THE WORK OF EXPLANATION Sample Clauses

THE WORK OF EXPLANATION. Something we particularly want to take note of in the materials we have been exploring here is the fact that a part of what one gets in the accounts provided by the inhabitants of homes is the work of making the data intelligible, for each other, and for others with an accountable interest (in this case a researcher). Sometimes, as in the following, inhabitants will work quite hard to locate explanations in this way: Xxxxx and Xxxxxxxx normally leave the house at about 7:40 but there is still motion being detected Xxxxx: OK, so I left the house and then there’s some activity at 12:00. Xxxxxxxx: So this has to be the cats because we’re not in. Xxxxx: Could be cat activity” Xxxxxxxx: We’ve got two cats and they would… Xxxxx: (interrupting) and we’re back at 6 so that’s kind if weird Xxxxxxxx: That has to be the cats, it can’t be anything else can it? Xxxxx: No, I don’t think so Xxxxxxxx: Although that first one’s longer isn’t it? How long in duration is that? About 8 minutes. … so generally you see, my perception of what the cats do when we’re not here. Xxxx, so when I leave, like this morning I took the car down to the garage at 9.00 and I clocked, cos Xxxxx [their son]’s room’s opposite ours, and I thought right, Xxxx’s gone back to bed. So he’s asleep on Xxxxx’s bed so and there he will remain, apart from getting up to have a look round for food. He’ll get up if there’s somebody that comes into the house but otherwise he’ll stay asleep. But as I was coming down the stairs, Xxxxxx shot up the stairs, so I thought I bet she’s going back to bed. So they’ll get up when we get up but then as soon as we leave I do think they go back to bed then have periods when they might get up sometimes… So what we want to draw attention to here is the fact that effort is always devoted to making what is visible in the data coherent in terms of the ordinary organisation of the home. The ‘problem’ here is that motion has been detected when no-one is in the house. They do, however, have two cats so the ‘reasonable’ option is to attribute this motion to the cats (not ghosts). Notice how Xxxxxxxx in particular takes some time here to render visible in her account just how the cat explanation is a reasonable explanation of the data as a meaningful feature of their home. The research reported here found that data that is not readily accounted for in this way is treated as being either suspect (e.g. the sensor must be faulty) or else relating to some hidden process (e.g. systems do...