Ethnomethodology

Question 1

How is social order achieved according to who?

Answer 1

Garfunkel
Order and meaning are not achieved because people are puppets and passively influenced by the social system, as functionalists believe
Instead he argues that social order is an accomplishment something members of society actively construct in everyday life using their common sense knowledge

Question 2

What is meant by indexicality and why is it a threat to social order?

Answer 2

Meanings are always potentially unclear, known as indexicality
Nothing has a fixed meaning, everything depends on context. Indexicality is a threat to social order because if meanings become unclear then communication and cooperation becomes difficult and social relationships begin to break down

Question 3

What is meant by reflexivity?

Answer 3

What enable us to behave as if meanings are clear and obvious is reflexivity, which refers to the fact that we use common sense knowledge in everyday interactions to construct a sense of meaning and order to stop indexicality from occurring

Question 4

What is of vital importance in achieving reflexivity?

Answer 4

Language — when we are describing something, we are creating it, our descriptions give it reality removing uncertainty and making them seem solid and meaningful
Language is evidence that we have constructed shared reflexivity and imposed meaning on them