The research question for this study is “Can concepts from complex adaptive systems and conversation analysis be used to research consumer behaviour?" This is, primarily, a theoretical question. After a wide-ranging literature search no scholarly publications linking the qualitative aspects of complex adaptive systems theory to marketing or consumer research were located. In addition, there appear to be few papers on consumer research which use conversation analysis. A theory for the research methodology was developed. It was argued that the production of a research theory and methodology to test the relevance and appropriateness of two very different theories - complex adaptive systems and conversation analysis was the major undertaking of this thesis. The problem of combining an essentially scientific perspective (complex adaptive systems) with an essentially qualitative one (ethnomethodology and conversation analysis) was resolved as part of the research process. A bridging theory was developed through the common ground offered by the sociology of scientific knowledge on the one hand and social-constructionist theory on the other. This methodology was successful in supporting the choice of conversation analysis as the data-collection method and provided the rationale for observing five characteristics of a complex adaptive system. The methodology was tested empirically and, in keeping with exploratory work, iteratively. It is not intended that this type of research will have predictive value. The complex adaptive system studied was consumers in a small group. There were two research locations with six data-collection sessions in each. The first location collected data from organisational groups. The second collected data from groups of consumers convened in a meeting room. / Data were transcribed and analysed for all sessions according to the conventions of conversation analysis. In the meeting-room sessions, data were also collected by electronic-group-support-systems technology and subjected to a modified form of content analysis. The broad findings showed the following. The assumption that there was little evidence of interest in complex adaptive systems among consumer behaviour researchers was confirmed. Apart from one paper calling for the use of conversation analysis in consumer behaviour research, there appeared to have been no subsequent reports of its adoption. The potential for conversation analysis in consumer research has probably not been understood because it was seen as a data-collection method only within an ethnomethodological perspective. The discursive theoretical perspective, which gives a prime position to conversation analysis in the construction of factual accounts, was found to be an innovative way to study consumer behaviour. A discursive theoretical research perspective could have provided a more robust theoretical justification for the fieldwork carried out in this study than the theory of the methodology that was first developed for this study. Conversation analysis did meet the five criteria proposed for surfacing a complex adaptive system in a small group but in an unexpected way. It met these criteria through the research process. In other words, by setting up an appropriate research environment and using conversation analysis, it was shown that a complex adaptive system was in operation. / An outcome of employing complex adaptive systems theory and conversation analysis is a new way of seeing groups of consumers as a self-organised, nonlinear, interactive entity. Conversation analysis has proven to be a method of empirically observing this entity, whilst preserving the consumer groups' complex adaptiveness. There were three conclusions. The first is that the discursive paradigm appears to be an alternative paradigm for consumer behaviour research that is appropriate for certain applications. For example, marketing communications and word-of-mouth communication. The second conclusion is that when small-group talk-in-interaction is recorded and analysed using conversation analysis, the characteristics of a complex adaptive system theorised in this study seem evident to the researcher. The third is that complex adaptive systems appear to be capable of being researched in the field, but more work is needed on defining the characteristics to be researched.

Abstract not available

<p>I föreliggande studie undersöktes interaktionen mellan en person med afasi och hennes närstående. Syftet var att identifiera möjliga resurser som används av personen med afasi för att optimera delaktigheten i samtal, dels som aktiv lyssnare men också i situationer där missförstånd uppstår, samt se hur prosodi används som resurs i interaktionen. Datamaterialet som studerades var en två timmar lång videoinspelning i hemmet hos personen med afasi, där samtal med hennes man samt väninna förekom. Materialet analyserades enligt Conversation Analysis för att identifiera mönster i samtalen. Tre olika mönster identifierades och analyserades; återkopplingar för att visa aktivt lyssnarskap, och repetitioner som en begäran om bekräftelse av förståelse, samt begäran om förtydligande då något är otydligt eller felaktigt i föregående yttrande. Resultaten visade på kommunikativa resurser hos personen med afasi gällande att vara en aktiv lyssnare som stödjer talaren genom återkopplingssignaler, samt som en aktiv deltagare i samtalet genom att initiera reparationer för att samkonstruera förståelse.</p>

