Editing Breaching experiment (section)

{{short description|Sociology, social psychology experiment definition}}
In the fields of [[sociology]] and [[social psychology]], a '''breaching experiment''' is an [[experiment]] that seeks to examine people's reactions to violations of commonly accepted social rules or [[Norm (sociology)|norms]]. Breaching experiments are most commonly associated with [[ethnomethodology]], and in particular the work of [[Harold Garfinkel]]. Breaching experiments involve the conscious exhibition of "unexpected" behavior/violation of social norms, an observation of the types of social reactions such behavioral violations engender, and an analysis of the social structure that makes these social reactions possible.<ref name="rafolovich">{{Cite journal |last=Rafalovich |first=Adam |year=2006 |title=Making sociology relevant: The assignment and application of breaching experiments |journal=Teaching Sociology |volume=34 |pages= 156–163 |doi=10.1177/0092055X0603400206 |issue=2 |s2cid=143700112 }}</ref>  The idea of studying the violation of social norms and the accompanying reactions has bridged across social science disciplines, and is today used in both sociology and psychology.

The assumption behind this approach is not only that individuals engage daily in building up "rules" for social interaction, but also that people are unaware they are doing so.<ref name="ethnomethodology1996">Ritzer, George. 1996. “Ethnomethodology.” Pp. 373-399 in Sociological Theory. 4th Ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill| {{ISBN|0078111676}}</ref> The work of sociologist [[Erving Goffman]] laid the theoretical foundation for ways to study the construction of everyday social meanings and behavioral norms, especially by breaking unstated but universally accepted rules.  Garfinkel expanded on this idea by developing ethnomethodology as a [[qualitative research]] method for social scientists. Later, in the 1970s and 80s, famous social psychologist [[Stanley Milgram]] developed two experiments to observe and quantify responses to breaches in social norms to empirically analyze reactions to violation of those norms.<ref name="onmaintaining">{{Cite book |last1=Stanley |first1=Milgram |first2=John |last2=Sabini |title=On maintaining social norms: A field experiment in the subway |editor1-first=A. |editor1-last=Baum |editor2-first=J.E. |editor2-last=Singer |editor3-first=S.|editor3-last=Valins |publisher=Erlbaum Associates |year=1978 |pages= 31–40 |chapter=Advances in environmental psychology 1, the urban environment|isbn=978-0898593716 }}</ref><ref name="response">{{Cite journal |last1=Milgram | first1=Stanley |last2=Liberty | first2=Hilary | last3=Toledo | first3=Raymond | last4=Blacken |year=1986| title=Response to intrusion in waiting lines | journal= Journal of Personality and Social Psychology| issue=4 |pages=683–689|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.51.4.683|volume=51 |first4=Joyce }}</ref>