Motor Cyclists

Image and Reality

J. Peter Rothe, Peter J. Cooper

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000678222
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sciences sociales
• Subtopic: Sociologie

First published in 1989, the main thrust in this volume has been to denote and elucidate a source of information on motorcyclists?a source which the editors believe is particularly rich with data about characteristics, images and everyday social behaviors.

CHAPTER 1

MOTORCYCLISTS: THE CONCEPTUAL BASIS

J.P. Rothe

Introduction

Consider the following rationalizations concerning motorcycle riders. Each account holds a set of values which guides a perspective:

1. 1. Motorcyclists are natural risk-takers who drive dangerously with no concern about their own or anybody else’s safety.
2. 2. Motorcyclists are ill-prepared to handle a powerful, dangerous machine like a motorcycle.
3. 3. Motorcyclists place themselves in dangerous positions because they lack the training to anticipate problems and they are easily overlooked by other motorists.

There is much interest in the reasoning of all the descriptions listed above. It is not unusual to find a news article on motorcyclists which touches on one or more of the above rationalizations.

We, at the Traffic Safety Planning and Research Department, became interested in motorcyclists and in the variety of perspectives ascribed to them. Often debates on motorcycling turn to motorcycle training programs and the need to enforce enrolment in them prior to receiving a driver’s licence. With training, the argument goes, motorcyclists will be better able to judge road conditions, to anticipate problem areas, to learn appropriate skills in handling a motorcycle, and to appreciate the necessity for safe driving.

We were left with a major problem area. In a rather simplified version we concentrated on one key question. To what extent are motorcycle driver training program participants different from non-participants? Of secondary interest were the questions: how do program participants differ from non-participants in demographic and personal characteristics and how do their respective traffic violation rates and accident involvements differ?

To answer these questions we engaged in a yearlong research project. This volume describes the study in depth. It entails six major parts. Although each part builds on previous sections to a considerable degree, they each have different purposes. At the same time the combination of all the components presents a holistic picture of motorcyclists’ characteristics in terms of motorcycle driver training participants and non-participants.

In chapter 1, Peter Rothe introduces the social anthropological framework of emic, mid-range and etic. His outline served as the pillar for the development of research strategies. The presentation relies heavily on anthropology and phenomenological sociology.

Before delving into the research, we recognized the need to review previous motorcycle studies and conceptual definitions. In chapter 2, Sylvia Fockler engaged in such a comprehensive literature review. Fockler’s analysis of the literature provided insight into the “state of the art” on motorcycle research. Her broadly based text presented us with an orientation of what kind of research “has been done,” “could be done” and “should be done.”

Next, there is a need to describe how motorcyclists’ ideas and activities emerge and are sustained. To answer the requirement, Peter Rothe developed chapter 3 as a way of “seeing” motorcyclists at the commonsense level. He presents a description on the public character of motorcyclists; one that serves as the ground cover for the statistical exposés.

Chapter 4 focuses on the social contexts and experiences of a motorcycle driver training course. As a participant observer, Rothe recounts his observations and interviews and details how they impact students. As an intensive participant, Rothe gathered observational data through personal involvement and direct statements made by other participants.

Chapter 5 is organized around a telephone survey of motorcycle driver training program participants and non-participants. This component of the book was considered to be the mid-range. Cooper and Fockler detail the statistical differences between the two groups pertaining to personal and driver characteristics and points of view. Through a challenging multiple regression (canonical correlation) analysis they further interpret the characteristics of each group, by traffic violation and accident records. This chapter provides the reader with an in-depth sense of differences between motorcycle driver training participants and non-participants.

In chapter 6, a broad analysis of all British Columbia motorcycle accidents which occurred in 1984 was undertaken. This section of the book is the etic. Peter Cooper introduces a set of analytical categories and proceeds to interpret the accident data accordingly. This section features all motorcyclists involved in an accident and also examines variables in the overall rider population which are associated with higher accident and conviction rates.

Finally, chapter 7 summarizes what has been discovered in the study. The purpose of this section is to highlight the findings and to set the agenda for future motorcyclist work.

Conceptual Basis of the Study

Metaphorically speaking, motorcycle riders inhabit different worlds. First they inhabit a micro world consisting of everyday, immediate experiences. Beyond that, with varying degrees of continuity, they inhabit a macro world; one involving larger social structures that are mostly abstract, anonymous and remote (Berger, 1975). For a researcher, each world depends upon the other for meaningful information. According to Berger:

The micro world and what goes on in it only makes full sense if it is understood against the background of the macro world that envelopes it; conversely, the macro world has little reality for us unless it is repeatedly represented in the face-to-face encounters of the micro world (1975, p. 8).

In a motorcycle training course the activities and structures derive most of their meaning from their being experienced as part of the enveloping process of driver training; conversely, driver training would remain a vague idea with little reality unless it became part of immediate experiences with others in a face-to-face situation.

Similarly, for the researcher, constant awareness must be instilled that the particular research study interpenetrates research methodologies, academic disciplines, and life philosophies. Conversely, findings in particular research studies may align themselves to acceptable research paradigms or they may realign themselves to broad research interests (St. Clair and Giles, 1980). So, for researchers to fully understand motorcyclists they must constantly be aware of the twofold manifestation of the phenomena, the microscopic as well as the macroscopic.