<p>Simulators provide great promises of pedagogical utility in a wide array of practices. This study focuses on the use of a full-scale mannequin simulator in training of personnel at an intensive care unit at a Swedish hospital. In medicine, simulators are a means of doing realistic training without risks for the patient. Simulators for use in intensive care medicine are built to resemble as closely as possible the human physiology. In the studied sessions the simulator (a Laerdal SimMan) is set up to be an as-authentic-as-possible replication of the nurses regular, day-to-day practice.</p><p>In examining the training-sessions, it was found that the participants often did other things than “proper” simulation, such as joking or making comments about the simulation. These “transgressional activities” were studied from a perspective of ethnomethodology, using video-recordings of the session. These were transcribed and analyzed in detail using ethnomethodologically informed interaction analysis.</p><p>Several themes were developed from the recordings and transcripts. These have in common that they demonstrate the participants’ own achievement and maintenance of the simulation as a distinct activity. The analysis provides an account of how the local order of the simulation is upheld, how it is breached and how the participants find their way back into doing “proper” simulation. It is an overview of the interactional methods that participants utilize to accomplish the simulation as a simulation.</p><p>This study concludes with a discussion of how this study can provide a more nuanced view of simulations, in particular the relation between simulated and “real” practices. Notions of realism, authenticity and fidelity in simulations can all be seen to be the participants’ own concern, which informs their activities in the simulation.</p>

<p>Who is the journalist, a conversation analysis of interviews with party leaders during the 2006 election period, focus on the ideology of journalismÖrebro University, Department of Humanities, Media- and Communication studies, C-studySupervisor: Mats EkströmAuthor: Erica HellstrandIn contemporary society the media is part of the politics, or maybe, politics is part of the media. Whatever the case, they are important to each other, the media play a conclusive role in the connect between politics and citizens, and thus, results of election. The relation between the media and politics should continuously be studied and discussed in the continuously changing modern society.This paper examines the practice of news journalism in interviews with swedish party leaders during the 2006 election period. Focusing on how the ideology of journalism and the professional identity of journalists affect the practice the researcher hopes to contribute to the further understanding of the area. Steven E. Clayman has studied broadcast political interviews and the use of tribune of the people-footing, which means that journalist's align with the public in different ways. Thus, delimitations of the study has been set to the analysis of how journalists use the TV-audience, the studio audience, the people, the citizens, the voters and the common in a set of techniques during the interview.The method used is conversation analysis which concentrates on utterances as actions within sequences of talk. The method is based on a model, developed by Sacks and Schegloff, of turn taking which describes the basic rules of conversation. It is a qualitative study of eight party leader-interviews recorded during the 2006 election. The aim is to examine the professional identity of journalists as a tribune of the people, in the practice of their profession. The researcher aimed to answer two questions:Does the interview structure contribute to enhance the role of the journalist as a tribune of the people?Can patterns be found in the journalist's question-formulations which imply that the journalist is acting in the role as a tribune of the people?Everything in the interview happen because someone has decided i should happen. The scene itself is perfectly planned to fit the aim of the interview, namely to mediate the interrogation of politicians to the people. Questions formulated by persons in the audience or persons at home watching the program constitute a resource to the interviewer, when the question is asked the interviewer can further interrogate the interviewee on the subject without having to explain why the question is worth asking. Further, the structure of the speech-exchange also creates resources for the journalist to stance him/herself as a tribune of the people. Four categories of aligning with the public was found in the material. The journalist can; (1) construct a hypothetical person and ask one or several questions on behalf of this person, (2) formulate a question on behalf of the people, (3) formulate a question on the basis of a indefinite crowd of people and (4) formulate a question on the basis of a definite crowd of people.The results implies that the journalists act as a tribunes of the people, more or less, throughout the interview situation. The question yet to be asked is if this only constitute resources in a struggle between different agendas or if it actually is imbedded in the identity of the journalist. The ideoloy is said to control, motivate and inspire. Thus, a tribune of the people stance creates resources and legitimizes the practice of journalism, but it also creates a place in society where journalism is needed.</p>

