Practical rationality as a determinant of formality in communicative situations: toward a procedure for causal interpretation in qualitative communication research

Abstract

This article develops an updated version of formality as an analytical framework in the comparative study of communicative situations, and especially of meetings. The discussion remakes Judith Irvine’s formality framework by adding to it the explanatory principle of practical rationality as used within Weber’s Interpretive Sociology. This conceptual move provides an efficient and accurate means by which to infer the final causes, reasons, or ends of communicative situations. To illustrate this analytical approach and how it can contribute to qualitative theorization in general, the article conducts an in-depth ethnographic and comparative examination of civic software production meetings in Israel and the United States. The overall argument of the article is that practical rationality can provide a valuable means for deepening explanations of cultural difference in qualitative communication research.