Introducing: Discourse &

Conversation analysis
 Examining language

Conversation and Discourse Conversation analysis:

analysis focuses on the structure of conversation
Language is a central component of and classies interaction in terms of key
social research. Understanding how linguistic systems such as turn taking and
language is used is an important aspect adjacent pairs..
of all research – however, these two Discourse analysis:
approaches treat language as a topic in
itself. is one of the most confusing terms in
qualitative research as it is used in many
dierent ways. Essentially, discourse is
concerned with the way knowledge is
produced through the use of language.

“Knock, knock…”

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Conversation analysis
derives from the sociological position of
ethnomethodology - the study of the ways
in which social order is achieved in
everyday life…
 Two central ideas to
ethnomethodology

indexicality Re#exivity
○ The meaning of an act ○ The idea that spoken
in relation to the words do not just
conversational context represent or re+ect
in which it is used reality but help to
(‘acts’ in CA are spoken words or construct the social
utterances including pauses world in which they are
and sounds) located

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Donnie Brasco (1997) – explaining
‘forgetaboutit’

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 Principles of conversation analysis

Talk is structured Talk is Analysis is

follows particular constructed grounded in data
patterns. contextually reject existing
Participants are We must analyse theoretical schemes
implicitly aware of talk with reference and instead argue
the rules to the context it talk constructs
underpinning these takes place within – social order.
patterns. including the
utterances that
Detailed complicated transcripts and analysis… therefore, only ever use limited data
come before and
after.
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 Principles of conversation analysis

Reoccurring tools of CA:

○ Turn-talking – illustrates that talk depends on shared codes. If these
codes did not exist to indicate where utterances end, there would be
no smooth transition in conversation
○ Adjacent pairs – tendency for turn taking to involve two linked phrases
(invitation - followed by a response)

○ Preference organisation - preferred response & dispreferred response

○ Repair mechanisms - when things go wrong…

“That cake looks nice…”

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H: Wha’ – how what did you do in
athletics today?
R: athletics
H: I knew you’d say that if I’d Jeezuz I
should have put some money on that
then
J: huh- huh – huh
H are you into having a conversation
with me or are you gonna be weird?
R yeh
H: I mean I don’t mind…
J: he’s being a bit Kevinish at the moment
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 Restrictive nature of CA

○ Emphasis on naturally occurring speech.

○ Whilst all other forms of qualitative research aim to achieve
understanding from the perspective of those being studied, CA only do
this to the extent understanding can be revealed in the specic
context of the talk being analysed.
○ When people interact, much of their talk is informed by their mutual
knowledge of context – however CA cannot take any of this into
account if it is not spoken.
○ Transcribing CA separates utterance from their lived experience.
○ Trivial focus of analysis.

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Discourse analysis
aims to identify dominant ‘discourses’ and
show how reality is socially constructed.
‘A system of statements which construct an
object’ (Parker, 1992: 5)
 What is discourse?

It depends! Meaning Communication

There are many dierent Discourse literally means When we communicate we
versions of DA, which can ‘discussion’ coming from the draw on assumptions
make things confusing as they Latin word for back and forth. commonly accepted
do not all resemble each This is a helpful place to start. knowledge/shared meaning in
other! Academics usually accept all order to make statements that
forms of communication are make sense to others…
discourse. These statements either
Texts Example: reinforce these assumptions or
challenge them… either way
Discourses are found in Take an object like we are contributing the the
pictures, speech and written ‘fatness’… what +ow of knowledge we call
texts. It is a set of statements discourse.
connotations does the
which construct an object.
word suggest? Have these
changed over time?
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What is discourse?

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‘Fatness’ ○ Medical discourse- pathological & risk.
○ Moral discourse – gluttony and poor self-
control
○ Structural discourse – resulting from
consumerism/lack of education/poverty
○ Pride – body positivity (Lizzo)

○ One or two discourses may dominate, and

form ‘taken for granted’ truth within
society – and these may change over time.
discourses make available certain ideas and ways of seeing the word and
ourselves in relation to it, and precludes others – shaping people’s
realities
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People seek to achieve things when
they talk or write – DA is concerned
with the strategies they use – therefore
Action orientated.

Three basic questions central to DA:

1. What is the discourse doing? What purpose
does it serve?
2. How is this discourse constructed to make this
happen?
3. What resources are available to perform this
activity?

