Qualitative analysis 2 – analysis of use of language

1. Qualitative analysis 2 – analysis of use of language Structure of this session Theoretical origins of discourse analysis Critical discourse analysis (with practice example) Break - Conversation analysis in action - Narrative analysis (with practice example)

2. Why should psychologists study discourse analysis? Techniques for: • Becoming aware of complex relationship between experience and language (relevant to all language-based research) • Understanding the purposive, value-laden nature of all research, questioning own concepts and assumptions (deconstruction)

3. Discourse analysis - origins Wittgenstein (late writings) • meaning is not a logical correspondence between language and external ‘reality’, talk is not a means of passing information about this state of affairs • language acquires meaning through social interaction - ‘language games’ embedded in ‘ways of life’

4. Discourse analysis - origins Derrida • meaning is created by value-laden dichotomous distinctions (e.g. well/good vs. ill/bad). • by ‘deconstructing’ dominant categories we can reveal oppressed meanings, and the intimate connection between oppressed and dominant meanings.

5. Discourse analysis - origins Foucault • carried out historical analyses of how social practices, institutions, concepts, technologies ‘construct’ and ‘regulate’ ‘objects’ (e.g. patients, madness) • paid particular attention to the operation of power and resistance in this process

6. Discourse analysis Critical discourse analysis Interdisciplinary (philosophy, sociology, critical theory, social anthropology and social psychology) analyses of : a) why (socio-political relations and values) phenomena have come to be constructed in a particular way (e.g. science, coping, childhood etc.) b) how this is accomplished (e.g. rhetorical strategies, cultural relations, discursive resources)

7. Critical discourse analysis - methods • may focus on the products or processes of talk (e.g. phrases vs. dialogue) • sometimes theoretical analysis, exploring concepts familiar to members of the same culture (e.g. ‘abnormality’) by tracing their historical development, cultural meaning and sociopolitical function • particular texts or cases may be used to illustrate and focus the analysis (e.g. media images, official documents, ‘typical’ discourses).

8. Some tips for discourse analysis - consider the context of the discourse - where is it used, who by and to, in what 'tone' or 'style' is it presented and why? - identify the 'objects' or categories (usually represented by nouns) that are constructed by the discourse, and consider the values attached to them in this discourse and in wider society - list all possible connotations/purposes of key words, phrases, sentences - not just the sense/purpose which seems to fit this context - consider what would be the opposite of the discourses employed (i.e. the oppressed discourse) - watch out for use of strong language such as 'always', 'everyone', 'never' - why are such strong assertions being made? also watch out for omissions, contradictions and inconsistencies - what potential discursive difficulties might be causing these?

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10. Analysis of dialogue (e.g. Potter & Wetherell) Purpose is micro-analysis of functions of natural speech to uncover functions, drawing on conversation analysis (and critical theory – Wetherell). • tape examples of naturally occurring dialogue, or interview (both interviewees active participants) • transcribe dialogue in great detail, noting pauses, emphasis, overlap in talk, etc. - usually small samples • repeatedly read transcripts (‘immersion’) to develop preliminary coding categories (‘themes’) • code text segments into themes

11. Analysis of dialogue • explore way accounts constructed, identify functions of talk - e.g.: a) identify typical rhetorical strategies (from CA literature) with known purpose, and particular strategies in text b) confirm purpose of strategies by way one ‘turn’ responded to in next ‘turn’ c) ‘deconstruct’ way in which omission, inconsistency, difficulties reveal functions of dominant discourses • select a small number of text segments for detailed analysis and illustration in report - e.g. ‘typical instances’ of categories or strategies, and/or examples of variation or contradiction • historical/social context may be taken into consideration (Wetherell)

12. Thinking differently about thinking positive: a discursive approach to cancer patients’ talkS. Wilkinson & C. Kitzinger 2000 (Social Science and Medicine, 50, 797-811) • 13 focus groups with 77 women plus 4 interviews • Age range 33 to 84 • Mainly Northern, working class • Taped, transcribed • Identified all (55) instances of talk about thinking positive

13. Background and aims Psycho-oncology literature claims (reported) thinking positive is (causally) related to better cancer outcomes, should be encouraged Feminist/sociological literature claims that assigning responsibility to people to personally overcome cancer is victim-blaming Discourse analysis asks whether accounts of thinking positive are: • reports of personal cognitive coping style, or • a form of (moral) social interaction

14. Does talk about ‘thinking positive’ describe personal experience or function as an idiom? Jessie: So, I just broke down and cried (pause) when it struck me, when I was out the place, I was on me own, I didn’t want to (pause) do it in front of people (Karen: Yeah) didn’t want to embarrass meself (pause), but erm (pause) no, I was erm (pause) I was upset but I accepted it (pause) and thought well I’ve got rid of it now. Karen: Yeah, oh aye you do, don’t you. Jessie: Yeah you’ve got to (Karen: Yeah) You’ve got to think positive a’n’t you? (pause) Maggie: It’s shattering when they tell you … Idiom: vague, socially accepted, not questioned (count which blessings?), lightens topic, sets up next turn

