Media, Policy and Interaction
Situated within the field of discourse-oriented approaches to policy and media, this collection explores the interface... more
Situated within the field of discourse-oriented approaches to policy and media, this collection explores the interface between government, media and the public, highlighting the increasing importance placed on media channelled 'public opinion' as part of a democratic process.
The authors use a variety of discourse analytic methods including CA/MCA, Discourse Analysis and Interactionism, to provide discussions around the social organization of policy debate in media sites including news interviews, public access broadcasts, broadcast debates, panel discussions, mediated government initiatives, newspapers and news broadcasts. The book's geographical coverage spans the USA, Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.
This volume offers a major contribution to discourse analysis and its emphasis on policy substance will appeal to a broad audience in social and public policy, political communication, journalism and politics.
Contents: Media, policy and interaction: introduction, Richard Fitzgerald and William Housley; Membership category work in policy debate, William Housley and Richard Fitzgerald; Configuring a television debate: categorisation, questions and answers, Alain Bovet; Asserting interpretive frames of political events: panel discussions on television news, Emo Gotsbachner; Staging public discussion: mobilizing political community in closing discussion programmes, Hanna Rautajoki; Doing 'public policy' in the political news interview, Johanna Rendle-Short; Press scrums: some preliminary observations, Patrick Watson and Christian Greiffenhagen; Styling for hegemony: the West as an enemy (and the ideal) in Belarusian television news, Marián Sloboda; Scandal and dialogical network: what does morality do to politics. About the Islamic headscarf within the Egyptian parliament, Baudouin Dupret, Enrique Klaus and Jean-Noël Ferrié; Moving teachers: public texts and institutional power, Susan Bridges and Brendan Bartlett; Newspapers on education policy: constructing an authoritative public voice on education, Sue Thomas; Index.
About the Editor: Richard Fitzgerald is Senior Lecturer in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. William Housley is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Cardiff, UK, author of Interaction in Multidisciplinary Teams (2002) and the co-author (with Paul Atkinson) of Interactionism (2003).
Reviews: 'Investigation of the role of media in public life through analysis of talk is now well established. Media, Policy and Interaction is a valuable volume that elucidates some aspects of that role in a range of societies using methods inspired by ethnomethodology. It brings together eleven original contributions. Especially enjoyable were those from lively younger researchers.'
Ivan Leudar, Manchester University, UK
'This book, comprised of contributions from a multi-disciplinary team of authors around a common theme of public policy and the news providers through which it is mediated, is a useful addition to the literature and contains much that will recommend it to students of journalism theory, among other fields.'
Peter Anderson, University of Central Lancashire, UK
'This is an important contribution to the growing field of research on language practices in mediated politics. Rich in examples and powerful and detailed analyses, the book provides new insights into how politics is communicated in various media contexts. Focusing on framing, social categorisations, talk and interaction the authors explore the relations between practices on micro level and wider political discourses.'
Mats Ekström, Örebro University, Sweden
This title is also available as an ebook, ISBN 978-0-7546-9158-7
Membership Categorization, Culture and Norms In Action
Membership categorization, culture and norms in action
William Housley and Richard Fitzgerald
William Housley and Richard Fitzgerald
Abstract
In this article, we examine the extent to which membership categorization analysis (MCA) can inform an understanding of reasoning within the public domain where morality, policy and cultural politics are visible (Smith and Tatalovich, 2003). Through the examination of three examples, we demonstrate how specific types of category device(s) are a ubiquitous feature of accountable practice in the public domain where morality matters and public policy intersect. Furthermore, we argue that MCA provides a method for analysing the mundane mechanics associated with everyday cultural politics and democratic accountability assembled and presented within news media and broadcast settings.
categorization sequence membership categorization analysis mundane morality norms-in-action politics
Categorization, Interaction, Policy, and Debate
Categorization, Interaction, Policy, and Debate
William Housley and Richard Fitzgerald
William Housley and Richard Fitzgerald
Critical Discourse Studies, Volume 4, Number 2, August 2007 , pp. 187-206(20
Abstract:
During the course of this article the themes of public accountability, government policy, and interaction in media settings are examined. In particular, we examine empirical instances of media discourse as a means of exploring the use of identity categories, predicates, and configurations as a means of accomplishing policy debate in participatory frameworks such as radio phone-ins and the accountable frames of political interviews. This paper respecifies and explores the situated character of media settings as a means of documenting, describing, and illustrating the interactional methods associated with policy debate, public participation/representation, and democracy-in-action.
Articles that cite this article?
