JMAtkinson1982
| JMAtkinson1982 | |
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| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | JMAtkinson1982 |
| Author(s) | J. Maxwell Atkinson |
| Title | Understanding formality: the categorization and production of “formal” interaction |
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| Tag(s) | EMCA, Formality |
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| Year | 1982 |
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| Journal | British Journal of Sociology |
| Volume | 33 |
| Number | 1 |
| Pages | 86–117 |
| URL | Link |
| DOI | 10.2307/589338 |
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Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between 'formal' and 'informal' social action with reference to recent research in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Evidence is presented in support of the proposal that a taken for granted model of conversational interaction is used by analysts, both lay and professional, as a comparative reference point against which certain actions are categorized as 'formal'. Such a procedure, it is suggested, results in evaluative interpretations which fail to address the question of how such interactions may be operating to produce orderliness in the settings where they are found. This theme is developed mainly in relation to the way a number of recurrent features of multi-party interaction may provide practical solutions to a general problem which appears to be common to all such settings, namely that of how to create and preserve the conditions for sustaining the shared attentiveness of all co-present parties to the proceedings at hand. The general themes are also briefly considered with reference to small-scale interactions that are likely to be regarded as 'formal'.
Notes
