ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on research which was conducted during the week February 2–7, 1987. A large part of the enjoyment which is derived from watching soap operas is talking about them with other people. Television may be viewed in the home and research has examined this aspect of the viewing experience but the talk about television also happens some time after the program has been viewed. Talking about soap operas forms part of the everyday work culture of both men and women. The process takes the form of storytelling, commenting on the stories, relating the incidents and assessing them for realism, and moving from the drama to discussing the incidents which are happening in the “real world,” as reported in the media. Bland facts or statistics give only a limited picture of any group of people. Additional descriptive material adds to the information and builds up a picture of the group.
