The studies in this special issue focus not so much on apologies in public
discourse, in the med... more The studies in this special issue focus not so much on apologies in public discourse, in the media, or in the world of public affairs but rather on those made in everyday social interactions, for the (usually) slight but nonetheless significant moments when someone treads on another’s toes, literally or metaphorically, and causes some (usually) minor inconvenience or harm. The frequency and significance of such moments are associated with the moral character of action, of all action, whether physical or verbal. Each of these articles is a detailed and illuminating empirical analysis of the occurrence and interactional work managed through (and thereby the function of) different formats of one of the most prevalent, and controversial, features of public, social discourse: how we (try to) make amends through apologizing for misconduct in everyday social interactions.
This paper outlines the main 'principles' of turn design - that is, that a speaker designs her tu... more This paper outlines the main 'principles' of turn design - that is, that a speaker designs her turn with respect to i) where in a sequence, the turn is being taken, ii) what is being done in that turn, and iii) to whom she is speaking (recipient design).
This study explores whether the profile of patients' interactional behaviour in memory clinic... more This study explores whether the profile of patients' interactional behaviour in memory clinic conversations with a doctor can contribute to the clinical differentiation between functional memory disorders (FMD) and memory problems related to neurodegenerative diseases. Conversation Analysis of video recordings of neurologists' interactions with patients attending a specialist memory clinic. "Gold standard" diagnoses were made independently of CA findings by a multi-disciplinary team based on clinical assessment, neuropsychological testing and brain imaging. Two discrete conversational profiles for patients with memory complaints emerged, including (i) who attends the clinic (i.e., whether or not patients are accompanied), and (ii) patients' responses to neurologists' questions about memory problems, such as difficulties with compound questions and providing specific and elaborated examples and frequent "I don't know" responses. Specific commun...
This study provides an alternative approach to assessing caller satisfaction focussing on how cal... more This study provides an alternative approach to assessing caller satisfaction focussing on how callers express their appreciation of the service provided during the call, as the calls draw to a close. Conversation analysis is used to analyse 99 calls between callers and cancer specialist nurses on a leading cancer helpline in the UK. Caller satisfaction is expressed through upgraded forms of the appreciations through which callers begin to close the call. Dissatisfaction is conveyed in what are by comparison with expressions of satisfaction, downgraded forms which acknowledge but do not fully or enthusiastically appreciate the information/advice given. With latter calls, nurses begin to 're-open' aspects of information/advice giving, thereby leading to more protracted call closings. Endogenous indicators of caller satisfaction are displayed through callers' upgraded appreciations in the closing moments of helpline calls. Difficulties in terminating calls (protracted by nurses re-opening information-giving etc.) arise when callers do not convey their satisfaction with the service provided. An understanding of endogenous indicators of satisfaction may benefit helpline organisations and further their understanding of effective call-handling, particularly through identifying the features common to those calls in which callers do not display their satisfaction with the call.
In the UK dementia is under-diagnosed, there is limited access to specialist memory clinics, and ... more In the UK dementia is under-diagnosed, there is limited access to specialist memory clinics, and many of the patients referred to such clinics are ultimately found to have functional (non-progressive) memory disorders (FMD), rather than a neurodegenerative disorder. Government initiatives on 'timely diagnosis' aim to improve the rate and quality of diagnosis for those with dementia. This study seeks to improve the screening and diagnostic process by analysing communication between clinicians and patients during initial specialist clinic visits. Establishing differential conversational profiles could help the timely differential diagnosis of memory complaints. This study is based on video- and audio recordings of 25 initial consultations between neurologists and patients referred to a UK memory clinic. Conversation analysis was used to explore recurrent communicative practices associated with each diagnostic group. Two discrete conversational profiles began to emerge, to help...
