Conversation analysis
Analyse the sequential organisation of interaction
Conversation analysis studies how people organise social interaction through turns, sequences and embodied conduct. It typically uses recordings of naturally occurring interaction and detailed transcripts to examine practices such as turn-taking, repair and question-answer sequences. Analytical claims are grounded in participants' displayed orientations, including how subsequent turns show what an earlier contribution was understood to be doing.
Choose when the question concerns how an interactional practice works, especially in service encounters, classrooms or meetings. Secure recordings and transcription detail sufficient to examine timing and sequence.
Strengths
- Provides precise evidence about interactional mechanisms
- Uses next turns to investigate participants' understandings
Limitations
- Recording access and fine transcription are demanding
- Removing sequences from context can distort the analysis
Know the boundary
It is not a generic analysis of interview topics, and a transcript alone is insufficient without recording access.