Discourse Analysis Flashcards
What are the foundations of discourse analysis and why is this important?
Study of language is particularly vital to social psychology and is the most basic + pervasive form of interaction. Considering how people formulate subjectivity and tie this to descriptions or assessments of what the world is like
What materials are often used in discourse analysis?
Digital or audio recordings
What are the three core observations in discourse (discursive psychology)?
- Discourse is both construcTED (made up of linguistic building blocks such as words, categories and repertoires) and construcTIVE (versions of the world are a product of the talk itself)
- Discourse is action oriented- primary medium for social action; to separate talk and action is to set up false dichotomy
- Discourse is situated- words are understood according to what precedes and follows them, need to examine it in situ as it happens
What is the epistemological stance?
Assumption that common sense psychological ideas need to be replaced by more scientific ones, ignoring the role that psychological concepts play in everyday life
What type of data is observed in discourse analysis?
Data that is naturally occurring
Why is data naturalistic/naturally occurring in discourse analysis?
- Avoids imposing the researchers own categories or assumptions onto the data
- Situates the research within seemingly messy settings of everyday life
- Provides a directly practical way of doing research rather than trying to apply findings from one setting to another, –Allows research to be guided by issues that may have not been anticipated by the researcher
-Captures life as it happens in sufficient detail to be able to analyse the complexity of seemingly mundane situations
What type of transcription method is commonly used in discourse analysis?
The Jefferson method
Describe the Jefferson method
Conventional analysis code which looks at speech patterns and literary notion e.g. underlining for emphasis, pitch volume
What are four benefits of the Jefferson Method?
- Researcher can concentrate and listen better
- No distractions so discussion can flow
- Everything is recorded which gives a more holistic picture (usually done in a discrete way)
- Researcher can go back over material during analysis
What elements of transcribing are involved in the Jefferson Method?
Taking notes of the interview- the ‘full’ script, aim is to take a full written version
What are some limitations of the Jefferson method?
Transcribing takes a long time, estimated ratio of 5:1 (5 hours of transcribing for a one hour interview)
Increased risk of researcher being subjective in note taking
What elements do each of the following punctuation marks respond to?
(.), ><, <>, ( ), (( )), [
(.) micro pause but not of significant length (if there is a number inside instead of a full stop it is longer)
>< - pace of the speech has quickened
<>- pace of the speech has slowed
( )- space between brackets indicates words were too unclear to transcribe
(( ))- indicates contextual info
[- overlapping speech occurs
What does it mean when a word is underlined in transcription?
Denotes a raise in volume or emphasis
What does it mean when a word is CAPITALISED in transcription?
Denotes something was said loudly or shouted
What elements do each of the following punctuation marks respond to?
↑, ↓, →
↑ - rise in intonation
↓ - drop in intonation
→ - particular sentence of interest to the analyst
What elements do each of the following punctuation marks respond to?
=, (h), ::
= - represents latched speech, a continuation of talk
(h) - meaning humour or laughter within the talk
:: - represent elongated speech, stretched sound
What are four criticisms of discourse analysis?
Subjectivity- data is interpreted and so may be influenced by personal beliefs of researcher
Replicability- hard to replicate
Generalisability- no attempt to recruit a representative sample and people selected do not reflect the population
Transparency- sometimes difficult to establish what exactly was done and how conclusions were arrived
What are four factors involved in the rigour of discourse analysis?
Credibility- is the researcher’s interpretation of the data credible? Respondent validation and triangulation
Transferability- is the description provided rich enough in detail for others to make judgements about its transferability
Dependability- can the researcher be audited? Can combat this by conducting research in an explicit and systematic way
Confirmability- is it apparent that the researcher has not overtly allowed personal/theoretical inclinations to influence conduct of the research/interpretation of data?
