met_3_methods of text and discourse analysis chapter 14

7/25/2019 Met_3_Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis Chapter 14

1/12

ethods

of Text and Discourse Ana ysis

provides the

most comprehensive overview of linguistic and sociological

approaches to text and discourse analysis currently avai lable.

Among the ten llngwst1c and sociologcal models surveyed

the book looks at Grounded Theory, Content Analysis,

Conversation Analyss and Crit1cal Dscourse Analyss. Each

approach

is

presented accord

1ng

to a standardized format

which allows for d1rect systematic compansons, and the

fully annotated llsts of sources at the end of each chapter

prov1de readers with

an

add1t1onal means of evaluatlon of the

competing analytical methods.

lnterdiSCiplinary and internatlonal in its scope,

Methods

of

ext

and Discourse Analysis

suggests the benefits both lingusts

and sociolog1sts will derive from a more

1ntimate

knowledge

of each others' methods and procedures. By enabling readers

to comp

are,

contrast and apply a range of methods and

approaches, this book wlll be an essential resource for both

students and researchers.

Stefan Titscher works as a Proessor for Sociology at the Vienna Universty

of Economics

and Business Adrrn1stration.

where Michael Meyer works

as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Orgamzatonal Behaviour.

Ruth Wod k s a

Professor

lor Appled LJnguistcs ano Discourse

Analysis

at the

Un1versity

of Vienna. She currently works as a Research

P-ofessor

at

the

Austnan

Academy of

Sciences and

directs

the Research

Center

Discourse,

Poht1cs

and ldentity .

Eva

Vetter is

aff.tiated

to the Department of

Romamstcs

at

the

University

of Vienna.

Cover Des1gn JKS Communica:ons

ISBN 0 7619 6482 7

7807 4827

SAGE Publi

c

ti

ons

London Thousand Oaks

New

Deihi

www.sagepub.co.uk

3

1 159

M

5926

E l ?


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3/12

Methods ofText

and

iscourse nalysis

Stefan Titscher Michael Meyer, Ruth Wodak

and

Eva

Vetter

Tran

s

lated

by

ryan

j nn r

SAGE Publications

London Thousand

Oaks

N

ew

e

lhi

_-.

1

) i

1

}


4/12

S ean Tirscher, M ichael Meyer, Rurh \XIodak

and

Eva Verte r 2000

Firsr pub lished 2000

Ca rroons

Klaus

P.

Becker

All nghrs reservcd. No pan of rhis pub hcarion may be

reproduced srored in a retrieval sysrem, rransmitted o r

urilized in

an

y form or by any means, electronic, mcchanical

phorocopying

r

ecordtng or orhe

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wming from rhc Publishers.

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ISBN O

769 6482

7

ISBN O

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ONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Inrrod

uct

ion

PA

RT

METHODS

ND

TE XTS

1

On

Social-scicm ific Mc

rh

ods

of

Text Analysis

2 What is a Texr'

3 How ro Ob tain Material for Ana lysis- An Overview

4

Map

of Methods and T heori

es

P RT

2 OUTLINE OF METHODS O FTEXT NALYSIS

VJ

3

20

31

50

53

Content Analys is

6 Grounded Theor)' 74

7

Er

hnographic Merhods 90

8 Two Ethno methodologically Oriented Methods

of

Text Analysis:

Mem bership Categoriza tion Device Analysis and Conversation

Analysis 1

04

9 Narrative Semiorics Smantique Stru cturale) 125

10 SYMLOG as a Met hod of Text Analysis 136

11 Two Approaches to Critica Discourse Ana lysis 144

12 Functional Pragmatics 171

13 Distincrion Theory Text Analysis 185

14 Objective Hermeneurics 198

PART 3 OVERVIEW

N

D

CO

MP R ISON

213

15 Bibliometric Survey: The Prominence of Methods of Text Analysis 215

16 Comparison of Methods of Text Analysis

226

Glossary

Ap pendix: Publi.:ations and Keywords for Bibliomet

ry

Bibliography

Index

23

7

247

253

273


5/12

CH PTER 4

OBJECTIVE

HERMENEUTI S I

o

jective hermeneurics belongs ro the group of reconsrructive procedures that

. are cha racrenzed by rhe nonon

of

d iscovering larenr srrucrures. Wirho ur

relymg on any scienrific episremology

of

irs own, ir rarher works on rhe basis

of

e v e r ~ ~ a y

undersrandmg and refines rhis by means

of

a clearly motivared and

exphm ser of rules. In 1s historical developmenr ir grew from being an emprica)

procedure denved from

s e ~ r c

practice, and is in rhar sense based

on

rhe expe

nences of such research r a ~ c e and on their rcconsrrucrion' (Bohnsack 1991: 69).

