Essentials of Conversation Analysis

The brief, practical texts in the Essentials of Qualitative Methods series introduce social science and psychology researchers to key approaches to qualitative methods, offering exciting opportunities to gather in-depth qualitative data and to develop rich and useful findings.

In this book, Alexa Hepburn and Jonathan Potter provide an introduction to conversation analysis (CA), a qualitative approach that examines the actions and interactions that take place in face-to-face conversations, phone calls, texts, and various forms of media. This practical text illuminates how CA captures the subtleties of talk in interaction via an analysis of its elements and phases. The authors guide the reader through data collection, transcription, analysis, and writing papers, providing an invaluable starting point for researchers who wish to explore CA and get a foothold in its literature. 

About the Essentials of Qualitative Methods book series: Even for experienced researchers, selecting and correctly applying the right method can be challenging. In this groundbreaking series, leading experts in qualitative methods provide clear, crisp, and comprehensive descriptions of their approach, including its methodological integrity, and its benefits and limitations. Each book includes numerous examples to enable readers to quickly and thoroughly grasp how to leverage these valuable methods.

Alexa Hepburn, PhD, is the Research Professor of Communication at Rutgers University. Dr. Hepburn's research focuses on the use and development of conversation analytic methods, including the notation and analysis of emotional expression within social interaction; the interactional role of interrogatives such as tag questions; parents' strategies for managing their children's behavior; and the empirical grounding of these interests in everyday interaction. Her work highlights limitations in more traditional perspectives on emotion and influence, and supports applied work in professional client encounters, including medical consultations and helpline interactions. Dr. Hepburn also continues to develop and deliver training workshops to various practitioners.

Jonathan Potter, DPhil, is dean of the School of Communication and Information and Distinguished Professor of Communication at Rutgers University. Dr. Potter addresses fundamental issues of theory and method, and has made substantial research contributions in the area of language and racism, the operation of helplines, and the role of cognition in communication. His 1987 book, Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour, developed a new way of thinking about social psychology- highlighting the role of communication- and continues to be widely influential. His 1996 book on epistemics, Representing Reality: Discourse, Rhetoric and Social Construction has been heavily cited. 

Series Foreword—Clara E. Hill and Sarah Knox

1. Conceptual Foundations of Conversation Analysis
Rationale
Historical and Theoretical Origins
Conversation Analysis and the Qualitative Tradition
The Philosophical and Epistemological Background to Conversation Analysis
How to Read This Book
Summary

2. Designing and Conducting Conversation Analysis
Gaining Access and Recruiting Participants
Data Collection
Research Team Considerations
Data Sessions
Adjusting for Biases and Expectations
Research Questions
Identifying Practices
Building Collections and Managing Data
Data Management
Summary

3. Transcribing for Conversation Analysis
Getting Started
Transcription Conventions
Speech Delivery and Intonation
Features Accompanying Talk
Transcribing Visible Conduct
Summary

4. Turn Taking, Sequence Organization, and Action Formation
Identifying and Applying the Tools of Conversation Analysis
Taking Turns in Conversation
Talking in Sequences
Summary of Sequence Organization
Action Formation
Epistemics
Tips for Applying the Tools in This Chapter
Summary

5. Storytelling, Repair, Preference Organization, and Person Reference
Narratives and Storytelling
Repair
Preference Organization
Person Reference
Integrating and Applying the Analytic Tools
Summary

6. Writing the Manuscript
Introduction
Method and Materials Section
Results or Analysis Section
Discussion and Conclusion Section
Tips for Applying the Tools in This Chapter
Summary

7. Methodological Integrity
Foundational Issues
Categorizing Conversation Analysis as a Method
Utility in Achieving Research Goals
Summary

8. Summary and Conclusions
Benefits
Limitations
Moving Forward With Conversation Analysis

Appendix: Exemplar Studies
References
Index
About the Authors
About the Series Editors