<p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka användningen av "ju" i vardagliga samtal. Det primära materialet för undersökningen är därför en ljud- och bildinspelning av ett vardagligt samtal mellan tre unga kvinnor. Ur detta samtal analyseras en sekvens där "ju" förekommer med samtalsanalys (CA) som metod. Analysen visar att den främsta funktionen hos "ju" i denna sekvens är att skapa gemenskap och engagemang.</p>

<p>I denna studie har vardaglig interaktion studerats utifrån ett dialogiskt perspektiv där en av samtalsdeltagarna är en ung man (M) med autism som använder alternativ ochkompletterande kommunikation (AKK). Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur kommunikativa projekt (t.ex. begäran av föremål eller aktiviteter) sekventiellt är konstruerade samt att synliggöra de sociala mönstren som bygger upp kommunikativa projekt vilka möjliggör för en person med autism att delta i en kommunikativ kontext genom bildanvändning och andra kommunikativa resurser. Analysen grundar sig på videoinspelat material av två kvällar då M filmades i sin hemmiljö. Conversation Analysis används som samtalsanalytiskt verktyg, vilket lämpar sig väl för att synliggöra kvalitativa samtalsfenomen. Den generella strukturen i de kommunikativa projekten har setts vara organiserade i tre faser. En prefas vilken består av handlingar där samtalspartnern guidar M till att uttrycka (oftast) en begäran explicit. Denna fas möjliggör för M att öppna upp ett kommunikativt projekt. I huvudfasen samkonstrueras en explicit begäran av deltagarna genom att den talande parten sätter ord på M´s icke verbala uttryck. Avslutningsvis består postfasen av bekräftande och avslutande handlingar. Denna studie visar att deltagarna bygger upp de kommunikativa projekten genom ömsesidiga och samarbetande handlingar som, förutom det kommunikativa projektets funktion, i sig är värdefulla för deltagarna.</p>

This dissertation was a discourse analysis study, drawing upon discursive psychology, poststructural understandings of discourse, conversation analysis, and a social relational model of disability. The purpose of this study was to explore how autism was performed as an interactional event among children with autism labels, the therapists who work with them, and their parents, in the context of a pediatric therapy setting. I interrogated how the participants’ everyday discursive practices were shaped and, at times, constrained by the social and political institutions that often work to define autism and the related, official plans of treatment. A total of 12 families agreed to participate, resulting in the participation of 12 children with autism labels, three to 11 years of age, six fathers, and 11 mothers. The participants included three speech therapists, two occupational therapists, one physical therapist, one teacher/social group facilitator, and one medical secretary/sibling support group facilitator. Data sources included conversational data from the therapy sessions of the participating children and their therapists, 14 parent interviews, eight therapist interviews, documents used within the therapy sessions, demographic surveys/information from the participating therapists and parents, and two interviews with a state advocate and clinical directors focused on qualifying for services. Findings from the interview data highlighted the varied meanings and performances of autism, while pointing to the related political and social conditions that make the naming and treating of autism (im)possible. Findings drawn from the therapy session data pointed to how the participants’ discursive practices worked to reframe “behaviors of concern,” and to transgress normative communication patterns. The following conclusions were drawn from the findings: (a) autism, as a construct, remains open to multiple meanings, while being inextricably linked to institutionalized practices; (b) in therapy talk, therapists and children with autism labels often co-construct alternative accounts of problematic behaviors; and (c) therapy talk can function to reframe non-normative communication and behavioral patterns, expanding what is constructed as “acceptable.” The findings point to the complexities of defining and performing autism labels, and highlight the ways in which therapy talk can function to reframe behaviors and communication patterns presumed to be pathological.

