Breaching Experiment: Violating Politeness Norms in Public
This paper presents a breaching experiment inspired by Harold Garfinkel's ethnomethodology, specifically his observation that social norms go unnoticed until violated. The experiment involved deliberately omitting "please" and "thank you" during interactions with shop assistants and restaurant servers, as well as in the presence of friends. Results revealed three categories of reaction among strangers: subtle hostility, being ignored, and open verbal scolding. Friends responded with confusion and discomfort but no hostility. The findings support Garfinkel's theory that deeply ingrained social norms — such as expressions of politeness — are only consciously recognized when breached, and that violating them produces measurable social consequences.
- Introduction: Garfinkel's norm theory applied to politeness
- Description of the Experiment: Mall and restaurant settings, omitting please and thank you
- Population: Shop assistants, servers, and uninformed friends
- Results: Three reaction types: hostility, ignoring, verbal refusal
- Interpretation: Strangers vs. friends react differently to norm breach
- Conclusions and Future Possibilities: Findings confirm Garfinkel; future experiments proposed
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its experiment clearly in Garfinkel's ethnomethodological framework from the outset, giving the design theoretical legitimacy.
- Results are organized by frequency of occurrence (most common, second-most common, least common), which imposes logical structure on qualitative observations.
- The inclusion of both strangers and friends as participants adds a natural comparative dimension that enriches the interpretation section.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the use of a breaching experiment as a first-person empirical method. Rather than simply describing Garfinkel's theory, the writer tests it through direct behavioral intervention, then connects observed outcomes back to the theoretical claim. This theory-to-method-to-evidence loop is a foundational move in applied social science writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a clear social science lab-report structure: introduction establishing theory, description of method, population identification, results reported by reaction type, interpretation linking findings to theory, and a conclusion with suggestions for future research. Each section is concise and purposeful, making the argument easy to follow from hypothesis through evidence to conclusion.
Introduction
One of Harold Garfinkel's central observations is that social norms and rules are so commonly accepted and integrated into natural human interaction that they are only noticed consciously when they are violated. In order to observe the extent to which this is true, this experiment focuses on the use of "please" and "thank you." These expressions of desire and gratitude are so deeply ingrained in human consciousness that they appear thousands of times in daily interactions. As human beings, we say "please" and "thank you" to adhere to commonly held rules of politeness. It is one of the first things children learn when they begin to acquire speech. Observing how people react when they do not receive the expected phrases of request or thanks proves to be a revealing test of Garfinkel's claim.
Description of the Experiment
Specifically, the experiment was conducted in a shopping mall and a restaurant. The approach was to request assistance without saying "please" and to withhold "thank you" after assistance was provided. During the experiment, one notable difficulty was that it was surprisingly hard not to follow a request with "please" or assistance with "thank you." This difficulty suggests that the social norm has become so thoroughly conditioned that it functions as an automatic habit requiring no conscious thought. Having been taught the rules of politeness from a very young age, breaking this habit required deliberate and sustained effort. It was necessary to consciously remind myself not to make polite utterances while interacting with shopkeepers and waiters.
References
Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
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