The

d e v e o ~ m e n r of obecnve hermeneurics

as

a merhod of rcxr analysis

w a ~

accompamcd by a need for rhe developm

ent

of a new merhodology for rhe

soc

al.scences. Th1s need

ha

s irs o rigin in rhe exrension

of

the research

doma

n

o soc10logy m ro arcas that are arrributed ro the exisrence of a social suh con

sciOus.

As

h ~ r m e n

~ r i c

rhe merhod rhereby rranscends rhar boundary imposcd

o.n rhe classcal vananr, because rhe larrer is rrapped in rhe world of rhc indi

VIdual

and

his

or

her inrenrions.

In addition to thi s looking behind rhe scenes' objective hermeneutics is

cha racrenzed above all by a

compa

ratively

exp

licit dererminarion of principies

and

procedures thar analysrs musr follow.

1

TH OR

ETICAL ORIGINS

T h ~

c e d u ~ e s used in objecrive hermeneurics were developed in rhe conrexr

of

an .mvesugauon of rhe soc ializarion

of

children in fam ilies, in order ro be able

ro mrerprer records of family i nrernal inreracrion. The dec iding

mom

enr for rhis

srudy was rhe ques non of

how

ch ildren can participare in the social world of

fam dy e ven rhough rh e.y .firsr

hav.e

ro acquire rhe n

ec

essary comperences for

thts. The classKal subecnvtst learnmg theories

of

Ericson,

Mead

and Piager

could

~ r o v t d e no

adequare

answers

ro this,

and

so rhe merhod

was

developed

by fallmg back on the rheories described bclow.

.

From

hermeneutics the merhod borrowed

the

notion rhat allunderstanding

IS condm.oned by the prior knowledge

of

the inrerprerer and rhar ir is extended

rhrough 1nterprerarion a

nd

thereby c reares new

con

d itions for und

erstanding

h e r m ~ n e u t c e ~ r c l e . Looked at in th is way one could take the sequ ential

analyncal

procedure

as a special case

of

rhe he

rm

eneur

ic c ircle.

OBJECT VE

E ~ ~ E U T I C

199

The concepr of rhc subconscious was borrowed from freudian psycho

analysis and

extended

inw

the

social s

ubcon

scious. Thi s app lies ro rhose parts

of meaning strucrurcs rhar are nor rea

li.

cd by participanrs, even rhough rhey

exerr influence as un recognized conditions

or

uninrended consequences

of an

acrion. T he reference ro Freud, however, should only be understood as a srruc

tural analogy ro illusrrare the model and

nor

as a transfer

of th

e

concept of

drive

into rhe rea lm of inreracrions (Oevermann eral. 19 79: 368).

Like rhe critica rheory

of Horkh

eimer and

Adorno,

objecrive h

ermeneu

rics

rejecrs all rhose models rhar seek to undersrand rexrs using a preordained

sysrem

of

caregori es.

Ir

also adoprs rhc claim

of

rhe enlighrenmenr which

would

show, in this case on a linguistic leve, how acrion is constrained by dogmas,

myrhs and ideologics

2 BASICTHEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS

In

ob

jecrive hermencurics a particular view emerges of rhe relationship berwecn

individual and soc iery that mainrains an cqual disrancc from

two

opposite

poles: a subjecrivisr posirion on rhe one hand and a social-theo reri

ca

l objecriv

iry on rhe or her. T hcsc

rwo

perspecrives are not seen as conrrad icrions

hutas

a

dualism conrri buring ro a plausible descriprion of interacrive human behaviour.

The

rension berween individual auronomy

and

rhe determincd nature

of

socicty

is mainrained.

The

freely acring subject is invesrigared wirhin rhe consrrainrs of

borh his

or

her personal biography

and

prevailing social srrucrures.

