Prototype theory (Rosch 1975) puts forward the idea that we all base our concepts of words on
best-fit examples, which serve as prototype ‘images’. An example of this would be a Volvo
serving as a prototype for car as far as Swedes are concerned.
Naturally, prototypes will differ depending on what society we live in. Note that society
can be viewed on a micro as well as macro level. What is important here is really what speech
community we belong to. An example to illustrate this would be the prototypes different
grouping have for the word ‘music’; for example, young people from the same nation may
conjure very different images when they hear the word than older individuals.
Another approach to define meaning was proposed by Wittgenstein (1945). Using the
example game, he came up with the idea of family resemblances. He pointed out that the
members of the category game do not share the same properties and, therefore, they cannot be
clearly distinguished from non-games. The boundary of the category is ‘fuzzy’, meaning that
members have shared features and similarities, but there is no single characteristic as such
which makes them ‘games’. Take the examples of board games, card games, ball games and
Olympic games. There are really few features these games have in common, but what we can
see are similarities and relationships. You do not win or lose in all games, but in some of them.
Not all games are amusing, but some are. There is not always competition between players,
and the features of skill and luck are not always part of all games. Wittgenstein sums up his
investigation by stating that “we see a complicated network of similarities overlapping and
criss-crossing: sometimes overall similarities, sometimes similarities of detail” (Taylor 1995:
39).
For this assignment, you are asked to investigate the meaning of a concept as conceived
by two different social groupings using one of the two approaches above. Note that it does not
have to be concrete concepts only that you investigate – you may want to find individuals’
view of a concept such as ‘science’, or a feeling such as ‘love’, for example.
For your investigation, do the following:
• Choose a word that you want to investigate.
• Choose at least two social groups that you want to test (old/young; men/women;
Swedes/Kenyans are just some examples). Each group should include at least
five individuals (10 individuals in all).
• Devise a test which will investigate the prototypes, or the characteristics
associated with your concept/word of the individuals of your groups.
• Write a report where you describe your experiment (approximately 3 pages).
• This report should include the following parts:
o Background (something about prototype theory or family resemblance),
o Aims and Method (remember to describe your participants and exactly
how you carried out your investigation),
o Results, which you may want to show as a chart or table – but remember
to describe them in addition to presenting them in a chart / table.
o Discussion of the results, remembering to mention any limitations, and
to hedge your findings, given the small size of the investigation,
o Conclusion (you may want to say something about future ideas for
expanding your small investigation here).
Sample Solution