Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology

1
Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology

• History
• Phenomenology
• Ethnomethodology
• Critique
• Doing Gender

2
History

• Sociologies of Everyday Life
• Agency
• Micro level
• Subjectivity
• Phenomenology
• Schutz
• Ethnomethodology
• Garfinkel

3
Phenomenology

• Schutz
• Intersubjectivity
• We-relations vs. they-relations

4
Ethnomethodology

• Comparison with Phenomenology
• Ethno/method/ology
• Examination of the methods people commonly use to
  sustain some kind of consensus about the world,
  and to solve problems that often have highly
  irrational features

5
Ethnomethodology (cont.)

• Garfinkel
• Parsons
• Social behavior operates on incomplete or
  uncertain behavior
• Examples of Research
• Breaching experiments
• Conversations
• Interruptions, turn-taking

6
Ethnomethodology (cont.)

• Empirical Studies
• Anspach
• Medical students learn emotional detachment
• Taught through case presentations
• Impact on patients

7
Ethnomethodology (cont.)

• Empirical Studies (cont.)
• West
• Asymmetrical relations between physicians and
  patients
• Data
• Sociable chitchat
• Turn-taking
• Questions/answers

8
Critique

• Research questions
• Phenomenological roots
• Social structures

9
Doing Gender

• West and Zimmerman
• Gender as a routine accomplishment embedded in
  everyday interaction
• Involves creating differences
• Not a simple task
• Its unavoidable
• Implications for social change