This model has consequences for rhe dcfinirion of rext. The significance of

rexr-pr

oducers

as psychologica

ll

y observable individuals disappears.

lnreracrive rexrs

co

nsrirme,

on

the bass of recons

rr

ucrable rules, objecrive

mean

ing srruccures, and rhcse objectve

meaning

s

rr

uctu res

repre

sen t che l

atenr

meaning-srrucrures

of

rhe interacrion irself. Ir can also be said rhar a rexr, once ir

is

produced,

consmures

a social rea lny wirh irs

own

rules

and

irs own procedures

for reconsrrucrion. This realiry can be arrnbured ncirher ro rhe speaker s disposi

rion for acrion

and

arrendanr psychJC circumsrances,

nor

ro rhe

mrernal

psychic

realiry of rhe recipienr. (Oevermann et al.

1979:

379)

Accordingly objecrive hermeneutics understands meaning

asan

objecrive social

strucrure rhat emerges in teractively. T his impl ies rhar meaning arises m mutua l

action, bur thar rhe co

nt

riburions

of

rhe respect ive parricipants in rhe crearion

of meaning are inaccessible and rherefore ourside rhe inrerest of rhe researcher.

A leve of

larenr meaning-srrucrures (also known as objecrive meaning-srruc

rures) is posrulared as an essenrial basis for individual inrenrions. From rhis

arises a furrher need, ro

introduce-

ar leasr ar rhe descriprive leve - a

concep

t

of rhe subconscious. Transferred ro rhe mo del of psychoanalysis th is means that

f

rom

t

he viewpoinr of

Ob jec

ri

ve Hermeneurics rhe boundary berween rhe

conscious and rhe pre-conscious is decisive, since it coincides with rhe delimi

t

ar

i

on

of

whar

is

inrenriona

l'

(Oevermann er

al.

1979: 377).

Pcr

so

na

liry


6/12

200

fH O J

S

OF

fEXT

AN )

D I

SCOU

RSE AN AL YS IS

st

rucwres, in the v1ew

of

obective hermeneutics, are n

ot

defined as psycho log

ica l st r

uct

ur es

bu

t

as

'manifestations of soc1al structu r

es'

and sh ou ld be

inrerpreted accordingly (1-lcinze

1987: 76).

By means of che cenrralno tion of latency,

account

is taken of

ch

e fact thar

socia l subjects a re

ci

ed inro accion co nrex ts and pa rricipate in ac

ci

ons whose

meaning-srruccure they

can

on ly parrially inrerprer. l e

is

no acc idenc

ch

ac

ch

e

scarcing poinr for che method comes from

research

inco soc ializa

ci

on . Thi s is

co n

cerne

d, among och

er

c

hin

gs, w ich explain ing ho w ch ildren part i

cipare

ac ci

vely in

me

an

ing-c

reat

ing acri

ons

even

chough

the y lack c

he

co mp

erence co

understand

che

meaning

rhac is c r

eated.

An

ana

l

ogous

s1tua

ri

on arises

when

we

consider che objecrive her meneucic1st who analyses using che counrer-facrua l

construcr

chat ass

um

es a

comperen

t

spea

ker. The

compc

cenc

speake

r is c ha rac

terized by a total understanding

of

creaccd sense-stru cru res. This

ap

peal ro a

co

mp

ecenr speaker in che gencric sense- che human

as

a genus, nocas

an

ind i

vidual - forms che basis in o bjeccive h

er

mene m ics for che use of incuirive

assessmcnrs of appropr iarcness in cr

ans

mitting che arene sense-sc

ru

crures of

inreractions.

On

che basis

of

linguisric co

mp

erence and compcrence in norm

governe

d

behav

iour rhac resu lc from

belonging ro

a social co mmunity, che

inrerprccer justificd che ac tions of che su b jeccs. In cerms

of

episremology chcre

is

no difference berween

ch

e

analys

c and che

subject

involved in che case

under

invescigacion. Thc a na lysr has only che advancage of an objeccive view unen

c

umb

ere

d by s icuacional

co

nscraincs .

143 GOALS OFTHE METHOD

With che concepr of rhe arene meaning srructures objewve possihil

iries

of mean

ing are incroduced as reJI, irrespecuve of whether or not rhey are mtenuonally

rcali

zed by

rhe pamcipams

to che

mrcraction. Objewvc Hermeneutics means

rhar imerpretanvc proccdurc rhar is needed to un lock this rea liry. (Oevermann et

al. 1979: 381)

The goal of

chis

me

ch

od,

rhereforc,

is

to

r

ender

vis ible o bjecrive s r

rucrur

es

of

m teracrions. The srru cru res a re ch

aracte

riz ed as ob jective heca use rhey

opera

re

i

nd

epcnden d y of rhe sub jecrive inrenrions of the parricipan rs . Thi s motivares rhe

need ro

extend

rhe field of

ana

lyrically accessible social reality by a lac

enr

bm

acrion-decermining level.

