Definition of Ethnomethodology
(noun) The study of how people make sense of and navigate their everyday world through orderly norms and rituals.
Example of Ethnomethodology
- Ethnomethodologists have studied behavior change by breaking a norm, such as facing the back of an elevator and observing how other passengers react.
Etymology of Ethnomethodology
- Coined by Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011) in Studies in Ethnomethodology (1967).
Ethnomethodology Pronunciation
Syllabification: eth·no·meth·od·ol·o·gy
Audio Pronunciation
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˌɛθnoʊˌmɛθəˈdɑlədʒi/
- British English – /ˌɛθnəʊˌmɛθəˈdɒlədʒi/
Usage Notes
- Plural: ethnomethodologies
- A qualitative research method.
- An (noun) ethnomethodologist studies society from the (adjective) ethnomethodologic or (adjective) ethnomethodological perspective to understand social interactions (adverb) ethnomethodologically.
Related Quotation
- “[A] number of sociologists regard ethnomethodology as a frivolous approach to studying human behavior because it does not examine the impact of macrolevel social institutions—such as the economy and education—on people’s expectancies. Women’s studies scholars suggest that ethnomethodologists fail to do do what they claim to do: look at how social realities are created. Rather, they take ascribed statuses (such as race, class, gender, and age) as ‘given,’ not as socially created realities” (Kendall 2006:129).
Additional Information
- Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Atkinson, J. Maxwell, and John Heritage. 1984. Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Bologh, Roslyn Wallach. 1992. “The Promise and Failure of Ethnomethodology from a Feminist Perspective: Comment on Rogers.” Gender and Society 6(2):199–206. doi:10.1177/089124392006002004.
- Coulon, Alain. 1995. Ethnomethodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
- Francis, David, and Stephen Hester. 2004. An Invitation to Ethnomethodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
- Garfinkel, Harold. 1967. Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Handel, Warren H. 1982. Ethnomethodology: How People Make Sense. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Livingston, Eric. 1987. Making Sense of Ethnomethodology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Lynch, Michael, and Wes W. Sharrock, eds. 2011. Ethnomethodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
- Scott, Susie. 2009. Making Sense of Everyday Life. Cambridge: Polity.
- Have, Paul ten. 2004. Understanding Qualitative Research and Ethnomethodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
- The International Institute for Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis: iiemca.org
- WiseGEEK – What is Ethnomethodology: wisegeek.org
Related Terms
Reference
Kendall, Diana. 2006. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Works Consulted
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Cite the Definition of Ethnomethodology
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “ethnomethodology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved June 5, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnomethodology/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
ethnomethodology. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnomethodology/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “ethnomethodology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnomethodology/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“ethnomethodology.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 5 Jun. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnomethodology/>.