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hypotheses. Authors will normally argue for the validity of their analyses by arguing that some aspects of convergence, agreement, coverage, and linguistic details are met in their analysis. But no piece of work can, or
should, ask all possible questions, seek all possible sources of agreement, cover all the data conceivably related to the data under analysis, or seek to deal with every possibly relevant linguistic detail.
A discourse analysis argues that certain data support a given theme or point hypothesis. In many cases, for the individual piece of work, convergence and linguistic details are the most immediately important aspect of validity –
that is, showing that answers to a number of questions like our eighteen questions pp. 92–4 and linguistic details converge to support the analysis. It is important, as well, that these questions come from a consideration of different
building tasks, not just one, and that a number of different linguistic details support the conclusions drawn. It is important, too, that the researcher openly acknowledges if any answers to these questions or any linguistic details
support opposing conclusions. Various aspects of agreement and coverage are also important in different ways in different sorts of studies sometimes through citations to, and discussion of, the literature.
The individual piece of work is, then, of course juxtaposed to earlier and later work in the field. This juxtaposition allows further aspects of convergence, agreement, coverage, and linguistics to be socially judged and adjudicated.
Validity is as much, or more, in those social judgments and adjudications, as it is in an individual piece of work.
5.9 Starting to do discourse analyses
In the next chapter I will deal with some aspects of how language is planned and produced and with some ways that a discourse analyst can start to organize his or her thinking about a piece of language. In Chapter 7 I turn to an
example of discourse analysis. The example will deal with teenagers making sense of their selves, lives, and society in interviews. It is here that my warning in the Introduction to this book must be most heeded: the method I have
developed in this book is not intended as a set of “rules” to be followed “step-by-step.” In turn, the example in Chapter 7 is not meant as a “recipe” or ‘‘how to” manual. Rather, it is meant merely to show some of the tools we
have discussed in this book put to use, not in and for themselves, but to speak to particular themes, points, and issues. This example, then, is meant as a “thinking device” to encourage others to engage in their own discourse-
related reflections. Many other examples could have been used, and other examples would have used the tools in somewhat different ways.
What I would suggest for “beginners” who are pursuing their first discourse analyses is this: Pick a piece of data a big or small interaction, narrative or other extended piece of language, an interview, or a written text,
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for example that both interests you and that you believe will speak to or illuminate an important issue or question. If the data is speech, transcribe it as closely as you can, but with an eye to the features you think will be most
important for the issue or question in which you are interested. Start with a reasonable amount of your data you don’t need to use it all and use more of it as the need arises if it does.
Pick some key words and phrases in the data, or related families of them, and ask what situated meanings these words and phrases seem to have in your data, given what you know about the overall context in which the data
occurred. Think about what cultural models these situated meanings appear to implicate. Think about the social languages and Discourses that appear to be relevant, in whatever ways, to your data. If it is easier to think about
what Conversations see Chapter 2 are relevant to your data, then do that.
As you think about social languages, Discourses, and Conversations, you are thinking about what and how social activities and socially-situated identities are being enacted andor recognized in your data by participants andor
yourself as analyst. As you think about all these things, look closely at your data, ask yourself what linguistic details appear to be important for how situated meanings, cultural models, social activities, socially-situated
identities, social languages, and Discourses are being “designed,” enacted, or recognized in your data.
After some initial reflections on these matters, or as a way to engage in these reflections, ask yourself the eighteen questions listed in section 5.7 pp. 92–4 and any other questions you can think of, taking notes and reflecting on
your answers to these questions, guided by the theme or question with which you started, but paying attention to any others that seem to emerge. Pay particular attention to where answers to several different questions seem to
converge on the same point or theme whether or not these are related to the original theme, interest, or question that started you off. Some questions under some building tasks may not be relevant or may not yield illuminating
answers for the data you have picked.
As you think about the points or themes that emerge from asking the eighteen questions, either relate them to the theme or question with which you started or revise that theme or question. Then, organize your analysis so that the
material you have developed the answers to the questions you have asked about the building tasks and the reflections you have made on them speaks to, argues for, and illuminates the final main points, themes, or issue
s you have chosen to address in your paper.
Be sure you appeal to a variety of linguistic details in your analysis and try to address different building tasks and their related questions to begin to achieve some degree of validity in regard to convergence. You can, if
appropriate, try to extend your analysis to other parts of your data or new sources of related data or to data in the literature to begin to achieve some degree of validity in regard to coverage. You can use interviews with
participants
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keeping in mind that they are not always conscious of what they mean and do, citations from related literature, and collaboration with others to begin to achieve some degree of validity in regard to agreement.
Note
This book is an introduction to one particular approach to discourse analysis and I have made no attempt to compare and contrast this approach to others. For introductions to other approaches, see van Dijk 1985 and Schiffrin
1994. Two volumes edited by van Dijk 1997a, b contain articles on a wide variety of approaches to, aspects of, and topics in discourse analysis. “Conversational analysis” is a specialized approach to discourse analysis centered
in sociology and is discussed in van Dijk 1997b see the paper by Pomerantz and Fehr, pp. 64–91; see also, Goodwin and Heritage 1990; Ochs, Schegloff, and Thompson 1996, and Psathas 1995. Malone 1997 does a
good job of combining conversational analysis and symbolic interactionism. Macdonnell 1986 and Mills 1997 are short introductions to discourse with a focus on feminist, poststructuralist, and postmodern work. Fairclough’s
1989, 1992, 1995 “critical discourse analysis,” though drawing on somewhat different tools of inquiry and a somewhat different linguistic tradition, none the less bears important similarities to the approach sketched in this
book. Lemke 1995 and Kress 1985; Kress and van Leeuwen 1996 are both important approaches to discourse based on “social semiotics.’’ Hicks 1995 overviews some approaches to discourse analysis as they apply to
teaching and learning. Luke 1995 is a good discussion of issues of discourse, politics, and education. Judith Green and David Bloome have developed a distinctive approach to discourse in classrooms see Bloome 1987; Bloome and
Egan-Robertson 1993; Green and Dixon 1993; Green and Harker 1988; Green and Bloome 1997; Santa Barbara Discourse Group 1992; see also Gee and Green 1998. Duranti 1997; Duranti and Goodwin 1992; Gumperz and
Levinson 1996; and Levinson 1983 are good overviews of larger approaches to language that incorporate discourse analysis.
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6 Processing and organizing language
6.1 Speech in produced in small spurts
