Reality Construction in Interaction

Abstract

Any sociological study has at least an implicit concern with reality construc­ considered as the generation and maintenance of some organization of affairs, whether a family or a factory, a friendship or an illness. For mem­ bers of society, this.' 'reality is the unquestioned conceptualization of what they are doing and the context in which it is done. In most sociological work, the analyst shares this cO!lceptualization, which becomes the unques­ tioned resource for his work. The studies reviewed below make members' and analysts' conceptualizations of reality problematic. Both how and why this problem is studied in vary so extremely that reviewing the relevant work runs the risk either of lacking integration or of imposing inte­ gration on studies that have little epistemological or substantive common­ ality. Both problems persist despite the exclusion of much work that might be considered relevant to the topic. Still , a common research concern exists; without wishing to circumscribe a sociology of reality construc­ tion, a review that clarifies relationships among past research may sug­ gest certain future directions. Making reality construction problematic raises two questions. First, how much active agency do individuals enjoy in constructing social realities, and second, how malleable are most realities to the constructive activities of members? These questions are, of course, opposite sides of the same coin; for both, the issue seems to be the place of structure in any concep­ .tualization of social life. Understood only in its literal meaning, Thomas's famous theorem-if men define situations to be real, they are real in their consequences-seems