'Oevermann's goa l is rruly ambit ious.

He

is l

oo

king f

or

a practica r

esearch

oriented

basis ro a social science th eory and me

rh

od ology

rh

at, ar rhe same

time,

exrends

ove r r he enrire field of whar hum ans are able

to experience'

(Garz

&

Kr

ai

mer 1994: 7) . In che wo rds of Oevermann er a l. (1979: 353) rhemselves:

'The

claimed

genera l significance

of

rhis position for

sociolog

i

cal an a

lysis

over-

< is reflecced in the srrong

claim

rha r meaning-analysis

procedures rhar

follow

rhi s

mo

de l demonstrate che funda m

en

tal operarion of mea s

ur

cme m

or of

che

production of rheorerical ly relevant

data

in

ch

e soc ia l sciences.'

If

like

Oevermann

et al. (

1979: 367)

we

consi

der latent

meani

ng-scruc

rures

ro

be

r

ea

l,

r

O BJECTIVE HE R11EHEUTIC5 201

chis br ings wnh ir a

requi

r

eme nr

for a general re-oricmat ion in

ch

e social scl

enccs rhat has so

fa

r not led

t

any adequate inr cllig ib le meth ods of data

collecrion.

This

helps

ro

explain why statemenrs

on

che

concrete goal of

rhc

mcthod are nmmally embedded in rhe broader comexr

of

discussion

of

che rcal

iry of rhe a

bov

e-me

nrion

ed objecrive

mcani

ng-s trucrures:

However we may ulrimate ly solve rhe problem rhat materialtzes herc of allocaring

objcc.rive meanings to psychic causes,

ir

1s in the

f1rst

insta n

ce

a matter o proving

rhe existcnce o rwo fundamcnrally d1fferent levels o reailty. On rhe one hand,

rhere

IS

rhe reality

of

che

l.

nenr

meanmg s

tru

ctures of a rexr rhat can

be

recon

struct.:d mespective of rb

e1r

mental represenration on rhe pare of che rexr produccr

and rext recip

ie

nt , and rhat muse consmure che srarring pomt fo r soc1al research,

at wha rcvcr leve of realir

y.

And on rhe o

rh

er hand therc IS rhe realiry of subjcc

ri

vely and inrentionally represenred meanings in a texr on thc part of che acring

subj

ec

rs. (Oevermann eral. 1979: 367)

Objecrive hermcneucics, as a merhod of texr analysis an d as a merhodology,

may

be

summarized chus:

'i

r is exclusively a matter

of rhe careful

ex rens1ve

analysis of che objeccive

meaning

of inreracrio nal cex ts a

nd

o f rhe larem m

ean

ing

of inrerac

r

io

ns,

an

d chi s procedure

of re

co nstructive tex tual understanding

has norhmg to do with ... rhe underscanding of processes wirhin the psyche'

(Oeverm

ann er a

l.

1979:

38

1).

144 OUTLINE OFTHE METHOD

144 1 Principies and procedures

The method

of

objecrive bermeneurics is based

on

two modes

of

procedure

sequenri al ana lysis and derailed analysis -

rh

at

are dercrmined

by

four

pr inci

p ies,

of

which th ree ma y subsumed under che head ing of

context variation

The

fou

nh prin

cipie , however- che principie of

ch

e se

quential

mode of

procedurc

w ill be discussed under rhe head ing procedures

14 4 1 /

Basic

concepts

Con text variation In rhou ght

cxperimenrs,

conte'


7/12

202

METHODS

OF TEXT

AND

O

SCOURSE

AI\:ALYSIS

(1996:

10 0

) msis ts

that

'a k nowledge of rhe actual conrexr of rhe ut terance

may only

he used if

all th

e r

eadings

compatib le with

the

rexr

to

be interpreted

have really been explicated as fully as possible'. ' In terna comext', on rhe

orher hand,

refers to the cumularive

information that is

derived from the

sequentlal analysis . This type of conrext may well be,

and

indeed should be,

invoked

for the

exclus

ion of sorne of the r

esulrant readings.

