3 - Thinking about experience

Summary

An enduring challenge for sociologists is to find means of understanding how individual actions end up as types of organization and rules of engagement that appear to take on a life of their own and then constrain individual action. To get a picture of this dynamic, theories are developed from both the individual (micro level) and the institutional (macro level) points of reference. In this chapter, I introduce ideas for examining individuals' experiences and actions, and in the next chapter I will outline a theoretical framework for discussing the nature of Catholic organization. There are many approaches to studying individuals. The one I am adopting is phenomenological; that is, looking at the many dimensions of people's actual lived experience as they perceive and report it. In this chapter, I reproduce parts of Meredith's narrative to help explain some of the core ideas that I will use to compare and discuss people's experiences.

Experience is a very general term, which refers to many human faculties that inform individuals' meaning-making activity. When we talk about our problems with others we often refer to our self, what seems true or wrong, the time or timing of events, and we try to figure out how reality is going to pan out for us. For instance, in my personal snapshot, described in Chapter 1, I perceived that the truth of the matter was that I had chosen a very difficult path in leaving a marriage and pursuing the direction I felt the Spirit was leading me.