I did a social experiment for my class with a partner about eating “mayo” in public. The purpose was to break a social norm– we filled mayo jars with vanilla pudding and went around campus eating mayo in front of people to record their reactions. I need to discuss my data and connect it back to sociology today. This is the prompt:
This assignment asks you to break a social norm and write a report about the experience. The purpose of your research is to determine both the extent to which and the ways in which norms influence behavior. You will discover how norms are a means of social control. First select a partner from you discussion section. Second, your task will be to choose a norm in our society and to break that norm in a social setting. You and your partner may choose different norms or the same norm. Both you and your partner should observe the interaction and take written field notes. You will be asked to observe the reactions of your partner and record both your interactions and those of your partner as well.