In dieser konversationsanalytisch-interaktionslinguistischen Arbeit werden verbale, para-verbale und nonverbale Ressourcen zur Darstellung des Affekts Mitleid im Rahmen der sozialen Aktivität Erzählung untersucht. Grundlage der Analyse sind Video- und Audiodaten deutscher Gespräche. Es wird einerseits aufgezeigt, welche Ressourcen von Erzählerinnen eingesetzt werden, um affektive Reaktionen relevant zu machen (z.B. Blickverhalten, Augenbrauenbewegungen, rhetorische Mittel), andererseits wird beschrieben, welche spezifischen Ressourcen zur Darstellung von Mitleid eingesetzt werden (z.B. Interjektionen mit spezifischen Tonhöhenverläufen, „arme/r/s + S“-Konstruktionen, Handbewegungen). Es wird zudem demonstriert, dass es sich bei der Darstellung von Mitleid um ein interaktiv hergestelltes, soziales Phänomen handelt. Anhand des metakommunikativen Wissens der Sprecher, das sprachlich relevant gemacht wird und somit für die Analyse zugänglich ist, kann eine grundlegende soziale Regel zur Darstellung von Mitleid herausgearbeitet werden: Voraussetzung für Mitleid bzw. seine Darstellung ist eine spezifische Qualität der sozialen Beziehung zu der ‚consequential figure‘ (Maynard 1997). Nur wenn diese vorhanden ist bzw. interaktiv hergestellt wird, kann eine Mitleidsdarstellung in einer Erzählung über problematische Themen relevant gemacht werden und der lokalen Herstellung von sozialer Nähe zwischen den Gesprächsteilnehmern dienen. / The thesis explores the verbal, para-verbal and nonverbal resources which speakers deploy in everyday conversation to display sympathy in the course of the social activity storytelling. The analysis draws upon Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics and is based on video and audio data of German talk-in-interaction. It will be shown which resources can be used by storytellers to make affective reactions relevant (e.g. gaze, eye brow movements, rhetorical devices) and which resources are deployed by recipients to display sympathy (e.g. interjections with specific pitch contours, ‘poor+N’-constructions, hand gestures). It will also be demonstrated how participants manage the transition from problematic phases of storytelling to subsequent talk, e.g. by contextualizing it as more humorous. Furthermore, participants provide access to their meta-communicative knowledge of when and how to display sympathy appropriately by making it linguistically relevant in the interaction. Thus, from these observations, it is possible to assume certain feeling and/or display rules for this specific kind of emotive involvement. The overall findings of this study are that a) it seems that a specific quality of the relationship to the ‘consequential figure’ (Maynard 1997) is a prerequisite for displaying sympathy, and b) social closeness may be created locally within the interaction through the affect display.

The present thesis explores talk in institutional settings, with a particular focus on how institutionality and institutional norms are constructed and reproduced in interaction. A central aim is to enhance our understanding of how institutional agendas are talked into being. In line with the ethno­methodological approach, norms are viewed as accomplished in everyday interaction, whereas institutionality represents dimensions of talk where participants demonstrably orient to particular contextual constraints. Five studies were conducted using Conversation Analysis (CA), focusing on how institutional constraints impact sequential trajectories and shape different opportunities for participants. The data consists of two corpora of video recordings: group tutorials at a Swedish university (UTs), and performance appraisal interviews in an organ­ization (PAIs). The thesis pays particular attention to the interactional management of knowledge, entitlement and stance, and analytic foci include how speakers manage epistemic claims and rights at a certain point in interaction, and how they accomplish social positioning. The UT studies examine the negotiation of rights to speak for others in a group (Study I), and how diver­ging understandings of the institutional activity-at-hand can be negotiated on the basis of students’ advice-seeking questions (Study II). In Study III, orientations to institutional and sociocultural norms are investigated in the PAIs, where managers and employees treat negative stances on stress as problematic. The relationship between theory and institutional practice in the use of question templates in PAIs is also examined, through an analysis of the delivery and receipt of a particular question in different interviews (Study IV). Focusing on different adaptations of a preset item, this analysis shows how the same question sets up for a variety of subsequent actions. Finally, deployment of the verb känna (‘feel’) in managing epistemic access and primacy is examined (Study V). It is argued that ‘feel’ allows for a reduction of accountability when making epistemic claims. The studies highlight the relationship between linguistic formats and social actions and illustrate how institutional agendas have consequences for participant conduct. Attention to the details of actions in institutional interaction can thus shed light on social and linguistic underpinnings of the enactment of institutional norms.