Conversation Analysis (CA) rigorously examines what actually happens in social life (Sacks 1992: 26), using the very interactions people exchange as its data. Interaction here does not only refer to so-called “chit-chat” in everyday conversations. It also includes interactions occurring within major societal institutions such as healthcare, welfare, education, economy, politics, etc. Interaction is the infrastructure through which the social instution of societies are accomplished—in other words, it is the "fundamental or primoridal scene of social life" (Schegloff 1995: 187, 1996: 54, 2006).
In this context, the data that may (not) be considered for research by those studying in this lab are outlined as follows. These rules are not general rules applied to all CA research but are specific to this laboratory’s policy. However, those who wish to study in this lab are required to work with data that aligns with this policy, using the CA approach for their research.
{Data that may be used for research}
○ Video data of interaction: If visual information about other participants is available to the participants of the interaction, video data must be used. Interactions can include gaze, posture, pointing, gestures, etc., as these are also subjects of CA research.
○ Audio data of interaction: When visual information about other participants is not available to the participants in the interaction, such as in voice-only phone calls, analysis using audio data is permitted.
{Data that may not be used for research}
・Interviews, questionnaires, field notes
・Dramas or movies where scripts might be used
・Television programs or YouTube videos where silences or speech might have been edited out
・Text data from emails, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.
As for myself, I have conducted CA focusing on welfare settings (Nakagawa 2016; 2022). Therefore, I recommend that those who wish to study in this lab also pursue research forcusing on welfare settings. However, as long as the research adopts the CA approach and the collection of data is feasible, exceptions may be made for research conducted in this lab.
【References】
Nakagawa, Atsushi , 2016, "Conversation Analysis on Decision Making Processes in Long-distance Caregiving: Methods of Dealing with Dilemmas and the Distribution of Responsibility," The Annual Review of Sociology, 29 56-67. (Japanese)
――――, 2022, "Conversation Analysis of Calls in Long-distance Caregiving: Soliciting an Offer by Presenting Desirability," Japanese Sociological Review, 73(2) 136-153.(Japanese)
Sacks, Harvey, 1992, Lectures on Conversation Volume. Ⅱ (Fall 1968-Spring 1972), Oxford: Blackwell.
Schegloff, Emanuel A., 1995, “Discourse as an Interactional Achievement III: The Omnirelevance of Action,” Research on Language and Social Interaction, 28(3): 185–211.
――――, 1996, “Turn Organization: One Intersection of Grammar and Interaction,” Elinor Ochs, Emanuel A. Schegloff and Sandra A. Thompson eds., Interaction and Grammar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 52–133.
――――, 2006, “Interaction: The Infrastructure for Social Institutions, the Natural Ecological Niche for Language, and the Arena in which Culture is Enacted, ” Nick. J. Enfield and Stephen. C. Levinson, eds., Roots of Human Sociality: Culture, Cognition and Interaction, London: Berg: 70-96.