The central research question for this study was: “to what extent is the motorcyclist who has no formal driver training different from the one who has?” To answer this question the following postulate outlined by Schutz served as a guide:

The basic postulate of the methodology of social science must be the following: choose the scheme of reference adequate to the problem you are interested in, consider its limits and possibilities, make its terms compatible and consistent with one another, and having once accepted it, stick to it (1965).

Consistent with Schutz’s postulate, an eclectic framework was designed which served as the basis for the research. The framework is entitled emic, mid-range and etic.

Overview of Emic, Mid-range and Etic

The concepts of emic and etic were borrowed from the anthropological linguist, Kenneth Pike. The concept, mid-range, was first considered by Merton. The emic approach fits with the micro-world identity. It is concerned with the discovery of human behaviors that occur in different social situations. In 1909, Thomas described that peoples’ behavior in different social situations were a central concern for sociological theory building. Therefore, it was paramount that researchers gather data on peoples’ functions and roles and attitudes of self and of groups. Since social situations were created, it was preferred that researchers uncover the definitions of situations, which were shared by actors and objective environmental elements bounding the social behavior.

According to Geertz (1973), an emic analysis is closely tied to concrete social events and occasions. It shares the podium of relevance with Berger’s (1975) concept of micro world, Simmel’s (1971) designation of social forms, and Thomas’ recognition of social situation. Emic, like the conventional linguistic usage of phonemic, is a viewpoint which directs the researcher to understand relevant events and behaviors from inside a system.

The mid-range perspective features “general knowledge” about a group studied, particularly about how people perceive, interpret and document their activities and behaviors. Researchers ask people questions that restrict the respondents’ frame of possibilities. They only allow for specific answers within a defined context. For example, questionnaires with fixed-choice response categories are typically used in survey research. Because of their rigorously defined structures they preclude the possibility of obtaining unanticipated definitions that respondents may have of the situation. However, questionnaires provide data through standardized modes of inquiry, which detail empirical regularities and trends about social action. Statistical patterns are established to serve as general knowledge about cohorts. In a mid-range typology, social actions are described according to concepts which relate to inner experiences, but are defined according to outer categories. Researchers have one foot in peoples’ definitions of behaviors, and the other foot in empirical designs.

The etic perspective is further removed from the social situation. Here, researchers construct schemata for looking at data. They direct their attention to a distribution or set of distribution of counts and make inferences about the social forces which could have produced them (Cicourel, 1964). The constructs are derived from sources external to the phenomena and previous to their investigation (Green and Wallat, 1981). According to Pike (1954), for an etic approach the analyst “stands far enough away” from a particular cohort to see its separate events through use of phenomenal distinctions and sub-classifications.

Whereas emic corresponds to the micro world of human activities, the mid-range extends from the micro to the macro worlds, the etic relates entirely to the macro world of social events. It serves as a statistical reconstruction of events from a secure distance. Although the real distinctions between emic, mid-range and etic are not always as clear as the simplified construction presented, the outline does provide a practical framework for structuring motorcycle rider research.

The Emic, Mid-range and Etic of Motorcyclists

The social phenomenon under investigation in this study is motorcycle riding. Our interest is subdivided according to participants in formal motorcycle rider training courses, to non-participants of rider training, and to the overall characteristics of motorcycle riders. Figure 1 illustrates these ideas.

Figure 1
The Emic, Mid-range and Etic

A. Emic:

A key research query for this study is to identify similarities and differences between motorcyclists who had experienced and had not experienced motorcycle driver training courses. Hence, the emic perspective is of relevance to everyday riding behavior and to motorcycle training courses. For everyday behavior, the intent is to review sense-making risks that influence motorcycle riding behavior. For a motorcycle training course, the purpose is to analyze a course’s commonsense rules that underlie student and instructor conduct, meaning, and patterns of operation. From the emic perspective, it is important to recognize the significant subjective meanings and rules of conduct that exist on the road and within the micro world of motorcycle training. The accounts are designed to be intelligible to the students and trainers. The textual description may provide accounts of “seen-but-unnoticed” behavior which may unwittingly be crucial turning points for explaining motorcyclist characteristics generally, and course practices specifically.

Mode of Understanding

The purpose of understanding within the emic perspective is to describe social behavior whether it be on the street or in a training course. Understanding is translated as “Verstehen” or interpretive understanding whereby human intentions and meaningful actions are investigated (Weber, 1949). The “facts” of emic research are the participants’ reasons for participating in activities, their behaviors, their views of self in life dramas, their attempts at mastery of skills, and their participation in actions vis-a-vis relationship with others.

In short, what are the motorcyclists’ behaviors that are oriented towards the everyday construction of riding or towards participation in a motorcycle rider training course?

View of Reality

Motorcyclists on the street or in a training course make choices, set goals and create activities. They are not passive individuals acting in solo fashion. Rather, they actively participate in interactive relationships with other motorists, instructors, students, motorcycles and riding environments. The reality of a motorcycle training course, therefore, is structured around assumed but seldom-questioned relationships amongst students, between students and instructors, and between students and machines, roadways and physical obstacles. Similarly, the reality of motorcycling on the street is structu...