Keywords: media; discourse; categorization; interaction; identity; public sphere
Role As An Interactional Device and Resource In Multidisciplinary Team Meetings
William Housley (1999) 'Role as an Interactional Device and Resource in Multidisciplinary Team Meetings'
Sociological Research Online, vol. 4, no. 3, <http://www.socresonline.org.uk/4/3/housley.html>
Abstract
During the course of this paper the approaches of Conversation Analysis and Membership... more
Abstract
During the course of this paper the approaches of Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorisation Analysis are used to investigate and explore team members talk within multidisciplinary social/care team meetings. The paper explores the situated character of role within team meetings and considers the various methods through which team member roles are accomplished, negotiated, contested and used as a resource in the everyday business of making decisions, exchanging information and allocating work within multidisciplinary social/care team meetings. Consequently, traditional conceptualisations of role are respecified in terms of situated action.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keywords:
Category; Conversation Analysis; Device; Ethnomethodology; Interaction; Local Organisation.; Membership Categorisation Analysis; Predicate; Role; Sequence
Interaction In Multidisciplinary Teams
Interaction in Multidisciplinary Teams
In this key volume, William Housley examines the concepts... more
Interaction in Multidisciplinary Teams
In this key volume, William Housley examines the concepts of multidisciplinarity and team practice in social care settings and considers how and why the two concepts have been brought together in recent years. Furthermore, he discusses the various theoretical assumptions that underpin models of multidisciplinary teamwork. This is contrasted with interactional and ethnomethodological approaches that have examined the lived reality of work practices and social organization. The author applies these approaches to understanding multidisciplinary team interaction and communication within social care settings through the use of conversation and membership categorization analysis. Topics covered include the negotiation and accomplishment of professional and lay role-identities, claims making and the display of knowledge in team settings, the use of narrative and stories in decision making and the local organization and accomplishment of team leadership. Furthermore, it is argued that recent developments and ideas concerning the re-engineering of team structures within health and social care settings would benefit from some consideration of observations generated from this approach to exploring multidisciplinary team practice.
Contents: Bringing the multidisciplinary into team; The multidisciplinary team, method and meetings; Respecifying multidisciplinary social work meetings; Role as an interactional device in multidisciplinary team practice; Knowledge and display in team meetings; Narrative, extended sequences and talking team work; Team members' perceptions and theorising team structures; Bibliography; Index.
Story, Narrative and Team Work
The Sociological Review
Volume 48, Issue 3, pages 425–443, August 2000
Story, narrative and team work
William Housley
DOI: 10.1111/1467-954X.00224
Abstract
During the course of this paper I explore some dimensions of talk-in interaction within the... more
Abstract
During the course of this paper I explore some dimensions of talk-in interaction within the context of social/care work team meetings. Furthermore, I contrast traditional approaches to analysing members stories by illustrating the situated dimension and characteristics of members stories within talk-in-interaction. In addition, I address some topics relating to the investigation of social/care team work and briefly consider the story as a mechanism for reducing complexity within the locally accomplished parameters of team work.
Moral Discrepancy andFudging the Issue'In a Radio News Interview
Moral Discrepancy and `Fudging the Issue' in a Radio News Interview
William Housley
doi: 10.1177/0038038502036001001
Sociology February 2002 vol. 36 no. 1 5-21
Moral Discrepancy and `Fudging the Issue' in a Radio News Interview
William Housley
Cardiff... more
Moral Discrepancy and `Fudging the Issue' in a Radio News Interview
William Housley
Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
Abstract
During the course of this article I employ the reconsidered model of membership categorization analysis in order to explore the normative, categorial and sequential characteristics of talk within a radio news interview. Furthermore, I explore the categorial and sequential characteristics of a particular form of adjacency and other features of the talk concerning the topic of banning fox hunting. The article explores transcribed materials as a means of illustrating how the alleged practice of providing answers that `fudge the issue' within political radio news interviews is facilitated by questions that introduce a specific moral device. Furthermore, it is argued that issues concerning accountability and the media need to be informed by studies that explore the precise characteristics of situated talk-in-interaction displayed within such settings.
Key Words: action ethnomethodology intention membership categorization analysis moral discrepancy talk-in-interaction
Categorisation, Narrative and Devolution In Wales
William Housley & Richard Fitzgerald, 2001. "Categorisation, Narrative and Devolution in Wales,"... more
William Housley & Richard Fitzgerald, 2001. "Categorisation, Narrative and Devolution in Wales," Sociological Research Online, Sociological Research Online, vol. 6.
