Cognitive Cultural Domains as Common Understandings: A Research Protocol

Abstract

Common Understanding (CU) is the shared awareness that a cultural domain exists as a category that labels some phenomenon of interest in the world within a particular social group, and this domain is described by a set of terms that set certain boundaries around it. This article deploys a research protocol using: (1) free lists to investigate variation both within and between group CU, and (2) a greedy algorithm to partition CU into covering subsets, or non-redundant configurations of listed terms, to enhance both interpretative meaning and advance further study. An American, ethnographic example from the domain of fabrics is used to illustrate the concept and method. Other potential applications, and an R program for computing the greedy algorithm, are also included.