Design and method in psychology 1. Qualitative methods and psychology 2. Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis 3. Conversation analysis: how to proceed 4. Your practical – what next! 5. Summary

Qualitative methods and psychology 1. The qualitative vs. quantitative methodological divide 2. Qualitative methodology and social science 3. Which methods are most frequently used in psychology? 4. Who uses them? 5. What are qualitative methods good for?

1. The qualitative vs. quantitative methodological divide Quantitative methods………………………….Qualitative methods Tend to be associated with (1)Hard science (2)Objectivity (3)Hypothetico-deductive thinking (4)High status within psychology Tend to be associated with (1)Relativistic epistemology (2)Soft(er) science (3)Ideologically informed (can be) (4)More questionable status (5)Increasingly seen as part of the turn to language in social science

Can we identify a kind of middle ground in the methodological preferences of psychologists? (a)Developmental psychology and child clinical research have always used qualitative methods (b)One can distinguish between what Kidder and Fine (1987) call big Q and little Q. Big Q refers to open-ended inductive research methodologies focuses on theory generation and the examination of peoples meaning-making practices. In contrast little Q describes the approach where non-numerical data collection techniques are adopted, and adapted so as to inform and supplement hypothetico- deducitive research approaches. Essentially: The nature of the question you are asking helps determine, and inform, any given method you might employ. 2. Qualitative methodology and social science

3. Which methods are most frequently used in psychology? Inductive qualitative methods: (1)Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (2)Grounded theory (3)Content analysis Discursive qualitative methods: (1)Discourse analysis (2)Narrative analysis (3)Conversation analysis Structural qualitative methods (1)Repertory grid techniques (2)Q Methodology

4. What are qualitative methods good for? (a)Qualitative methods tend to be good whenever you wish to ask a more open-ended question (b)This might be foundational, e.g., what is the nature of x or y? (c)This might be descriptive, e.g., can we obtain a realisable picture of x or y? (d)This might be interpretative, e.g., on the basis of the data we collect, can we provide a defensible account of event x, why x occurs, and what sense x might have for those involved in producing and recognising x as significant in some way. (e)And, most importantly, qualitative methods are exceptionally useful in helping in the formation of hypotheses and associated theory generation.

Ethnomethodology focuses on providing a rational analysis of the structures, procedures and strategies that people themselves use when they are making sense out of their own everyday world and their actions and interactions within in. Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis

Conversation analysis Conversation analysis, or as it is sometimes known, the study of talk-in-interaction takes to heart the ethnomethodological focus on what people actually say and do. The analysis centres on a process of first identifying elements and structures in naturally occurring conversation and then through a detailed procedure of micro- analysis, identifying participant-oriented evidence for the models, concepts and ideas that people use.

Method and conversation analysis Two basic methods in conversation analysis-style investigations (Levinson, 1983): We should attempt to locate some particular conversational organisation and isolate its systematic features by demonstrating participants orientations to it. We should ask (1) What problems does this organisation solve, and (2) What problems does this organisation raise and therefore what implications does it have for the existence of further solutions to further problems

Conversation analysis: an example transcript Context: eight-year-old child phoning her grandmother who lives some distance away and who she has not seen for some time. The conversation opens very soon after the grandmother answers the phone – i.e. it is the child who is making the call.

Extract 1: 1.Ro:Hi:: :[::] 2.Gm: [in] your neck of the woods 3.(4.3) 4.Gm:its lovely down here 5.(0.4) 6.Ro:yea[::] 7.Gm: [ sure its] going to rain again in a minute [xxx difficult] 8.Ro: [its very bright]

Extract 2: 8Ro: [its very bright] 9(0.6) 10Gm:[ eh] 11Ro:[its] very bright down here 12(0.6) 13Gm:I cant hear [you] 14Ro: [IT] (.) IS (.) VERY(.) BR::IGHT 15(0.2) 16Gm:it is very bright its called a watery sun 17(0.5) 18Ro: a watery [(laugh)]

Extract 3: 21Gm:thats very very very very br::ight 22(0.4) 23Ro: is it 24(0.6) 25Gm:ri[ght]? 26Ro: [its]:: bright yellow 27(0.5) 28Gm:what can I do >for you< (note – see next slide for continuation)

