Journal #3 – Due - “Breaching Experiment”
For this Journal, you are asked to question the “rules” of the social world around us, and you will
conduct a brief study that highlights the importance of social rules in our everyday existence. As
a participant observer, you will conduct an experiment that breaches a social norm or rule. Then
you are going to observe how breaching the rule affects the behavior of the people around you.
How does breaking social norms disrupt social structure? We call this a breaching experiment.
You can do just about anything that would get people to take notice of your “odd” behavior that
goes against group norms. The only thing you can’t do is physical harm to anyone or put yourself
in danger.
You will write a 3-page paper that will briefly analyze the experiment and the norms and/or
background rules that were violated. In the analysis, you must use concepts and themes from the
textbook to help make sense of what occurred in your experiment. Read and apply the following
sections of our text:


Chapters 5 and 6
Chapter 2 sections on “Research Ethics”, “The Experiment”, and “Participant
Observation”
In your write-up, make sure you include:
1) Intro: Briefly, tell me what you did, and what is your sociological understanding of the
way others reacted? Include a thesis statement. (1 short paragraph)
2) Methods: Briefly, give me a summary of what you did (methods section) and which
method you employed.
3) Findings: Briefly write about how people reacted. Identify how many people were
present, and their gender, race, and approximate age. Also, briefly describe the setting.
(building or outside?) What were people’s reactions? Did different people in the group
react differently? (1-2 paragraphs)
4) Analysis: Sociologically analyze the response of the other people in your experiment.
You need to use material from the textbook to do this. You should analyze the response
using the material on Chapters 5 and 6 (roles, role expectation, role performance,
statuses, Dramaturgical Analysis, Social Construction of Reality, Demeanor, etc).
a. Explain the importance of group norms to social structure according to our
textbook. Explain what the social construction of reality is, and how cultural
norms, social roles, and social statuses support it. (2 paragraphs)
b. Identify which norms you might have violated. (1 paragraph)
c. Then discuss what people’s reactions to the norm violation tell us about this
specific culture (Ex: Did you stand to close to them? –What does their reaction
tell us about the value of personal space in this social context?) (2-3
paragraphs)
5) Reflection on the ethics: Using the section of our textbook that discusses Ethics (Chapter
2), ask yourself, was this experiment ethical? Ask yourself, and for reflect on your
answer, did you feel uncomfortable? Why? (1-2 paragraphs)
6) Conclusion: Restate everything very quickly and your done! (1 short paragraph)
If you cannot come up with any ideas, please take a look at these examples. Your experiment
does not have to be extreme; instead think of the subtle ways that we follow norms everyday, and
how we might violate those little rules. And please do not do a breeching experience that puts
yourself or other people in danger.
Examples
1. Talk to yourself in a public place.
2. Stand or sit close to a stranger or stand far away from a good friend or partner during the
course of an ordinary conversation.
3. Select an occasion -- going to class, going on a date, going to the library -- and dress differently
than the expected "uniform." Treat your attire as absolutely appropriate to the circumstances.
4. Step onto an elevator, but stand facing the crowd (with your back to the door) for the entire
ride.
5. Stare at someone for a prolonged period of time, or refuse to make eye contact with someone
who is trying to have an intimate conversation with you.
6. While eating dinner with friends or family, break some of the rules we all follow
subconsciously at mealtime (ie eat off of another’s plate without asking, eat very slowly or very
quickly, talk on your cell phone at the dinner table, etc).
7. Cross gender boundaries. Buy a girly gift for a boy in your family or a boyish gift for a girl.