Abstract: Within this paper we examine the use of extended story turns, within the accomplished context of a radio news debate, that display various accounts of national identity in relation to a proposal for devolved democratic institutions within the United Kingdom. In this sense, they display a 'world view'. These various positions are displayed through the use of various categories, inferences and connections in order to lend support to and promote positions of For and Against the proposal of the establishment of a devolved democratic assembly for Wales. In this sense the topics of national identity and political re-organisation are omni-relevant topics (Sacks 1992). However, our particular focus and interest is upon the various detailed ways such positions routinely rely on methods of categorisation and moral assessment in their construction, configuration and promotion of arguments. Furthermore, the analysis of such category work contributes to our understanding of the moral organisation of Welsh identity in relation to devolved forms of political organisation and representation.
Keywords: Categorization; Devolution; Identity; Interaction; Narrative; Wales
Moral Discrepancy and Political Discourse: Accountability and the Allocation of Blame In a Political News Interview
William Housley & Richard Fitzgerald, 2003.
"Moral Discrepancy and Political Discourse:... more
William Housley & Richard Fitzgerald, 2003.
"Moral Discrepancy and Political Discourse: Accountability and the Allocation of Blame in a Political News Interview," Sociological Research Online, Sociological Research Online, vol. 8.
Abstract: During the course of this article we intend to explore some issues surrounding government policy and actions and the moral organisation of political discourse surrounding the recent enquiry into the BSE crisis and the publication of the Phillips Report in the UK. More specifically, we wish to develop the concept of moral discrepancy and it's use in politically accountable settings, in this case the political interview. The paper, through the use of membership categorisation analysis, explores issues surrounding the social organisation of interview settings, the discursive management of policy decisions and 'bureaucratic mistakes' and the allocation of blame in situated media/political formats. The paper then relates these issues to notions of democracy-in-action, public ethics and the respecification of structure and agency as a members phenomenon.
Keywords: Accountability; Categorisation; Interaction; Moral Discrepancy; Political News Interview
The Reconsidered Model of Membership Categorization Analysis
doi: 10.1177/146879410200200104
Qualitative Research April 2002 vol. 2 no. 1 59-83
The reconsidered model of membership categorization analysis
William Housley
Richard... more
The reconsidered model of membership categorization analysis
William Housley
Richard Fitzgerald
Abstract
This article briefly investigates the role that ethno-methodology has played in sociological analyses of language and interaction. The work of Harvey Sacks is investigated in relation to membership categorization and the analysis of talk-in-interaction. More specifically, the authors focus on how this strand of work has been developed in recent years and now represents a powerful apparatus for conducting sociological analyses of interaction in a diverse range of settings in a way that is sensitive to issues related to social organization, normativity, identity, macro-micro synthesis, knowledge and developments in social theory.
Key Words: category context conversation analysis device ethnomethodology knowledge membership categorization analysis normativity predicate social structure talk-in-interaction
Telling the CAQDAS Code: Membership Categorization and the Accomplishment of ‘Coding Rules’ in Research Team Talk.
Housley, W. and Smith, R.J.
Discourse Studies, 13 (5) 2011
During the course of this paper we examine data gathered from two research meetings in which coding issues and data... more
During the course of this paper we examine data gathered from two research meetings in which coding issues and data organisation are being discussed in relation to the use of the software package Atlas.ti. The meetings were concerned with the organisation and coding of semistructured interviews carried out by three different groups as part of a wider collaborative research project. A number of papers have considered aspects of coding practice in teams or small groups; however, little work exists on the analysis of first order collaborative CAQDAS coding interaction. In doing so this paper respecifies formal coding and collaboration models through the examination of practical methods of situated interaction and data sense making in the course of producing
social scientific facts and explanation. In this sense, the analysis reveals the way in which the professional argot of social science codes can be understood to rely on everyday methods of sense making within team based contexts. These methods can be understood to be realised through the fine detailed ‘granular’ categorical and sequential specifics of talk-inmeetings where matters relating to social scientific reasoning, accountability, stakeholders interests, defeasible and defensible reasoning protocols, disciplinary rights and the ‘search for underlying patterns’ are salient features and recognisable and accountable concerns for team members as a routine aspect of doing qualitative social science.
Category work and knowledgeability within multidisciplinary team meetings
Citation Information. Text - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse. Volume 20, Issue 1, Pages 83–108, ISSN (Online) 1613-4117, ISSN (Print) 0165-4888, DOI: 10.1515/text.1.2000.20.1.83, //2000
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the display of categories within team members' talk in terms of... more
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the display of categories within team members' talk in terms of `know-how', `knowledge' and `expertise'. The paper adopts a methodological approach that draws from both Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorisation Analysis. The theorised relationship between multidisciplinarinity and team practice is respecified through the detailed examination of team members’ talk and category display within the meeting talk of a multidisciplinary team. The notion that different members act as filters for external discourses of distinct knowledge within team interaction is contrasted with analyses that illustrate the situated character of knowledge in team talk. Consequently, the notion of knowledge as a structurally organised phenomenon is contrasted with analyses that document, describe and illustrate the local, methodical and interactive accomplishment of knowledge in situ. Furthermore, this paper shows that knowledge, as an emergent and occasioned product of team interaction, is realised through both category and sequence in team members’ talk.
