Analysing Talk and Embodied Practice: Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis (2027)

Welcome to Analysing Talk and Embodied Practice: Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis

The course will offer an introduction to studying social interaction and the order of action from the distinctive perspective of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (EMCA) are approaches to the study of society which prioritise a close attention to what people actually do in order to make their activities intelligible and accountable.

In its development, EMCA asked seemingly simple questions which, it turns out, provide remarkable insights into how society is organised: how do people take turns at talking?; how are people able to make sense to one another, and how do they fix misunderstandings?; how do people follow instructions and rules?; and, how do people arrange their bodies in space and on the move (when queueing or crossing the road)? Whilst these questions may seem trivial when compared to the "big" questions of social science, paying attention to just how everyday practices are organised reveals something extraordinary: society is not only organised at aggregate scale, but in fine detail, moment-by-moment, and at all points. The aim of EMCA is to describe the methods that members of society use in conducting their "naturally-organised activities"; hence, ethno (people/folk) method (a series of practices) ology (the study thereof). This distinctive perspective on the detail of practices leads to richly described yet rigorous studies of interactional settings, be they everyday, institutional, scientific, commercial, medical etc.

The course will introduce how EMCA practitioners conduct observational studies, produce and transcribe field recordings, and pursue analyses. In a broader sense, the workshop introduces and explores EMCA as an emic approach to social interaction and qualitative (video) analysis. Participants will benefit from working through the stages of noticing, recording, transcribing, analysing and reporting, with each stage providing different resources which will be of use in their own research practice.

There are no pre-requisites beyond the key and mandatory readings and the production of a poster about one's PhD work (which should be brought to the first course day).

The key intention of the workshop is to encourage participants to "give theory a rest" (Laurier, 2010) and develop a patience with their data and materials and what they can lead us to see. In this way, by using close observation as a basis for analysis, participants will learn how EMCA produces findings that are "not currently imaginable" (Sacks, 1984: 25).

More specifically, the course will focus on producing and analysing video recordings of interaction in public space. The objectives of the course are that participants:

• Collect and organise video recordings of naturally-occurring social interaction.

• Prepare and present video materials, transcribe video into graphic transcripts.

• Make, respond and develop "noticings" with a group of peers in data sessions, guided by more experienced practitioners.

• Understand, describe, and recognise a selection of the core concepts and findings in EMCA.

• Understand how EMCA produces its "findings" and become familiar with the warrantability of its claims.

Description of paper requirements:

Participants are invited to produce a paper of 5-8 pages in length that focuses on describing a particular phenomena or practice observed in public space. The paper should make some reference to the key concepts covered in the course in introducing and framing the discussion but the vast majority of the paper should be devoted to presenting materials and analysis which centres upon the "lived detail" of the practices observed. 

Description of poster:

Participants must prepare a poster introducing their PhD project. The poster should be handed in ca 2 weeks before the course starts (a deadline will be announced). The posters help us to get an overview over the topics and enable us to relate to their projects during the course. The posters are on display during the entire course to facilitate sparing between the PhD students.

Teaching methods:

The course will be participant led and project-based. Participants will, from the outset, be immersed in EMCA as a practical activity through pursuing a short project in small groups. Through collaborative active-learning opportunities, including conducting fieldwork, transcribing, and analysing their recordings in data sessions, participants will gain a "hands on" understanding of the core principles and practices in EMCA. Fieldwork will be scaffolded and supported by suggestions of topics but, primarily, will adopt the spirit of open inquiry.

The three-day seminar will be facilitated by expert practitioners in the field. The program features a combination of individual and group working, group discussions (for example, on a key reading), and presentations. Two lectures will be delivered by the guest contributors (Eric Laurier and Robin Smith).

We will accommodate the needs of participants who have experience in EMCA and novices by adopting two "streams" in a selection of the activities. There will, however, be multiple activities in which the group will work as a whole. In each session participants will receive formative feedback to check and confirm their understanding. We will adopt principles of inclusive design in planning and delivering the seminar, and will actively and sensitively monitor and respond to different accessibility and learning needs before and during the seminar.

The final day of the seminar is devoted to participant presentations and responses from staff. Following the seminar, participants are invited to produce an optional paper reporting their observations of interaction in public space. Seminar facilitators will provide feedback to participants that complete this task.

Programme outline:

Day 1: Fieldwork Day

• Welcome and introductions: participants to display posters which will be made in advance of course about their work, facilitators to circulate, reading and discussing posters with participants.

• Introductory lecture on EMCA.

