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analyzed using several methods and can be visualized using graphs, images, and others. Pieces of data actually refer to individual piece of information. Therefore,
data are collected and analyzed to create information which is suitable for making decisions.
The object of this research was The Great Debaters movie. The data were in the form of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences found in the utterances of the
main character, Melvin B. Tolson, particularly those containing politeness strategies. The sources of data were The Great Debaters movie and its transcript
which is taken from a reliable internet page, http:www.script-o-
rama.commovie_scriptsa1 the-great-debaters-script-transcript.html . Lastly, the
context of data was the dialogues between Melvin B. Tolson and the other characters in the movie.
C. Instruments
According to Creswell 2009:175, one of the characteristics of qualitative research is that the researcher is a key instrument who collects data through
examining documents, observing behavior, or interviewing participants in order to get information. Thus, the researcher was the primary instrument in this research.
However, to obtain data more accurately, the researcher also used a supporting instrument. Data sheet was used as the secondary instrument. The data sheet
which was used in this research can be seen as follows.
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Table 1. Sample of data sheet of politeness strategies performed by Melvin B. Tolson in The Great Debaters movie
No. Data
Types of Politeness Strategies and the
Realizations Sociological
Factors Explanation
BR PP
NP OR
R D
P
1. Students:
Standing Melvin B.
Tolson: Entering the
class Have a seat.
5 √ Seeing Melvin B. Tolson
entering the class for the very first time of the new academic
year, all students who are the freshmen instantly stand up to
welcome him. Then, Melvin asks them all to sit down
because he wants to start the lesson. He goes baldly on
record in performing this utterance.
The main
sociological factor for him in choosing this strategy is the
relative power he has as the teacher over the students.
Notes: BR: Bald on-record
Sub strategies: 1 : No face redress in
great urgency 2 : Metaphorical urgency
for emphasis 3 : Metaphorical
entreaties stressing high valuation of
hearer’s friendship 4 : Channel noise
5 : Task-oriented 6 : Do not care to
mantain hearer’s face or be rude
7 : Sympathetic advice or warning
8 : FTA-oriented bald- on-record usage
PP: Positive Politeness Sub strategies:
1 : Notice to hearer 2 : Exaggerate
3 : Intensify interest to hearer
4 : Use in-group identity marker
5 : Seek agreement
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6 : Avoid agreement 7 : Presuppose common
ground 8 : Joke
9 : Assert knowledge of hearer’s wants
10 : Offer, promise 11 : Be optimistic
12 : Include both speaker
and hearer in the activity
13 : Give reasons 14 : Assume reciprocity
15 : Give gifts to hearer
NP: Negative Politeness Sub strategies:
1 : Be conventionally
indirect 2 : Question, hedge
3 : Be pesimistic 4 : Minimize the
imposition 5 : Give deference
6 : Apologize 7 : Impersonalize
speaker and hearer 8 : State the FTA as
general rule 9 : Nominalize
10 : Go on record as incurring debt
OR: Off Record Sub strategies
1 : Give hints 2 : Give association
clues 3 : Pressupose
4 : Understate 5 : Overstate
6 : Use tautologies 7 : Use contradictions
8 : Be ironic 9 : Use metaphors
10 : Use rhetorical
questions 11 : Be ambigous
12 : Be vague 13 : Over-generalize
14 : Displace hearer 15 : Be incomplete, use
ellipsis Sociological Factors:
R : Rank of imposition D : Social distance
P : Relative power D.
Data Collection Technique
First of all, the researcher downloaded the transcript of The Great Debaters in
http:www.script-o-rama.commovie_scriptsa1 the-great-debaters- script-transcript.html
which then was filtered to collect or accumulate data related to the study topic. In collecting the data, the researcher followed these procedures.
To begin with, she watched The Great Debaters movie and then tried to find its transcript. Secondly, she checked the accuracy of the transcript and matched it
whether it is similar or not to the movie. After that, she marked off the utterances
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or sentences that contained politeness strategies including bald on-record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record strategies. Then, she compiled
these raw data into the data sheet that she already made. Finally, she made sure that the data collected was ready to be analyzed by re-reading the transcript and
re-watching the movie itself.
E. Data Analysis Technique