This

means

that

only rhe fi rst place in a sequence is analysed independenrly of i

nt

erna and

externa context.

Readings

'We consider

the relationship

between utterance

anda

contextua

condition

that pragmatically realizes the urterance

to

be a

rcading' (Oevermann

et

al. 1979: 415). That is ro say, a reading includes a textual segmenr

and

the

possible pragmatic

framework

rhat relates

ro

ir.

The producrion

of readings is

the central operat ion conducred by objectivc hermeneur ics in its

sequenrial

ana

lysis procedure,

based on th

e model of latcnt

me

an ing-structures (see

Oevermann 1996: 93).

he

principie of extensive tnterpretation In this

respect

extensiveness

o

analysis

plays an essenrial role. Oevermann et a l. characterize rhis as follows:

Ths

mean>

going against

ch

e

eve

ryday pracricc of understanding motives m rhat

che mrenrion of an action partner >hould not be revealed as accurarely and quickly

as possible, but on

che

conrrary as fully as posstble. This

in

volves rhat all prcsup

poSttions m

che

rext should be included as explicirly as posstble, tncluding the

mosr 'improbable' readings or rhose

rh

t in che lighr of prior knowledge of

ch

e

case- may

be

rorally excluded. (1979: 393)

lt

is therefore crucial rhac

at

the beginning of an

inrerpretation as many

readings

of a texr

as

possible are made explicir and rhen invesrigaced in rhe course of rhe

detailed analysis

(a r level 6 of rhe

framework

of

caregories designed by

Oevermann er aL 19 79 :

395ff., sce also

sec

ri

on 14.4.3.), m arder ro establish

whic

h

ma

y be

excluded

on gr

ounds

o f

th

e

actua

l

inreraction

and which m

ay

be

uph

el

d.

In ge

ner

al even the most improbable rea dings should be pre served

unril

the

ap p

earance

of an explicir

conrradicrion.

he principie of

complete

interpretattOII This

principie

is rooted in rhe

assumption thar

everyching

that

is

said has more sense

th an is acrively

per

ceived.

Therefore everyrhing that ca

n in sorne

way

be

determined should be

incorporated into

the analysis. This

im

plies that

'eve

ry

parricle

, every legi.ble,

audib

le, visible, tangible (ultimacely eve n ras tab le or smellahle)

elemenr

n o

marter

how

small

and

inconspicuous musr

be

exp

licitly

inrerpreted for its

motivaran and

musr

be firted

imo

che conrext of

the

whole' (Oevermann

1996: 112). For pragmaric

r

easo

n

s, however, audiovisual materia

l is

nor

m ally dispcnsed wirh

in favo

ur of

rr

a nsc ribed

mate

r ial,

altho

ugh duc

conside

r

aran

is given ro

st riking inronation pa tterns, speec

h

rhythm

s and

sim

ilar

events.

he

principie

o

economical use

of

individual hypotheses (economy rttle)

This

rule rneans

rhat

, in rhe sense of

the

grearest possible contextua

variaran,

everyrhing rhat could rescricr the mulriplicity of readings is omirred. This par

ticul

arly

affecrs the externa context (see

abovc,

and

Oeve

rma

nn 1996:

99),

bur

OBJECTIVE HERMENf:UTICS

203

also so-ca lled ind ividual hyporhcses, since one

of

th e hasic assumptions of this

me

th

od is

rhat

psychol

ogy

and orher f

eatures

specific

to

an individual are rhe

conscquence

of

social phenomena (H einzc 1987: 79) .

14 4 1

.2 Procedures

Sequential anal) StS

The sequential-analy

t ical

mode

of

procedurc is

of

funda

mental importance in the methodology

of

ohjective hermeneutics. lt consists

of

break

i

ng

clown rhe rexr or

material

sel

ected

for analysis

into sma ll

er

units

and

then inrerprering

them

in sequence.

