Language in qualitative research
The anti-realist inclination of many DA researchers is controversial because it leads them to assert that:
There is no pre-existing material reality that constrains individual action
Social structures determine the way individuals use language
The technique is incompatible with feminist principles
Quantitative research is inherently superior to qualitative research
There is no pre-existing material reality that constrains individual action
Discourse analysts vary in the extent to which they bracket out the influence of external factors or “ethnographic particulars” upon individual action. Some practitioners take an anti-realist approach and deny that these structures exist beyond the level of discourse, while others who adhere to critical realism suggest that we can study the way power relationships and other structural forces operate through instances of talk and interaction. ‘Critical’ discourse analysis tries to discover why some meanings are ‘privileged’ while others are ‘marginalised’, indicating that social ‘reality’ is what it is declared to be by some and accepted by others.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 542
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 542
There is no pre-existing material reality that constrains individual action Discourse analysts vary in the extent to which they bracket out the influence of external factors or “ethnographic particulars” upon individual action. Some practitioners take an anti-realist approach and deny that these structures exist beyond the level of discourse, while others who adhere to critical realism suggest that we can study the way power relationships and other structural forces operate through instances of talk and interaction. ‘Critical’ discourse analysis tries to discover why some meanings are ‘privileged’ while others are ‘marginalised’, indicating that social ‘reality’ is what it is declared to be by some and accepted by others.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 542
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 542
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What do discourse analysts study?A. Forms of communication other than talk
B. The way discourses “frame” our understanding of the social world
C. The rhetorical styles used in written and oral communication
D. All of the above
What have conversation analysts found that people generally do to “repair” the damage caused by a “dispreferred response”?
A. Provide justifications for their action
B. Correct themselves and give the preferred response
C. Brazen it out and pretend they don’t care
D. Run away in a panic
What is meant by the term “adjacency pair” in CA?
A. An interviewer and interviewee sitting next to each other
B. Two linked phases of conversation
C. Two similar questions asked in rapid succession
D. A mechanism used to repair an embarrassing mistake
In a CA transcript, what does the symbol “(.)” stand for?
A. Intake of breath
B. Prolonged sound
C. Emphasis on the next word
D. Slight pause
In CA, the term “indexicality” means that:
A. The meaning of an utterance depends on the context in which it is used
B. Speech acts can be listed and indexed after transcription
C. Words are constitutive of the social world in which they are located
D. People tend to wave their index finger in the air while speaking
Conversation Analysis (CA) and Discourse Analysis (DA) differ from other qualitative research methods in that they treat language as:
A. A method rather than a theory
B. A resource rather than a topic
C. A theory rather than a method
D. A topic rather than a resource
Potter & Wetherell use the term “interpretative repertoires” to refer to:
A. The process of making non-factual data appear to be factual
B. The general resources people use to perform discursive acts
C. The frames of reference audiences use to hear messages
D. The stock of academic knowledge people draw upon in sociology
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