gregariousness

And I've been on such good behavior!!!

I had a revelation about "normative" this evening. For me, norms are the things people actually do, which frequently doesn't coincide (to varying degrees) with what people say they should do - their "rules." Interpreting is my easiest example: people set up a communicative rule to take turns. But the norm develops such that there are overlaps and interruptions. Watch Steph's head implode! :-)

To conceive of "normative" as the ideal image someone holds is counterintuitive from my typical usage. I would use the term "prescriptive" to describe a theoretical viewpoint that implies things ought to be a particular way. And why this matters in research (watch me speculate) is because if I believe things ought to be a certain way, then my methodology and findings are going to reflect a comparative judgment (even if it is covert) on any deviation between how things "are" and what I think the "ought to be."