Ethnomethodology is a theory which was founded by sociologist, Harold Garfinkle and can be defined as: “Shared methods societal members use to make sense of everyday experiences across different settings.” (Dillon. 527). Ethnomethodologists concern themselves with documenting how individuals in society (which Garfinkle called “members”) work at creating an ordered or organized social reality (Dillon. 314). Social reality can be defined as: how individuals use society’s expectations of why and how things happen, in order to explain “what really happened” in a particular setting/activity. (Dillon. 314). People use their social realities everyday and everyone has a different social reality. Differing social realities are caused by what people witness, observe and experience in their
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Looking back at the example of a jury in relation to social reality, “jury deliberations also illuminates how an ordered social reality gets accomplished” (Dillon. 316). In summary, the jury deliberates among all of the many possibilities of what “really happened” opposed to what “allegedly happened” in a criminal case (Dillon. 316). Despite what people may think, factors of race, social class and gender all influence the jury’s verdict for the defendant. The statement that the defendant gives about what events took place is known as an “account”, this is how they remember the event that took place and describe it to the jury. It is the jury’s job to determine whether the “account” is accurate or not or come to s decision of “what really happened”. Garfinkle said in reference to accounts: “Any account of reality has to make practical sense; it has to be believable and recognizably rational by the standards of the society in which the accounts are produced.” (Dillon.
Looking back at the example of a jury in relation to social reality, “jury deliberations also illuminates how an ordered social reality gets accomplished” (Dillon. 316). In summary, the jury deliberates among all of the many possibilities of what “really happened” opposed to what “allegedly happened” in a criminal case (Dillon. 316). Despite what people may think, factors of race, social class and gender all influence the jury’s verdict for the defendant. The statement that the defendant gives about what events took place is known as an “account”, this is how they remember the event that took place and describe it to the jury. It is the jury’s job to determine whether the “account” is accurate or not or come to s decision of “what really happened”. Garfinkle said in reference to accounts: “Any account of reality has to make practical sense; it has to be believable and recognizably rational by the standards of the society in which the accounts are produced.” (Dillon.