There would be little adaptive value in a complex communication system like human language if the... more There would be little adaptive value in a complex communication system like human language if there were no ways to detect and correct problems. A systematic comparison of conversation in a broad sample of the world’s languages reveals a universal system for the real-time resolution of frequent breakdowns in communication. In a sample of 12 languages of 8 language families of varied typological profiles we find a system of ‘other-initiated repair’, where the recipient of an unclear message can signal trouble and the sender can repair the original message. We find that this system is frequently used (on average about once per 1.4 minutes in any language), and that it has detailed common properties, contrary to assumptions of radical cultural variation. Unrelated languages share the same three functionally distinct types of repair initiator for signalling problems and use them in the same kinds of contexts. People prefer to choose the type that is the most specific possible, a principle that minimizes cost both for the sender being asked to fix the problem and for the dyad as a social unit. Disruption to the conversation is kept to a minimum, with the two-utterance repair sequence being on average no longer that the single utterance which is being fixed. The findings, controlled for historical relationships, situation types and other dependencies, reveal the fundamentally cooperative nature of human communication and offer support for the pragmatic universals hypothesis: while languages may vary in the organization of grammar and meaning, key systems of language use may be largely similar across cultural groups. They also provide a fresh perspective on controversies about the core properties of language, by revealing a common infrastructure for social interaction which may be the universal bedrock upon which linguistic diversity rests.
The studies in this special issue focus not so much on apologies in public
discourse, in the med... more The studies in this special issue focus not so much on apologies in public discourse, in the media, or in the world of public affairs but rather on those made in everyday social interactions, for the (usually) slight but nonetheless significant moments when someone treads on another’s toes, literally or metaphorically, and causes some (usually) minor inconvenience or harm. The frequency and significance of such moments are associated with the moral character of action, of all action, whether physical or verbal. Each of these articles is a detailed and illuminating empirical analysis of the occurrence and interactional work managed through (and thereby the function of) different formats of one of the most prevalent, and controversial, features of public, social discourse: how we (try to) make amends through apologizing for misconduct in everyday social interactions.
This paper outlines the main 'principles' of turn design - that is, that a speaker designs her tu... more This paper outlines the main 'principles' of turn design - that is, that a speaker designs her turn with respect to i) where in a sequence, the turn is being taken, ii) what is being done in that turn, and iii) to whom she is speaking (recipient design).
This study explores whether the profile of patients' interactional behaviour in memory clinic... more This study explores whether the profile of patients' interactional behaviour in memory clinic conversations with a doctor can contribute to the clinical differentiation between functional memory disorders (FMD) and memory problems related to neurodegenerative diseases. Conversation Analysis of video recordings of neurologists' interactions with patients attending a specialist memory clinic. "Gold standard" diagnoses were made independently of CA findings by a multi-disciplinary team based on clinical assessment, neuropsychological testing and brain imaging. Two discrete conversational profiles for patients with memory complaints emerged, including (i) who attends the clinic (i.e., whether or not patients are accompanied), and (ii) patients' responses to neurologists' questions about memory problems, such as difficulties with compound questions and providing specific and elaborated examples and frequent "I don't know" responses. Specific commun...
This study provides an alternative approach to assessing caller satisfaction focussing on how cal... more This study provides an alternative approach to assessing caller satisfaction focussing on how callers express their appreciation of the service provided during the call, as the calls draw to a close. Conversation analysis is used to analyse 99 calls between callers and cancer specialist nurses on a leading cancer helpline in the UK. Caller satisfaction is expressed through upgraded forms of the appreciations through which callers begin to close the call. Dissatisfaction is conveyed in what are by comparison with expressions of satisfaction, downgraded forms which acknowledge but do not fully or enthusiastically appreciate the information/advice given. With latter calls, nurses begin to 're-open' aspects of information/advice giving, thereby leading to more protracted call closings. Endogenous indicators of caller satisfaction are displayed through callers' upgraded appreciations in the closing moments of helpline calls. Difficulties in terminating calls (protracted by nurses re-opening information-giving etc.) arise when callers do not convey their satisfaction with the service provided. An understanding of endogenous indicators of satisfaction may benefit helpline organisations and further their understanding of effective call-handling, particularly through identifying the features common to those calls in which callers do not display their satisfaction with the call.
