance of social order.
14. Conclusion
O v e r a l l , G a r f i n k e l ' s w o r k i n
ethnomethodology has had a profound
impact on the field of sociology, challenging
conventional approaches to the study of
social order and offering new insights into
the ways in which people construct and
negotiate meaning in their everyday lives.
