A Summary Of Ethnomethodology

I. Introduction Since the early colonial period of Canada in the 16th century, the role of the church was essential for New France in regards to maintaining birth and death records of the French population (Satzewich, 2015). In Ontario, the Anglican Diocese of Niagara has maintained burial registers from the 19th century, each of which contain information on deaths of residents in the Hamilton, Ontario region. Church ministers held responsibility for transcribing the name, age, cause of death, and the city of residence of the individual in the burial registers. The recording process may appear objective, but it still remains subject to potential biases. Harold Garfinkel, an American sociologist, developed the theoretical approach of ethnomethodology (Dillon, 2014, p. 313). Ethnomethodology refers to the methods used by individuals to create a sense of an ordered reality (Dillon, 2014, p. 314). It is not a theory, but an approach to understanding the actions of individuals. In essence, it involves examining the use of societal expectations to explain events that have occurred in a particular setting (Dillon, 2014, p. 314). In context of the church ministers in the 19th century, certain societal expectations and understandings of the …show more content…
It is transferred through inhalation of the fluid droplets of coughs and sneezes from infected individuals (MedlinePlus, 2013). Symptoms include difficulty breathing, chest pain, coughing up mucus and blood, excess sweating at night, fatigue, fever, weight loss, and wheezing (MedlinePlus, 2013). The elderly, infants, and adults with weakened immune systems are highly susceptible to this infection. According to the church burial registers, consumption is largely responsible for childhood deaths. A total of 66.6%, or four out of six cases, of all recorded consumption cases across the two-year period were understood to be the cause of childhood