When Conversation Analysts gather, they sometimes analyse excerpts from recordings made by the early pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s – hissy audiotapes or scratchy black-and-white videotape.  Some bits are so well known now that they’ve become shibboleths for the knowing community, which can feel off-putting to newcomers. Elliott Hoey and Chase Raymond have been looking into the matter for a forthcoming publication, and I’m very pleased that they’re willing to share their thoughts here.

Elliott Hoey, Basel, Switzerland

Chase Wesley Raymond,  Boulder, Colorado

One distinctive research practice in CA is its longstanding reliance on a body of ‘classic’ data. Reading papers, especially from the early days, can sometimes feel like watching a soap opera starring Emma, Virginia, Shane, Geri, and Bud (the show is syndicated in ROLSI, among other places). Continue reading →

The EM/CA doctoral network in the UK has the excellent practice of arranging twice-yearly meetings for graduate students doing EM/CA work. A  chance to talk, share ideas and experiences and feel part of a bigger research community. The most recent meeting was held at King’s College, London in October 2018. Melissa Bliss reports.

Melissa Bliss (Queen Mary, University of London)

The 10th biannual EM/CA Doctoral Network event was hosted by King’s presentations and no less than thirteen data sessions. To illustrate the range of sites of EM/CA work, 24 students participated from twelve UK universities and, a welcome addition, four international universities. Continue reading →

Occasionally something in the news strikes a resonant chord with those with  Conversation Analysis- tuned ears – and the laughter that treated President Trump at the UN on 25th September 2018 was just such an occasion. I’m delighted that Alexa Hepburn has been willing to bring her expertise to bear on a geopolitically sensitive question: was Trump laughed at? Or was the audience laughing with?

Alexa Hepburn, Rutgers

There’s a reason that the English language has 50 words for laughter (well, a lot anyway). We can snigger, titter, chortle or chuckle, and giggle, cackle, guffaw and roar. But why? What’s it all for? Enter the conversation analyst!

Continue reading →

I’m delighted to feature two more perspectives on what the big ICCA meeting in July 2018 at Loughborough was like. First, Jemima Dooley recounts her experience as a presenter, then Fabio Ferraz de Almeida reports on his very successful panel showcasing established and early-career work on police and judicial practices.

A presenter’s view of ICCA 2018

Dr. Jemima Dooley, Bristol

One of the benefits of presenting interactional data is that it is inherently fascinating. My research is in medical settings and presenting my work to clinicians is almost easy – people love the opportunity to have a bird’s eye view of how they and their colleagues perform their daily tasks. When presenting at a clinical conference I can rely on the data to be the star of the show. Continue reading →

The International Conference on Conversation Analysis started in 2002 in Copenhagen, and, following a four-year cycle (shadowing the football World Cup) has been to Helsinki, Mannheim and Los Angeles. This year it came to Loughborough, and was a terrific success, showcasing some 500 presentations and attended by over 600 people from across the globe.

I’m delighted to feature reports of the event, from different perspectives. Below,  Jack Joyce, Linda Walz and Jake Piper give the stewards’ view; and then Jessica Young, reports on her conference tweeting.

Jack Joyce

Linda Walz

Jake Piper

1. The Stewards’ Tale

For a few of the volunteers, ICCA-18 preparation started on the Saturday before the conference with packing around 600 conference bags. This meant, for most, that ICCA was a long, hot and exhausting week; but, if you ask any volunteer (and see the list below*) whether or not they enjoyed it, then the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’. Continue reading →

Graduate students doing EM/CA work in places where there aren’t many others of like mind, can sometimes feel a little isolated. That’s where an association like the EM/CA doctoral network comes into its own. Paula Greenlees reports on the most recent event, held in the elegant rooms of Edinburgh University.

Paula Greenlees, Edinburgh University

On a beautiful spring morning, a group of researchers from across the country and beyond gathered in Edinburgh, the city where Erving Goffman published his first book ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’. Continue reading →

It’s an exciting event when a new journal appears on the scene that immediately sounds appealing. I’m delighted that Brian Due and Kristian Mortensen will tell us about the background to the new Social Interaction. Video-Based Studies of Human Sociality, and explain how its online publication makes it exceptionally apt for publishing video and audio data.

Brian Lystgaard Due

Kristian Mortensen

Digital technology has over recent decades had a strong influence on the ways EMCA researchers go about doing their job. Over the years, video and audio data moved from magnetic tape to digital capture; transcriptions were no longer written on typewriters but produced as text files on a desktop; text files could link directly to video files so any segment could be immediately accessed; collections were no longer stored as pieces of papers in folders, but could be organized electronically across different corpora. Continue reading →

Occasionally one comes across a new bit of kit or a new technique which looks immediately enticing and exciting. This is certainly one: Saul Albert reports on his recent Drawing Interactions project that aims to create new graphical techniques and tools for the transcription, analysis and presentation of interaction research.

Saul Albert, Tufts University

Conversation analysts usually show their work using Jeffersonian transcripts with traced outlines or video stills in a ‘film strip’ style. These kinds of graphical transcripts present research for finished publications. But what about the exploratory phases of interaction research such as transcription and collaborative data sessions? Continue reading →