What is a key focus of ethnomethodological studies?

A key focus of ethnomethodological studies is exploring everyday social interactions. Ethnomethodology, developed by sociologist Harold Garfinkel, emphasizes the ways individuals make sense of their daily lives and the methods they use to construct and understand social reality. This approach investigates the informal norms and rules that shape behavior in ordinary interactions, allowing researchers to uncover how people produce and recognize social order in their day-to-day activities.

Ethnomethodologists conduct observational studies and analyze the mundane activities people engage in, focusing on the practices and processes that underlie the social world. By doing so, they reveal the implicit norms and expectations that govern interactions, which helps illuminate the often taken-for-granted aspects of social life. This study of the ‘how’ of social interactions provides insight into the complexities of human behavior in various contexts.

The other options do not capture the essence of ethnomethodology: establishing new social rules would imply a prescriptive approach rather than descriptive; understanding underlying social laws leans more toward theories of sociology that seek broader explanations; and creating theatrical interpretations of society suggests a performative element that is not central to ethnomethodological analysis.