The meanmg

possibilities

which are

thereby

achieved are progressivcly

more

resrricred

during the

progress of

the

analysis

unril rhe srrucrure of a particular case is clear. 'In rhis rhe indi\idualiry of a case

becomes apparent. Ir appears

during

rhe

sequent

ial analysis

as

a successively

construcred interna co nt

ext'

(Oeve

rm ann eral. 1979: 426). Oevermann

et

a l.

explain

furrhcr:

In the course of sequencial analysis, what we refer toas rhe imernal comext of an

tnteracrive rcxt is constirured with successively mcreasmg concisene>s. In con

trasr to che externa contextua condirions thar may be f

unh

er subdivided imo

rhose which remain unalrered, and rhose which modify themselves for thc course

of

che

entire scene, thc interna contexr is a resulr of che i

nr

erpreta

ti

on of rhe

scene's rexr, and is traceable only through chis text. (1979:

422

Detailed analysis

Breaking

down the cexr inro separare

sequences

is a pre

condition

for rhe dec

ai

l

ed

an alysis, in rhe

course

of which chere

is

an excensive

inrerprcrarive pwcedu

re, begin

n ing

wirh

rhe smallest meaning

unir

s. H

ere,

as

many meaning-bearing conrex

ts

as

possible are conscrucr

ed

for each of rhesc

smallest

units. Through the sequence of unics, rhe number of possiblc

conrex

cs

(or

readings) reduces itself

during the course

of

che

analysis; in

an

tdeal case, rhe

number of possibles will be reduced toa single

conrexr

and in chis

way

rhe case

ro be analysed

may

be clearly

outlined.

Characrcrisrically, and in

accorda

nce

wirh the underlying principie of che

greatest

possible contextua va riaran, for

rhis

purpose no advance knowledge

of the case rh

at wo

uld

preclud

e

particular

readings is

considered

in the ana lysis.

Through

the

analysis

a real process

of

selectiviry and

exclusions

of

oprions

is reconstrucced.

This procedure

is different

from

ch

e everyday

mode

of

inrer

preta

rion in rhat the analysrs

dedicare mo

re rime to ir

and

attempt to

take

cognisance

o f the op t

ions

r

hat are

really possible.

14.4.2 Selecrion

of

material

and

units

of

analys

is

For ob jective hermcneurics, inter

ac

tion sequences, such as fami ly conve rsa

rions or public speeches,

come

into play

as primary

sources of data.

The true object of

che

procedures of Objcctive Hermcneutics are records of real,

symbolica

ll

y rransmitted social actions or inreracrions,

be

rhey written, acous

ti c

visual, combined in a variety of media

or

recordable in other ways. The precise


8/12

204 M

ET HODS r AND lYSCOURSE

A NALYSIS

material

form

of

thc record

1s,

for the inrcrpretative procedures

of Objective

ermencutics, a purely

contingent

tcchnical

circumsrance,

since its interpretabil

ity, irrespective of its material form, is bound up in principie with rhe cond1rion of

rhe lmgu,snc rcahzabiiJty or paraphrasabdiry

of

inreracrive meanings. (OcvermJnn

eral. 1979: 378)

Here it is mostly a quesrion of rranscripts rhat derive from rape-recorded mrcr

acrions. The procedure has already also been applied ro borh

sound and

p1crures of TV broadcasrs, m written passages, and - in contradicrion of rhe

pnnciple

of

lingmsric reahzarion - ro film posrers and phorographs (Garz

&

Kraimer 1994). Wirh such sraric pcrorial marerials ir has,

of

course, proved

very difficulr ro reahze rhe sequencing.

On rhc basis of rhe rheorerical assumption rhar rhe entire case strucrure is

reproduced in each tndividualunir

of

interacrion, iris nor necessary ro analyse

rhe complete case-record

hut

only an extraer

(or

'scene') from ir; rhis musr

lead, however, ro a consisrenr case-hypothesis. The developmenr of such a

hyporhesis imposes a mnimum length

requirement on

rhe extraer.

For

the

opening phase of an extraer iris rrue ro say rhar in inreracrion sysrems involv

ing a hisrory (for example familics) rhis is of

no panicular

sgnificance.Ir is only

in newly emerging sysrems (such as therapeuric 'first conracrs') thar inirial

sequences are imporranr, since the beginning has a particular impact

on

rhe sub

sequenr developmenr.

