Reflection on ‘Discourse Analysis’ by Rosland Gill.

Discourse Analysis is a research method with benefits and drawbacks. It is a form of ‘interpretation, warranted by detailed argument and attention to the material being studied’ (Gill, 2000: 188). It is a long process of looking at transcripts and understanding them. Due to its close analysis, it means it is a very reliable source of research. Unfortunately, it is a time consuming process, especially when transcripts aren’t collected through secondary research and must be written out. As it is also an interpretation, critics argue that it can be disproved but this is a critique, discourse analysis’s are more than aware of and understand that this will always be an issue with their research process.

Discourse analysis is about analysing speech. It looks at what is said in a different way to understand the purpose. Gill explains that ‘As social actors, we are continuously orienting to the interpretive context in which we find ourselves, and constructing our discourse to fit that context…Discourse analysts argue that all discourse is occasioned’. (2000: 175) This, I believe, explains why people use discourse analysis as a research method. You can learn a lot about people from what they say, but a lot will go unnoticed. People adapt their speech based on the occasion to presumably fit the conventions expected in that situation. Their speech and dialect will be altered, and discourse analysis’s aim to understand why these changes are made.

In order to properly conduct discourse analysis Gill explains the process focuses on ‘the construction, organization and functions of discourse’ (2000: 178) instead of looking for a hidden message. How we structure our discourse will depend on the social situation, which then allows the researcher to explore why people behave this way in this situation. The structure of a speech can tell you a lot about a person, including their intelligence level and their personality traits.

Discourse analysis is a very in-depth study into how people communicate verbally. It’s a research approach that is limited to what a person says but if the method is use to its full capacity, that is all a researcher may need.

Bibliography:

Gill, R. (200) “Discourse Analysis” in: Bauer, M. Gaskell, G. ed. Qualitative Researching with Text, Image and Sound. London: Sage, pp. 172-189