Key words:- Category, predicate, device, turn taking, adjacency, recipient design, recognisability, category display, knowledgeability.
Categories, norms and inferences. Generating entertainment in a daytime talk show.
A unpublished draft paper that is taking too long to finish
Abstract.
This paper examines the way the host of a daytime television talk show generates entertainment by... more
Abstract.
This paper examines the way the host of a daytime television talk show generates entertainment by creating categorial frames for the studio guests which are then used to produce moral evaluations around their actions towards each other. In doing this the paper draws upon Sacks’ (1995) work on storytelling, and in particular his discussion of categorial inferencing and category norms, as a guiding resource for the overhearing audiences. The data is taken from the UK TV daytime talk show The Jeremy Kyle Show. The show’s format is based around guests relating stories of conflict with each other over topics concerning infidelity, paternity or theft and where the culmination is usually a paternity test or lie detector test. The analytic focus of this paper is on the collaborative telling of the story prior to any test and in particular on the way the host works to overlay individual identities and events with membership categories and category based actions. The paper then examines how this work by the host then provides for the invocation of category based normative reasoning by which to produce contrasts and pass moral judgement on the guests and their actions. In detailing the hosts’ work in layering categories, devices and predicated actions over personal identity and individual actions the analysis highlights the way individual actions are made accountable for the overhearing audience through category based norms and moral frames.
52 views
Seen by:
Download (.docx) 227 views
Seen by:
¿Dónde estoy cuando hablo por teléfono? La performance emocional de la ubicuidad
by Simone Belli
Co-authored with Adriana Gil
Este texto explora las relaciones que el uso y la presencia de los teléfonos móviles tienen en la sociedad actual, a... more
Este texto explora las relaciones que el uso y la presencia de los teléfonos móviles tienen en la sociedad actual, a partir de los resultados de un estudio basado en relatos personales. Con el análisis de estos relatos intentamos responder a una pregunta que como investigadores nos planteamos: ¿dónde estamos cuando hablamos por teléfono?
Hemos utilizado como material de análisis estos relatos personales, donde los participantes de este seminario han tratado de explicar su relación con el móvil. En este artículo el énfasis se ha puesto en el análisis de las emociones relacionadas con el uso de los dispositivos moviles.
71 views
Seen by:
Mundane reason, membership categorization practices and the everday ontology of space and place in interview talk
Mundane reason, membership categorization practices and
the everyday ontology of space and place in interview talk
William Housley, Cardiff University, UK
Robin James Smith, Cardiff University, UK
Qualitative Research
11(6) 698– 715
© The Author(s) 2011
Reprints and permission: sagepub.
co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1468794111415960
qrj.sagepub.com
Abstract
In this article we aim to utilise and apply ethnomethodological and interactionist principles to the... more
Abstract
In this article we aim to utilise and apply ethnomethodological and interactionist principles to the analysis of members’ situated accounts of regenerated urban space. With reference to previous empirical studies we apply membership categorization analysis and the concept of mundane
reason to data gathered from situated street level interviews carried out as part of a programme of ethnographic research into the regenerated setting of Cardiff Bay. The article demonstrates that these data yield sociological insight into social actors’ interpretive and interactional reasoning in relation to the negotiation, navigation and comprehension of space and place. Through this
work the patterned signatures of the urban interactional order can be identified. Furthermore, we illustrate the forms of emic rationality associated with the everyday and ubiquitous constitution of urban space as a meaningful, and thence cultural, milieu. It is our claim that an appreciation of
these urban forms of reasoning is important in the ethnographic, sociological and geographical analysis of space and place.
Keywords
Cardiff Bay, commonsense geography, membership categorization analysis, mundane reason,place, regeneration, space
Role as an interactional device
Social Problems, vol.37, no.4, 1990, pp. 564-577.
This paper reports on an aspect of the social organization of interaction, namely, the use by interactants of the... more This paper reports on an aspect of the social organization of interaction, namely, the use by interactants of the concept "role." In contrast with traditional social scientific uses of the concept as an explanatory resource in the analysis of social action, I propose that interactants use this concept to make sense of--as well as accomplish--actions and activities in the social world. Analysis of segments of conversation taken from videotapes of the Iran-Contra Congressional hearings demonstrate this as well as the more general point that description is a form of social action.
