SEMIOTICS

1. SEMIOTICS Chapter 15

2. Introduction • There are many different ways to analyse qualitative data • Semiotics is one approach to analysing and interpreting qualitative data Semiotics

3. Semiotics Semiotics is primarily concerned with the analysis of signs and symbols and their meaning Signs and symbols can be studied, not only in language (both written and spoken forms), but also in rituals, culture, images and art – in fact, anything that can be ‘read’ as text Semiotic researchers do not study signs in isolation, rather they study the conventions governing the use of signs and sign systems Semiotics

4. Signs The meaning of signs is arbitrary. In principle, anything could stand for anything else. It is the cultural context that frames the interpretation of signs and imbues signs with localized meanings (Hackley, 2003: 162) A sign can mean one thing in one particular cultural context, but mean something quite different in another Signs can also change their meaning over time Semiotics has been used especially in information systems, management, marketing and organizational studies Marketing researchers have used semiotics in research on advertising, brand image and marketing communications (Hackley, 2003) Semiotics

5. Semiotics defined ‘Semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign’ (Eco, 1976: 7) Words, images, actions and objects can all be studied as signs, as long as they have been recorded in some way and can be studied (e.g. in writing or on video)  Nöth (1990) refers to semiotics as the ‘science of meaning’ Semiotics

6. Semiotics concepts Signifier and signified Sign, object and interpretant Icon, index and symbol Encoding and decoding Pragmatic, semantic and syntactic Syntagmatic analysis Paradigmatic analysis Polysemy Semiotics

7. Signifier and signified Saussure distinguished between two things: The signifier is a sign or symbol that can stand for something else. By definition, all words are signifiers since they always stand for something else (e.g. a thought, a feeling, or a thing). A signifier is used by the person wanting to communicate The signified is what the sign or symbol represents – what it is interpreted to mean by the receiver of the communication Semiotics

8. Sign, object and interpretant Peirce distinguished between three things: The sign that stands for something else The object it refers to (what the sign represents) The interpretant (usually a person) who fulfils the office of an interpreter – this refers to the interpretation placed on the sign Peirce’s view recognizes that the same sign can have different meanings depending upon the context Semiotics

9. Icon, index and symbol • An icon is a sign that signifies its meaning by qualities of its own; it is like the thing it represents (e.g. the icon of a trash can on Apple and Windows computers) • A sign can also act as an index: • An indexical sign points to or indicates something else. For example, a wavy line on a road might ‘point to’ bends in the road a few hundred yards ahead. A picture of a silhouette of a man on a door might ‘point to’ or indicate that a men’s bathroom is right here behind this door (Hackley, 2003: 167) •  A symbol is something that stands for or is symbolic of something else Semiotics

10. Encoding and decoding The only way that messages can be sent from one person to another is via the use of a code Encoding is the process of transforming any thought or communication into a message Decoding is the process of reading the message and understanding what it means  For example, consider the road code - only someone who can read the road signs correctly is allowed to obtain a driver’s licence Semiotics

11. Pragmatic, semantic and syntactic Semiotic researchers often make a distinction between various levels of the meaning of signs  The pragmatic level refers to the cultural context within which communication takes place. The pragmatic understanding of a sign is what the people involved at the time expect and assume the sign to mean in a particular situation  The semantic level refers to the precise meaning of the signs. What does the sign refer to in any given context?   The syntactic level refers to the rules governing the use of the signs Semiotics

12. Syntagmatic analysis Syntagmatic analysis involves studying the structure of a text and the relationships between its parts. There are three syntagmatic relationships (Chandler, 2008): Sequential relationships, as found in film and television narrative sequences. Spatial relationships, as found in posters and photographs (where signs and symbols are juxtaposed) Conceptual relationships, such as in an argument Semiotics

13. Paradigmatic analysis Paradigmatic analysis seeks to identify the various paradigms which underlie the content of texts A paradigm ‘is a set of associated signifiers or signifieds which are all members of some defining category, but in which each is significantly different’ (Chandler, 2008) A paradigmatic analysis involves studying ‘the oppositions and contrasts between the signifiers that belong to the same set from which those used in the text were drawn’ (Chandler, 2008) Semiotics

14. Polysemy Texts and signs can have multiple meanings Barthes suggests that all images are polysemous. Images imply a ‘floating chain’ of signifieds,with the reader able to choose some and ignore others (Barthes, 1985) Scott (1994) says that meaning is not static and that the meaning of texts and signs is continually shifting Semiotics

15. How to use semiotics The qualitative researcher using semiotics has to study the signs and symbols that are used in a particular domain and identify the conventions of their use He or she has to decode the meanings conveyed by the signs The idea is to uncover the rules that govern human behaviour Semiotics

16. An approach to semiotic analysis (Hackley, 2003) Semiotics

17. Critique of semiotics Semiotics is potentially a very powerful way of analysing and interpreting qualitative data in business and organizational settings Semiotics is well-grounded in linguistics and structural anthropology – hence it is relatively easy to justify One disadvantage of semiotics is its tendency to treat people as somewhat passive Semiotics