Negative and Positive Keying in Natural Contexts: Preserving the Transformation Concept from Death through Conaflation

Frame analysis has been severely criticized for its reliance on fictive and newspaper domains and its static portrayal of social behavior. Published and refereed studies, many of the participant observer vintage, are examined to investigate these charges. Conclusions include: (1) transformations are significant occurrences in Americans'daily lives, (2) societal definitions cannot be validly depicted apart from the emergent aspects of personal and interpersonal histories, (3) a new form of keying, negative keying , a not-reality, is conceptualized, (4) the relationship between Goffman's transformations and Glaser's and Strauss'awareness contexts is delineated. Recommendations for the future study of layered definitions are offered.