Interaction Analysis

Course Objective

Social life comprises myriad occasions on which individuals interact with each other: whether it’s eating breakfast with family, going to the movies with friends, getting a health check from a doctor or receiving advice from a financial consultant. Interaction analysis provides a unique approach to the study of social life by taking a real interest in its constituent interactions in both domestic and institutional contexts.

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to interaction analysis.
By the end of this course you will be able to:

1. Describe the principles and scope of the interaction analytic approach, including its four core methodologies: Conversation Analysis (CA), Discursive Psychology (DP), Ethnomethodology (EM), and Membership Categorisation Analysis (MCA).
2. Explain the methodological foundations that underpin interaction analysis, with reference to key theoretical and epistemological assumptions.
3. Identify and interpret fundamental concepts in Conversation Analysis and their relevance to the study of social interaction.
4. Apply appropriate interaction analytic methods to collect, transcribe, and analyse empirical data from naturally occurring interactions.

Course Content

The course comprises four modules. Module 1 introduces you to the theoretical and methodological framework underpinning interaction analysis and its methods. This module will demonstrate that and how interaction analysis can provide a unique insight into the ‘hidden’ organisation of everyday life. Module 2 focuses on how social institutions like ‘medicine’, ‘education’ or ‘news media’ are talked into being. It zooms in on key aspects of social interactions such as how they begin and end, how they are sequentially organised, and how they promote social solidarity. Module 3 takes up the fundamental role of knowledge in social interactions and lays out a set of arguments to show that and how knowledge is negotiated in interaction. Finally, module 4 integrates the concepts from modules 1-3 by offering a practical orientation to interaction analytic research. You will be introduced to practices for applying interaction analysis to the examination of empirical data.

Additional Information Teaching Methods

This is an asynchronous course in which you can enroll throughout the year and then take it at your own pace. All course materials are available on Canvas together with instructions on how and in what order they should be accessed. Each of the four modules within this course comprises three or four interactive lectures and associated guided readings. More specifically, the interactive lectures feature ‘pop-up questions’ at key moments in the exposition to stimulate your thinking and engagement. The guided readings feature questions and comments meant to support and guide your understanding of the texts.

Method of Assessment

The assessment comprises four quizzes (one after each module), each worth 10% (assessing learning objectives 1-2), and a final exam (assessing learning objectives 3-4), worth 60%. You need to pass the final exam (minimum grade 5.5.) to pass the course.

Literature

The readings for this course are academic book chapters and research articles. All papers will be made available to you via Canvas.

Additional Information Target Audience

The course is open to everyone interested in the scientific study of social interaction. The course has been designed particularly for (prospective) Dialogue Health and Society master students and it is part of the premaster program for the Communication Information Studies (CIS) master track: Dialogue, Health and Society.