I. Review prior Steps A. So far: The goal has been to describe the CULTURAL MEANINGS SYSTEMS that people use to organize their behavior B. "Meaning" comes from symbols and how they are used. C. We can use ANY symbolic system that people have created, whether movies, computer logs, statues, documents, observations, or language D. Symbols always relate to other symbols. A group of symbols related to other symbols is called a "meanings system." Clothing (t-shirts), handshakes, queuing behavior---these all contain symbols that reflect a pattern, and that pattern can be a "meanings system." These systems and the symbols that create them can overlap with, or even conflict, with other meanings systems. II. Step 10: Making a Componential Analysis A COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS is simpy looking for the components of meaning--including similarities and differences (contrasts). For example (from Spradley): --TREE (a domain) --pine tree (type of tree) --apple tree (type of tree) --FRUIT (domain) --apple (type of fruit) --grape (type of fruit) --WOOD (domain) --pine (type of wood) --mahogany (type of wood) So, our domains (cover terms) and our types (included terms) are symantically related. This are obviously THINGS. The trick is to look at the various ATTRIBUTES of what we produced. The COMPONENATIAL ANALYSIS (in this example) is simply analyzing (ie, "looking for") the MULTIPLE RELATIONSHIPS between things. To do this, we fall back on a TAXONOMY, which we will explain next time.
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