THE SEARCH FOR THE UNIQUE ACTOR: A CRITICAL CONSTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE RETAIL CLERK

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dc.contributor.advisorBonanno, Alessandro
dc.creatorHernandez, Robert
dc.creator.orcid0000-0002-7822-4835
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-18T13:11:17Z
dc.date.available2020-05-18T13:11:17Z
dc.date.created2020-05
dc.date.issued2020-03-31
dc.date.submittedMay 2020
dc.date.updated2020-05-18T13:11:17Z
dc.description.abstractThis study probes the contradictory position of the retail clerk (RC), which is socially constructed and legitimized through: (1) Retail settings where the actor carries dichotic roles—what Erving Goffman would call actual and virtual roles—and (2) in general society, where a contrast in social significance of the RC role arises based upon functional necessity within the U.S. economic structure. These socially constructed contradictions of the RC role result in role conflict, a “role ambiguity”, which veils the “unique” actor behind the RC role and which consequently skews epistemological understanding of what we understand the RC role to be. Utilizing Joe Kincheloe’s critical constructivist approach, the researcher presents a critical analysis of the RC role as viewed through traditional functional and symbolic interactive frameworks, which reveals major limitations regarding the RC—role ambiguity and lack of unique actor. In order address and untangle these limitations related to the RC, a phenomenological approach is used to construct a platform through the use of researcher observation and semi-structured interviews. Through data collection and analysis— reduction and bracketing—of these semi-structured interviews and observation, this study exposes the unique actor behind the RC through personal narrative. This personal narrative reveals a humanistic, social interaction element between RCs, which is constructed in order to combat the definition through which others interact with them. This humanization of the RC allows for the emergence of a new lived experience perspective, which provides us new narrative towards the epistemological understanding of the RC.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/2752
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectRetail
dc.subjectLived experience
dc.subjectQualitative
dc.subjectUnique actors
dc.subjectDramaturgy
dc.titleTHE SEARCH FOR THE UNIQUE ACTOR: A CRITICAL CONSTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE RETAIL CLERK
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialtext
thesis.degree.departmentSociology
thesis.degree.grantorSam Houston State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts

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