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view of language as productive
rather than re7ective – the analytic
what language
focus is on understanding,
does
– what (big or small) realities are
created through language and how
this occurs
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 Uncovering interpretative
repertoires

Producing facts Rhetorical Quanti2cation

the manner in which devises refers to the ways
taken for granted emphasise the way numerical and non-
‘facts’ are produced in which arguments numerical
(often used in are constructed - statements are used
political discourse) extreme case to
formation – support/challenge
‘everyone, nobody, arguments quarter
always, never’ of a million/ 243,000

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Uncovering interpretative
repertoires

Quanti2cation
refers to the ways
numerical and non-
numerical
statements are used
to
support/challenge
arguments quarter
of a million/ 243,000

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 Critical discourse analysis

o Aims to examine how language is used to exercise power in

society- how language constructs ideas and practice of
discipline
o CDA involves exploring why some meanings become privileged
or are accepted unquestioningly whilst others become
marginalised and the role of power
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in relations to these
 Critical discourse analysis

CDA is related to a school of

thought called critical
realism
o Critical Realism argues that
while we must always o While social structures are
interpret reality, some things real, they are always
(climate change, capitalist subject to interpretation
social relations) are real by discourse
(Buch-Hansen and Nielsen
2020, pp.28-29) o What that means is that
discourse and interaction
o It argues that discourse is is shaped by:
language
• Power relations
o And language is social • Institutions and structures
practice, determined by
social structures 19
Seminar

Doing
discourse
analysis

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Every Breath you take – one of the most
famous love songs of all time?

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Every breath you take and every move you make
Every bond you break, every step you take,
I'll be watching you
Every single day and every word you say
Every game you play, every night you stay,
I'll be watching you

Oh, can't you see you belong to me,

my poor heart aches with every step you take.

Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace.

I dream at night, I can only see your face.
I look around but it's you I can't replace.
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace.
I keep crying baby, baby, please...

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Consider these questions:

Three basic questions central to DA:

1. What is the discourse doing? What purpose
does it serve?
2. How is this discourse constructed to make this
happen?
3. What is the impact of the discourse?
4. Is this true for other classic love songs?

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 The approach of de;ning healthy relationships in terms of virtues is limited
also because many young people do not seem to recognise some forms of
abuse and violence. Instead, coercive and controlling behaviours are
Harmful Sexual accepted as part-and-parcel of a ‘normal’ heterosexual relationship, rather
than being recognised as abuse (Abbott, Weckesser and Egan, 2021). Unlike
Behaviour and
in adult cases of intimate partner violence, it is not uncommon in teenage
Healthy relationships for abuse to take place in public spaces in full view of peers
Relationships in which adds an extra social detention to the issues outlined above (Davies,
2019). This raises signi;cant concerns as young people often associate
Schools
jealousy and possessiveness as symptomatic of the perceived depths of a
Rapid Evidence partner’s feelings and misread controlling behaviours as ‘caring’ (Barter et
Review al. 2009). Jealousy, in particular, is often talked about as not only symbolic of
‘love’, but as a necessary demonstration for such feelings. In a Welsh study,
Emily Se y, University of Surrey whilst young women were able to demonstrate a zero-tolerance attitude
Jonny Hunt, University of Bedfordshire
towards abuse in theory when completing an attitudinal questionnaire, when
Jessica Ringrose, UCL
interviewed about their own relationships, this did not seem to transfer to
March 2022
their lived experiences (Davies, 2019). These issues highlight the need to
ensure that the conceptualisation of healthy relationships starts with the
foundations of knowledge, skills, and emotional literacy and, therefore,
should be conceived of as being a ‘sexual citizen.’ York, MacKenzie and
Purdy (2021) describe being a sexual citizen as about recognising rights and
developing an understanding of consent, respect, and empathy.
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Pick one of the
random songs from
the list
How is ‘love’ framed and is this
healthy? What words are used to
describe love?
Key points to note:

This is just a quick exercise the songs were

chosen at random:
1. When doing a study for real you must compile a
corpus - select data in a manner that is
reasonable/logical/ systematic – How might that be
done in this case?

2. You would need to frame a proper question.

3. You can not make a distinct link to young people’s

understanding of love in a relationship and song
lyrics… but music does make up part of the
discourse regarding romantic love and what we
should strive27
for…
 THANKS!

Any questions?

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