Extract 3: 30Ro:nothing I just wanted to ta::lk to you= 31Gm:=oh 32(0.3) 33Gm:go on then (.) talk to me 34(0.2) 35Ro:em 36(0.9) 37Ro:em:[::::] 38Gm: [listen] you you forgot your orchid 39(0.5) 40Ro:oh 41(0.5) 42Ro:OH silly me 43(1.0) 44Ro:[ silly me ]

Extract 4: 44Ro:[ silly me ] 45Gm:[xxx without it] 46(1.0) 47Ro:silly me 48(0.4) 49Gm:silly you yes thats true 50(0.8) 51Gm: you take after your Dad= 52Ro:=ha-ha (laughing noise) 53(0.4) 54Ro:em 55(1.0) 56Ro: Ill tell you about my homewo::rk 57(0.2) 58Gm:good 59(0.8)

Extract 5: 56Ro: Ill tell you about my homewo::rk 57(0.2) 58Gm:good 59(0.8) 60Ro:ehm Ill read you (unintelligable) Weekends homework 61 thats to be >handed in on Monday< 62(0.5) 63Ro:write a poem or short description about baby joe 64(0.5) 65Ro:[em] 66Gm:[about] who? 67(0.2)

Extract 6: Lines: 65 – 101 of extract 2 (from the how to do CA guide)

Guide for the practical:

Turn-taking rules RULE 1: This rule applies to the first transition relevant place of any turn (a) If the current speaker selects the next speaker during the current turn then the current speaker must stop speaking and the next speaker must speak next. And he/she must speak next at the first transition relevant place after this 'next speaker' selection (b) If the speaker does not select a next speaker during a current turn, then anybody else present (other parties) can self-select and the first person to do this will gain 'speaker rights' at the next turn. (c) If the current speaker has not selected the next speaker and nobody else self- selects then the speaker can continue (although this is not a requirement). In doing so he/she gains a right to have a further turn-constructional unit. RULE 2: When rule 1 (c) has been applied by the current speaker, then at the next transition relevant pause, rules 1 (a) to 1 (c) apply again, and keep reapplying until speaker change is accomplished. The set of rules and the elements used by people to indicate transition relevant places are conceived of as a system - a system which is designed to faciliate the 'turn-taking' organisation central to conversation. How to do conversation analysis: a brief guide

A turn-taking check-list (for observing and/or analysing recorded conversation). (Adapted from Sacks, Schlegoff and Jefferson, 1974). 1. Speaker-change recurs, or at least occurs 2. Overwhelmingly, one party speaks at a time 3. Occurrences of more than one speaker at a time are common, but brief 4. Transitions (from one turn to the next) with no gap and no overlap are common. Together with transitions characterised by slight gap or slight overlap, they make up the vast majority of transitions. 5. Turn order is not fixed, but varies 6. Turn size is not fixed, but varies 7. Length of conversation is not specified in advance 8. What parties say is not specified in advance 9. Relative distribution of turns is not specified in advance 10. Number of parties can vary 11. Talk can be continuous or discontinuous 12. Turn allocation techniques are obviously mixed (see rules above). 13. Various turn-constructional links are employed, e.g., turn can be projected one word long or they can be sentential in length 14. Repair mechanisms exist for dealing with turn-taking errors and violations, e.g., if two parties find themselves talking at the same time, one of them will stop prematurely, thus repairing the trouble.

Adjacency pairs 1.Telephone rings SUMMONS1st PP* 2. Dave:Hello?Answer 2nd PP to Chris: Hello, there Greeting1st PP 4. is that Dave?Question1st PP 5. Dave: Yea, Answer2nd PP to hiAnswer2nd PP to Chris: How are you?Question1st PP 8. Dave: Not bad, Answer2nd PP to how's yourself?Question1st PP 10. Chris: GoodAnswer2nd PP to The reason I'm calling is Topic initiation. *PP = pair part

Qualitative methods & conversation analysis: comparing non-institutional (informal) talk with institutional talk –Informal talk = 3 friends chatting –Institutional talk: (a) doctor-patient interaction (b) courtroom talk (c) classroom talk (d) police-suspect talk (e) radio phone-in talk (f) job interview

What next? Week 1 – Introduction – [now!] Week 2 – Selecting your files to transcribe and getting used to using PRAAT Week 3 – Transcription Week 4 – Analysis Week 5 – Write up Praat = Praat is a program for speech analysis and synthesis see

Summary (a)Read the guide! (b)Think about talk! (c)Listen to people around you and consider how they produce talk- in-interaction