MSc in Social Research Methods 2005 Discourse Analysis

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MSc in Social Research Methods 2005Discourse
Analysis

• Lecture 2
• Discursive Psychology.
• Validation, reliability and quality in discourse
  analysis

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Overview

• Part 1 Discursive Psychology
• Origins
• Orientations
• Example
• Interpretative repertoires
• Part 2
• Validation
• Reliability
• Some analytic shortcomings

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Learning outcomes

• By the end of this weeks lecture and workshop, a
  successful student will be able to
• Summarize the origins and orientations of
  Discursive Psychology
• Define and apply the analytic category
  interpretative repertoire
• Explain how discourse analytic claims might be
  validated
• Identify and criticize common analytic
  shortcomings

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Discursive psychology

• Origins of discursive psychology
• Sociological studies of science (Gilbert
  Mulkay, 1984)
• Ethnomethodology/Conversation analysis
• Speech Act theory (Austin,1975)

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• Orientations of discursive psychology
• Treats discourse as action
• Prioritizes stake
• Emphasizes the fluidity and variability of
  discourse

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Example of discursive psychologyCoupland,
Robinson Coupland (1994)

• Extract 21
• 1 Doctor (brightly) hello Mrs Howard (.) nice to
  see you
• 
  
• 2 Patient
  hello
• 3 Doctor you remember me of course
• 4 Patient yes I do (1.0)
• 5 Doctor just two seconds (doctor reads notes)
  (45.0) right (.)
• 6 how have you been?
• 7 Patient All right thank you (3.0) I was a bit
  concerned (.) which
• 8 was why this appointment was
  brought forward about er
• 9 (.) my sugar (.) going up (.) you
  see

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Example of discursive psychologyCoupland,
Robinson Coupland (1994)

• Extract 34
• 1 Doctor hello Mrs Mallard (.) how are you?
• 2 Patient fine thank you (very much)
• 3 Doctor (nice to see you) (4.0) now (1.0) we
  met the last time you
• 4 were here Mrs Mallard back in July
  (.)
• 5 Dr Fielding is my name
• 6 Patient yeah thats right I remember
• 7 Doctor how are
  you getting on?
• 8 Patient well Ive had a couple of weeks
  without the shakes, but
• 9 this last couple of weeks its come
  back

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Interpretative repertoires

• a lexicon or register of terms and metaphors
  drawn upon to characterize actions and events
  (Potter Wetherell, 1987, p. 138)

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Example Feminism (Edley, 2001)

• Feminism repertoire 1
• The feminist as simply the woman who wants
  equality
• Greg in one word, equality of opportunities,
  equal rights in in everything

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Example Feminism (Edley, 2001)

• Feminism repertoire 2
• includes references to the womans appearance,
  sexual orientation and general demeanour
• Charlie a lot are very strong-minded women who
  hate men, who probably have short cropped hair
• Tim Doctor Marten boots laughs
• Charlie Yeah, whose sexuality would probably
  relate to the sort of lesbians and things like
  that

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FootnoteCritique of interpretative
repertoires

• Potter (2004)
• The problem with the notion of interpretative
  repertoires is that they can imply that coherence
  is the product of an abstract set of linguistic
  features prior to interaction. Analysis should
  attend to the way coherence is achieved and
  performed and how it functions.

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Validity, reliability and quality in discourse
analysis

• Isnt it all just a matter of opinion.?

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Four validation criteria (Potter Wetherell,
1987)

• Coherence
• (Finding exceptions)
• Participants orientation
• Creating new problems
• Fruitfulness

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Plausibility

• Discuss your analysis with others
• Present your data for readers to judge

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Reliability

• Shared culture vs specialist scholarship
• Billig (1988)
• Fascist conspiracy repertoire in speech by Enoch
  Powell

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• So there is that urge there to smoke...
• if Im sitting in a pub and Ive got ten
  cigarettes Ill chain them. And I think that
  partly is because I need to go up to a higher
  brand, Im not getting as much nicotine out of
  the cheaper cigarettes.
• -gt A repertoire of addiction
•  
• Everyone else was doing it, I wanted to be a
  part of the group
• -gt A repertoire of peer group pressure?

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Recognizing (good and) bad analysis Some
analytic shortcomingsAntaki, Billig, Edwards
Potter (2002) _at_ http//www.shu.ac.uk/daol/article
s/v1/n1/a1/antaki2002002-01.html

• Under analysis through summary
• (reduction of data)

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• Under-analysis through over-quotation or isolated
  quotation
• (the material speaks for itself)

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• Circular discovery of (a) discourses and (b)
  mental constructs
• Instead
• Use of discourses/repertoires e.g. focus on the
  rhetoric of giving views
• Historical/cultural location of discourses

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• Under-analysis through false survey
• (representative???)

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Summary

• Discursive psychology characterized by
• (a) action-orientation.
• (b) concern with speaker's stake or interest
• (c) focus on fluidity and variability
• key analytic category introduced by and
  characteristic of DP is the interpretative
  repertoire

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• Criteria for validating DA claims
• (a) coherence
• (b) participants orientation
• (c) creation of new problems
• (d) fruitfulness
• Question of reliability
• Some analytic shortcomings