Customer Reviews

Discourse as Data: A Guide for Analysis (Published in association with The Open University)

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This book really needs to be read in conjunction with Discourse Theory and Practice, a companion volume from the same authors/editors.

Discourse analysis is identified here as a field of research, rather than a single discipline, and the broad characteristics of the field and their applications (in sociology, psychology, politics, literary studies, etc.) are clearly identified.

A number of readings from various thinkers are presented which give a good flavor of how particular research methods are used in (for example) Sacks-derived conversation analysis, sociolinguistics, social psychology and Foucauldian discourse analysis.

Various activities are suggested throughout the book, thus enabling the reader to engage more closely with the methodologies described. From my point-of-view, working through these activities has been very rewarding as it has assisted in transforming dry academic knowledge into a set of practical skills. This is therefore a demanding but highly worthwhile book.