Lecture 6: Turn Taking and Interruptions

Question 1

Gillespie et al 2012

Answer 1

Interruptions contribute to errors in surgical teams
160 surgeries over 10 specialities in Queensland, Australia: Interruptions – any members ceased his/her task. Miscommunications – information incomplete or inconsistent, or key personnel not included.
Results: 67% of surgeries characterised by interruptions
Most frequently interrupted – surgeons. Miscommunications in nearly 60% of surgeries. Correlated with:
Length of time surgery teams worked together Intra-operative interruptions

Question 2

Menz and Al-Roubaie 2008

Answer 2

Common belief amongst doctors -patients will spend too long talking if not interrupted by the doctor.
48/576 medical interviews selected for a qualitative in-depth analysis.
Interruptions used sig. more by doctors (regardless of gender).
Patients sig. less likely to interrupt doctors than vice versa
Especially senior doctors (cf. doctors in training).
Interviews take longer the more the doctor interrupts.

Question 3

Beattie 1982

Answer 3

Detailed analysis of 2 political interviews in the 1979 British General Election:
Margaret Thatcher (MT) (then Leader of the Conservative Opposition) by Denis Tuohy
Jim Callaghan (JC) (then Prime Minister) by Llew Gardner.
Interviewer interrupted MT twice as often as she interrupted him. JC interrupted the interviewer more than he was interrupted. MT is often interrupted following the display of turn-yielding cues.
Turn-yielding cues misleading.

Question 4

Bull and Mayer 1988

Answer 4

Interviews from the 1987 general election (MT & NK)
Pattern of interruptions highly similar:
Complex by politicians +.99
Complex to politicians +.92
cf. Beattie (1982) – claimed MT was excessively interrupted. Impression MT is badly treated:
Interruptions, Personalisations, Takes questions & criticisms as accusations, Formal modes of address
Puts interviewers on the defensive.

Question 5

Shaw 2000

Answer 5

Analysed interventions & interruptions in 5 debates (1998-1999):
Legal: “Would the Right Honourable Lady/Gentleman give way?”.
Illegal: Collective shows of support/disapproval, Individual comments from seated MPs.
Results: Legal interventions (21%) – not disproportionately low (25% of MPs in that Parliament were women).
Illegal interventions (10%) – speakers respond to direct criticism, leads to 3-part exchange.
Only 5% of illegal interventions stopped by the Speaker.

Question 6

Llewellyn 2006

Answer 6

Audience opposed council traffic plan. Audience contributions collected.
Councillors respond in extended monologue
Councillors ignore some audience turns – never respond to an accusation or a complaint.
Audiences responses disaffiliative – heckle & collectively “hiss”.
Identity of individual contributors not recorded – responses to “the panel” or “you”.
Ignored rules- not democratic

Question 7

Eriksson 2011

Answer 7

News broadcasts in Sweden over a 25-year period:
Three specific years– 111 news programmes.
Selected edited news stories, including interviews with leading politicians.
Narrative structure – organisation of sequences & elements of talk.
No increase in amount of journalistic talk over time.
Framing discourse techniques (e.g., editing out journalist’s questions):
More interpretation
Decontextualisation- put a slant on everything
Visual techniques – how the camera operates & the stories are cut: Closer shot distances, Sound & vision less synchronised, Modern editing techniques almost impossible to detect. Journalist much more of an interpreter & critical interrogator than before.