In the UK dementia is under-diagnosed, there is limited access to specialist memory clinics, and ... more In the UK dementia is under-diagnosed, there is limited access to specialist memory clinics, and many of the patients referred to such clinics are ultimately found to have functional (non-progressive) memory disorders (FMD), rather than a neurodegenerative disorder. Government initiatives on 'timely diagnosis' aim to improve the rate and quality of diagnosis for those with dementia. This study seeks to improve the screening and diagnostic process by analysing communication between clinicians and patients during initial specialist clinic visits. Establishing differential conversational profiles could help the timely differential diagnosis of memory complaints. This study is based on video- and audio recordings of 25 initial consultations between neurologists and patients referred to a UK memory clinic. Conversation analysis was used to explore recurrent communicative practices associated with each diagnostic group. Two discrete conversational profiles began to emerge, to help...
There would be little adaptive value in a complex communication system like human language if the... more There would be little adaptive value in a complex communication system like human language if there were no ways to detect and correct problems. A systematic comparison of conversation in a broad sample of the world’s languages reveals a universal system for the real-time resolution of frequent breakdowns in communication. In a sample of 12 languages of 8 language families of varied typological profiles we find a system of ‘other-initiated repair’, where the recipient of an unclear message can signal trouble and the sender can repair the original message. We find that this system is frequently used (on average about once per 1.4 minutes in any language), and that it has detailed common properties, contrary to assumptions of radical cultural variation. Unrelated languages share the same three functionally distinct types of repair initiator for signalling problems and use them in the same kinds of contexts. People prefer to choose the type that is the most specific possible, a principle that minimizes cost both for the sender being asked to fix the problem and for the dyad as a social unit. Disruption to the conversation is kept to a minimum, with the two-utterance repair sequence being on average no longer that the single utterance which is being fixed. The findings, controlled for historical relationships, situation types and other dependencies, reveal the fundamentally cooperative nature of human communication and offer support for the pragmatic universals hypothesis: while languages may vary in the organization of grammar and meaning, key systems of language use may be largely similar across cultural groups. They also provide a fresh perspective on controversies about the core properties of language, by revealing a common infrastructure for social interaction which may be the universal bedrock upon which linguistic diversity rests.
This is a methodology text with a difference. It demonstrates the importance of talk in a variety... more This is a methodology text with a difference. It demonstrates the importance of talk in a variety of social research methodologies. Even documents, the seemingly least interactional form of social data, are shown to have important interactional dimensions. The book focuses systematically on how sociological methods are essentially conducted through forms of spoken interaction, and how these interactions shape the results that emerge in research. The book demonstrates:
" How spoken interactions shape the outcomes of core research methodologies
" The role which talk-in-interaction plays in key substantive areas of sociology notably race, crime, gender and media
" Reveals the interactional underpinnings of research methodologies
This is the first text aimed at an undergraduate and Master's audience in Sociology and Social Research, which shows the crucial part that spoken interaction plays in the conduct and products of conventional sociological methodologies.
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Papers by Paul Drew
discourse, in the media, or in the world of public affairs but rather on those made
in everyday social interactions, for the (usually) slight but nonetheless significant
moments when someone treads on another’s toes, literally or metaphorically, and
causes some (usually) minor inconvenience or harm. The frequency and
significance of such moments are associated with the moral character of action,
of all action, whether physical or verbal. Each of these articles is a detailed and
illuminating empirical analysis of the occurrence and interactional work managed
through (and thereby the function of) different formats of one of the most prevalent,
and controversial, features of public, social discourse: how we (try to) make
amends through apologizing for misconduct in everyday social interactions.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
discourse, in the media, or in the world of public affairs but rather on those made
in everyday social interactions, for the (usually) slight but nonetheless significant
moments when someone treads on another’s toes, literally or metaphorically, and
causes some (usually) minor inconvenience or harm. The frequency and
significance of such moments are associated with the moral character of action,
of all action, whether physical or verbal. Each of these articles is a detailed and
illuminating empirical analysis of the occurrence and interactional work managed
through (and thereby the function of) different formats of one of the most prevalent,
and controversial, features of public, social discourse: how we (try to) make
amends through apologizing for misconduct in everyday social interactions.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
" How spoken interactions shape the outcomes of core research methodologies
" The role which talk-in-interaction plays in key substantive areas of sociology notably race, crime, gender and media
" Reveals the interactional underpinnings of research methodologies
This is the first text aimed at an undergraduate and Master's audience in Sociology and Social Research, which shows the crucial part that spoken interaction plays in the conduct and products of conventional sociological methodologies.