15. Is thinking positive a moral injunction? Gina: I know at the time I felt really horrible, rubbish. And, erm, I’m a happy sort of person really, and I’ve had to laugh a lot off (laughs) in my life, you know, and I think I, if I hadn’t been that type of a person I think I would have, maybe gone, I don’t know, you might even commit suicide mightn’t you? Carla: My doctor, a lady doctor, examined me, and she said “Oh yes”, she said, “You have got a lump and it is cancer, but you must be positive about this, you must be very positive, I shall try and get you an appointment”. And I thought “My God, I’m going to die.”

16. Is thinking positive a moral injunction? (cont.) Pauline: I had somebody the other day who said, “Oh y-”, you know, “but you’re so positive”, and etcetera etcetera. And I said, er, and , you know, and, and “because you’re so positive you will fight and you will conquer this”. And I was quite aggressive at this point, and I actually said (pause) “If anything happens to me”, I said, “I don’t want the likes of you turning around and saying “P’raps she wasn’t as positive as she made out she was”. […] and I said, “I don’t actually believe, it’s completely, I quite definitely, it isn’t, it’s not mind over matter”. I know what my results are, and, you know, I cope with that and I think, okay, you know, another six months, a year.

17. Narrative analysis Examines how narrative form used to create a coherent, meaningful story of our lives Used to understand how people construct an identity; may be employed for • contextualised, idiopathic, phenomenological analysis • deconstruction of social positions • exploration of therapeutic possibilities

18. The listening guide: analysing ‘I-poems’ And then I think you know everything kind of went underground for me and I stopped talking to people …. Hmmm, I think when there is a mental illness in the house and it’s and there … can be … and some of it can be out of control that hmmm a lot of families tend to isolate and that I think is what my family did and hmmm besides I didn’t have anything to talk about. What was I going to say? My mother is a raging maniac? Or or she’s a rock and I can’t talk to her? It’s not something you share with people at school. Hmmm and hmmm I think it made me chase my dad for some kind of attention and of course that made him run faster. Hmmm. And so hmmm … and you know at that point I think that’s when I stopped sleeping. And I kept worrying that one of them was going to drop dead you know. And I think that hmmm some of that was behind the not sleeping.

19. Listening guide cont. (Gilligan chapter in P. Camic et al.(2005) Qualitative research in psychology) Well, I think that hmmm … well actually I quit a job that I had been in for a very long time that I had started the program. I was very good but it was taking so much out of me that I was exhausted all of the time and one of the first things I did when I started to feel better was quit this job and shock myself. Like I walked into my boss’s office and handed him my resignation and said ‘I’m leaving in a month. I’m going, I, I … This is the end of this. I can’t do this any more.’

20. I-poem 1 (feeling very small and hidden) I think I stopped (talking) I think I think I didn’t What was I (going to say)? I can’t talk I think I think I stopped (sleeping) I kept worrying I think I-poem 2 (getting bigger - taking antidepressants) I think I quit I had been I had started I was very good I was exhausted I did I started (to feel better) I walked I’m leaving I’m going I, I, I can’t (do this anymore)

21. First log onto psyweb: www.psychology.soton.ac.uk/psyweb Then go to: www.psychology.soton.ac.uk/ psyweb/practicals/ly3/question.php?qn=1 Examine the narrative structure of this passage: Who are the characters? What are their roles and relationships? What are the key elements of the plot? What meaning does it convey?

22. Advantages of discourse analysis • sophisticated appreciation of language, symbolism and historical/social context • can reveal important influences on social practices and the ways of thinking which support them, suggest new, valuable modes of understanding • acknowledgement of ideological nature of all research as a process of constructing (not ‘discovering’) meaning

23. Limitations of discourse analysis • can involve ‘Machiavellian’ interpretation of participants' discourse • analyses often highly selective, may appear idiosyncratic - no attempt is made to claim generalisability or strong authority for analyses • content, embodied context of speech may be discounted, focus entirely on structure and linguistic function

24. REVISION QUESTION: www.psychology.soton.ac.uk/quizzes/questions.htm(Question 3 only) Which type of analysis (phenomenological, grounded theory or discourse analysis) would you use to: • Develop a comprehensive theoretical explanation of why some children persistently fail to attend school. • Analyse the ways in which talk about mental illness may marginalise psychosocial explanations for distress • Explore the subjective experience of recovering from a traumatic incident

25. http://www.psychology.soton.ac.uk/quizzes/show.htm • Block/Close PCs!