• Introduction of the fieldwork task.

• Data Collection: fieldwork in small groups videoing interaction in public spaces.

• Transcription Lecture.

• Transcribe data from collection: experimentation encouraged.

• Responses to transcripts and reflections on transcription practices.

Day 2: Data Session Day

• Group data sessions based on material collected as part of EMCA student projects.

• Reading session: discussion of set reading with guided questions (experienced and novice groups with separate readings).

• Joint reflections on data sessions and reading groups focused on the relationship between "the literature" and doing analysis.

Day 3: Presentation Day

• Small groups, organised around shared interests, prepare talks with assistance from staff.

• Small groups give talks.

• Staff responses to talks.

• Reflection on course.

Key literature:

Francis, D., & Hester, S. (2004). An invitation to ethnomethodology: Language, society and social interaction. SAGE Publications Ltd. Chapter 1 "Social Interaction, Language, and Society" and Chapter 5 "Going Public".

Livingston, E. (1987). Making Sense of Ethnomethodology. Routledge. pages 1 to 27.

Mondada, L. (2022). The Situated and Methodic Production of Accountable Action: The Challenges of Multimodality. In D. W. Maynard & J. Heritage (Eds.), The Ethnomethodology Program. Oxford University Press: New York. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190854409.001.0001

Mandatory literature:

De Stefani, E., & Mondada, L. (2018). Encounters in Public Space: How Acquainted Versus Unacquainted Persons Establish Social and Spatial Arrangements. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 51(3), 248-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2018.1485230

Laurier, E. (2019). The panel show: further experiments with graphic transcripts and vignettes. Social Interaction. Video-Based Studies of Human Sociality., 2. DOI: 10.7146/si.v2i1.113968

Laurier, E., & Boelt Back, T. (2023). Recurrent Problems and Recent Experiments in Transcribing Video, Live Transcribing in Data Sessions and Depicting Perspective. In P. Haddington, T. Eilittä, A. Kamunen, L. Kohonen-Aho, T. Oittinen, I. Rautiainen, & A. Vatanen (Eds.), Ethnomethodological Conversation Analysis in Motion. Emerging Methods and New Technologies (pp. 245-263). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003424888

Smith, R. J. (2018). The practical organisation of space, interaction, and communication in and as the work of crossing a shared space intersection. Sociologica, 4(2), 1-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.2383/88200

Smith, R. J. (2017). Membership categorisation, category-relevant spaces, and perception-in-action: The case of disputes between cyclists and drivers. Journal of Pragmatics, 118, 120-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.05.007

Sudnow, D. (1972) "Temporal parameters of inter-personal observation". In D. Sudnow (ed.) Studies in Social Interaction. pp. 259-279. New York: The Free Press.

Watson, R. (2005). The visibility arrangements of public space: Conceptual resources and methodological issues in analysing pedestrian movements.

Suggested literature:

Heath, C., Hindmarsh, J., & Luff, P. (2010). Video in Qualitative Research: Analysing Social Interaction in Everyday Life. Sage.

Hindmarsh, J., & Llewellyn, N. (2018). Video in Sociomaterial Investigations: A Solution to the Problem of Relevance for Organizational Research. Organizational Research Methods, 21(2), 412-437. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428116657595

Laurier, E. (2014). Noticing. In R. Lee, N. Castree, R. Kitchin, V. Lawson, A. Paasi, C. Philo, S. Radcliffe, S. M. Roberts, & C. W. J. Withers (Eds.), Handbook of Human Geography (pp. 250-272). Sage.

Tuncer, S., Laurier, E., Brown, B., & Licoppe, C. (2020). Notes on the practices and appearances of e-scooter users in public space. Journal of Transport Geography, 85, 102702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102702

Organizer: Laura Bang Lindegaard, Department of Culture and Communication, RECAST

Lecturers:

Eric Laurier, Professor, Edinburgh University
Robin James Smith, Professor, Cardiff University
Antonia Krummheuer, Associate Professor, Aalborg University, IKK
Laura Bang Lindegaard, Associate Professor, Aalborg University, IKK

ECTS: 3 with paper; 2 without paper

Date: 12, 13, 14 May 2027

Place:

City: 9220 Aalborg Ø

Number of seats: 30

Open for enrolment: 12 January, 2027

Deadline for enrolment: 21 April 2027

Deadline for paper:  TBA

Important information concerning PhD courses:

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

You may find more information in our FAQ: https://phd.moodle.aau.dk/local/page/faq

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk. When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.