Conversation analysis

Conversation analysis (CA) is an approach to the study of <a href="/facts/Social_interaction/DU3HW2Ah">social interaction</a> that investigates the methods members use to achieve mutual understanding through the transcription of naturally occurring conversations from audio or video. It focuses on both verbal and non-verbal conduct, especially in situations of everyday life. CA originated as a <a href="/facts/Sociology/d2Fd0N87">sociological</a> method, but has since spread to other fields. CA began with a focus on casual <a href="/facts/Conversation/GNKD6xb3">conversation</a>, but its methods were subsequently adapted to embrace more task- and institution-centered interactions, such as those occurring in doctors' offices, courts, law enforcement, helplines, educational settings, and the mass media, and focus on <a href="/facts/Multimodality/7jmU7WRt">multimodal</a> and nonverbal activity in interaction, including gaze, body movement and gesture. As a consequence, the term conversation analysis has become something of a misnomer, but it has continued as a term for a distinctive and successful approach to the analysis of interactions. CA and <a href="/facts/Ethnomethodology/m9Rx2LFY">ethnomethodology</a> are sometimes considered one field and referred to as EMCA.
Conversation analysis should not be confused with other methods of analyzing conversation or interaction, such as other areas of <a href="/facts/Pragmatics/KkK08yyI">pragmatics</a> and <a href="/facts/Discourse_analysis/aoqbxvVW">discourse analysis</a>.: 9

Conversation analysis open-in-new

Conversation analysis