Project 1: Investigating the Significance of Taken-for-Granted Norms

Taken-for-granted Norms

Project 1: Investigating the Significance of Taken-for-Granted Norms, Due Sunday, July 7 by 11:59 PM. (25 points)

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Grading rubric (wiki help)

This project entails an investigation of the significance of the taken-for-granted rules (norms) that structure social situations and interaction in everyday life. You will be tasked to create an experiment to expose these norms by violating them and then analyze your results. Please exercise caution--this project can produce some "interesting" responses. It is best to choose a situation that includes friends, family, or acquaintances. If you choose a situation like a store, restaurant or other public place, it is advisable to let someone in charge know what you are doing.

Select a specific social situation to investigate- the social situation in which you choose to break a set of 5 "unwritten rules."

Example: Riding an Elevator, eating at a restaurant, waiting for the bus.

Go to the page you created for part 1 when your made your personal page in the appropriate class wiki (link found in Module 2).

For help with a wiki page, see Prof. Keel's Panopto tutorial, "Working in a Wiki" in the Wiki Help folder of the class MyGateway site--Module 1 and Help and Resources area. See also, wiki help.

Insure your page is named appropriately: "your last name, your first name-project 1" and that the link to this page from your personal page works properly.

Briefly describe the situation and provide a list of 5 unwritten rules presented as rules (be sure to create a link to this page from your personal page). Only pick five rules, be specific.

Example: Rule #1: When riding an elevator always stand facing the elevator doors.

Conduct the Experiment:

Conduct the experiment--this means you have to enter the situation and break the rules. Please exercise caution--this project can produce some "interesting" responses. It is best to choose a situation that includes friends, family, or acquaintances. If you choose a situation like a store, restaurant or other public place, it is advisable to let someone in charge know what you are doing.
On your wiki page for this project, provide a detailed description of the actual situation and the people present. Focus on reactions to rule violation and record detailed observations. Pay attention to specific subjects, to variations and patterns in responses, be specific, thorough and comprehensive, and pay attention to the wider audience.
This part, along with your list of rules, should be approximately 250 words.

Analyze the Results:

Focus on patterns, variations and consistencies in responses related to the situation (time and place), the various individuals involved (variables like gender, race, social class), and the rules in question. Make sense out of what happened. Sociological sense! Focus on the value, the significance of the rules, specifically in relationship to an understanding of the very important concept of social order--predictability and consistency in social interaction. Show how we use these rules to help us make sense out of situations and other people.
Apply the Three Sociological Perspectives (Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Interactionism)
- You need to focus on the significance of the RULES from each of the three theoretical perspectives--what sort of sociological explanation can you give for the behavior of people in your experiment.
- What is the significance of both the specific rules you tested, and also unwritten rules in general. What do the responses of people to rule violation tell you about the structure of social situations and human interaction?
- Make sure to define the three perspectives, discuss main assumptions, list scope, and apply.
This analysis should be approximately 250 words.

Be sure to correctly cite all information used from research resources (in-text citations and a list of references for each page) using the ASA manuscript submission guide (local copy with web citation guidelines or a full version of the ASA Style Guide). Additional assistance with referencing online resources can be found here. Also, remember we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain from using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism, and other non-academic practices. See academic integrity statement and Turnitin information.

Grading Rubric and Scoring for your Experiment (25 points possible):

General Evaluation Criteria for Written Work and Critical Thinking

	Personal Wiki Page
+2	Specific social situation
+3	5 specific rules listed
+7	Report on the experiment (250 words): Detailed description of situation and people present (3 points). Detailed focus on responses to rule violation (4 points).
+8	Analysis (250 words): General focus on the significance of the rules (3 points). Specific focus on the 3 theoretical perspectives (5 points).
+2	Use of wiki features: hyperlinks, images, etc.
+3	Presentation: Neatness, originality, no more than 2 spelling/grammar errors
+25	Total

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URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/010/Projects/project_1_breaching.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated: Friday, May 17, 2013 11:11 AM

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URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/010/Projects/project_1_breaching.html Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu Last Updated: Friday, May 17, 2013 11:11 AM

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/010/Projects/project_1_breaching.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated: Friday, May 17, 2013 11:11 AM