Breaching¶
Social interaction represents one of the central building blocks of society. Despite being unscripted, these interactions have strict unwritten rules. Breaking those rules, or being deviant, is a critical way of discovering what the norms are and what is the range of reactions to norm violations. Before you begin, please review the section on “Values, Norms, and Sanctions” in the Culture chapter and take a look at page 436 in the textbook(“Encounters with Strangers”), particularly the concept of “civil inattention”.
To Do¶
You will conduct an exercise that violates social norms and write a short paper about the experience. This exercise may be performed alone or in a group (of your choice) of four or fewer participants. **The norm violation can not include illegal activities or those that might risk someone’s safety, health, or well-being (i.e., violating masking requirements in a pandemic). In addition, don’t complete breaches where the violation is that you make someone else sad or angry (ex. telling your friend they look ugly, etc.) because that is mean. ** In our current pandemic world, I would strongly encourage you to conduct your breach on social media, such as something that defies our new norms of online courses, such as brushing your teeth during Zoom class. If conducting your experiment as a group, each group member will perform the breach once. When not performing the breach, the other group members should observe the interaction and write an observation log documenting people’s reactions to the breach. After completing your breach, you should write a brief research report that discusses your research and what you found. You may conduct your breach as part of a group, but each person must individually write and submit a research report.
Rubric¶
These are guidelines, but feel free to try new things and stretch your creativity for a high pass. In your submission text, please clearly state which set of requirements you are attempting to fulfill.
In order to receive a Pass or High Pass, you must complete all components of that grade category.
Pass
Research
Violates more than one well-identified social norm in a clear way or violates the same norm in more than one way.
Chooses breaches that are creative
Includes video or photographic proof that the breach occurred. Ideally, this would be a link to a video of the breach. If you are doing this solo, a photo of the situation pre or post breach is sufficient. Attach this on Sakai or text it to Professor Caren (919-381-7638) along with your name. As part of your assignment, put “I texted the video to Professor Caren from my phone, 919-xxx-xxxx.”
Report
Include summary paragraph as introduction.
Describe your data and methods of analysis, including describes the breaches with details about the settings they took place in (virtual/physical), the norms and your expectations.
Use detailed description to explain people’s reactions to the different breaches
Describes how you felt while doing the breaches and analyzes why that feeling occurred
Explains why your breaches are significant sociologically- what do they show/mean? Make a clear connection to more than one course concept.
Evaluate your methodology.
500 word minimum
High Pass
Research
Violates more than one well-identified social norm in a clear way or violates the same norm in more than one way.
Chooses breaches that are creative
Varies the breach or norm in such a way as to test a hypothesis
Includes video or photographic proof that the breach occurred. Ideally, this would be a link to a video of the breach. If you are doing this solo, a photo of the situation pre or post breach is sufficient. Attach this on Sakai or text it to Professor Caren (919-381-7638) along with your name. As part of your assignment, put “I texted the video to Professor Caren from my phone, 919-xxx-xxxx.”
Report
Include summary paragraph as introduction.
Describes your hypothesis.
Describe your data and methods of analysis, including describes the breaches with details about the settings they took place in (virtual/physical), the norms and your expectations.
Use detailed description to explain people’s reactions to the different breaches
Describes how you felt while doing the breaches and analyzes why that feeling occurred
Explains why your breaches are significant sociologically- what do they show/mean? Make a clear connection to more than one course concept.
Reflects on how the breach might have been different if a different person had conducted it (maybe someone of a different personality type or identity)
Analyzes the limitations of these types of experiments
Evaluate your methodology.
500 word minimum
Low Pass
Research
Violates a well-identified social norm in a clear way
Includes video or photographic proof that the breach occurred. Ideally, this would be a link to a video of the breach. If you are doing this solo, a photo of the situation pre or post breach is sufficient. Attach this on Sakai or text it to Professor Caren (919-381-7638) along with your name. As part of your assignment, put “I texted the video to Professor Caren from my phone, 919-xxx-xxxx.”
Report
Include summary paragraph as introduction.
Describe your data and methods of analysis, including describes the breaches with details about the settings they took place in (virtual/physical), the norms and your expectations.
Describe people’s reactions to your breach
Describes how you felt while doing the breach
250 word minimum