\Y/e

are aware, therefore, rhar in a trivial sense in rhc

analysis of inreracrions wirh

no

previous hisrory, rhe true beginning- rhe open

ing sequence in Schegloff's rcrms - musr also form rhe beginning

of

rhe

inreracrion scene ro be analysed' (Oevermann eral. 1979: 434). Orherwise,

the

extraer is selecred purely at random. The resulrs from rhis firsr extraer may rhen

be compared wirh rhe n l y s i ~ of furrher exrracrs

thar

should ideally be in

sorne reconsrrucrable relanonship wirh rhe first one, ro compensare for matrers

of simation-spectfic chance. The procedure does not, however, prescribe a mn

imum number

of

exrracrs ro be analysed.

The princip ie of sequenrial analysis requires rhat rhe

extraer

be

broken

clown inro individual meaning unirs, in

order

ro creare rhe precondition for

analysis of rhe interna

conrcxt thar

must be considered in rhe

producrion

of

readings. The size of such sequences is not laid clown in the procedure. In

pracrice ir is decided in such a way as ro give rhe interprerers rhe impression

that they are gaining new informaran about the srructure through rhis new

sequence. But since-

on

rhc basis of the principie of

comp

lete

interpretation

norhing happens by chance for objecrive hermeneutics and everyrhing is seen

as srructurally morivared, rhese meaning unirs

are normally

very shorr,

par

ticularly in an inirial phase: sometimes, indeed, rhey consisr merely

of

'throat-clearing'.

Here

is an example of rhe development of such boundaries:

/up to lnow lnobody has ltold me /Mr. Ambassadorl those /categorized

/under I and who of course are qualified academic translators/. As

already

indicared, rhe

unirs-

parricularly ar rhe beginning- are

very

shorr

and

ofren

only

conform

ro a grammattcal

patternmg into

(partial) sentences rowards rhe

end

of an

extraer.

O

Bj

ECT I

VE

HERME:NEUTICS 205

14

.4.3 lncerprecative framework

Wirh objective hermeneurics, in rhc

form

of sequcntial dcraded analysis, rhc

imerprerer has available a concrete insrrumenr wirh which ro approach a rexr:

rhere is a

framework

consisring of eighr analyrical levels. Alrhough Ulrich

Oevermann, in recent years, has d1sranced himself firmly from rh1s framework,

irs pracricabiliry as an mrroducrion ro objecrive hermeneuric inrerpreration -

particular

y

for

beginners- remams

unconrested.

Wirh regard ro rhe status

and

funcrion of rhis framework, Ocvermann eral.

(1979: 394)

srare: '[r is no more rhan a frame for an cxclusivcly qualirarive

descriprive reconsrrucrion of rhe actual urrerances, a kind of "check lisr" for

interprcters rhar should require rhem ro question their material in sufficient

derail

'.

As a rcsult

of

this there is nothing ro prevent a diffcrenr weighting being

given ro the individual levels of rhe analysis or their conversion 1nro concrete

sreps in the research. E ven if rhesc lcvels are

notro

be undemood as a rigid clas

sificarion framework, they rcmain sufficiently precise

in

their formulation ro be

validas rules in the sense used here. In Table

14.1

we ser out rhe eight leveb of

Ocvcrmann eral. (1979) in comparison with rhe concrete reformularions which

we applied in our own cmpirical work. For rhis truncated presentaran we

employ the

version

of

the lcvcls

as summarized

by Schuster (

1994:

108-111

),

who preserves Oevermann's original wording. Subsequenrly we shall address

rhe problem of the comparihilirr of rhe original with

our

n:formularion, and

draw attenrion ro possible diffcrcnces.

Levels 1, 2 and 4 of Oevcrmann

et

al. correspond ro rhe concrete: formula

rions wirh the same numhers. As may be seen in Table

14.1,

point 3 of our

reformularion covers, in broad outlinc:,

severallevels-

namdy

3,

5

and

7. In

this case the following resrricnons apply ro any comparison:

1

The subdivision of poinr 3 in our concrete realization entails that the itali

cized secrions of rhe lefr-

hand column can only

be

undersrood

in a

condicional way as counters ro the levels given in rhe right-hand column.

2

The

quesrion of summari,:ing lines of interpretarion

and

evaluating alrer

native

readings against each

other

(which occurs undcr

level 7 in

Oevermann

eral.) is

not

treared separately ar any poinr

in

our reformula

tion. We ha ve considered this aspecr of inrerprerative work as a single entity

which is inherent in the sequential analytical procedure

and

rherefore per

manenrly present. Accordingly rhere is lirrle or no correspondence in rhe

case of leve 6 of rhe righr-hand column.

On the

matter

of rhe comparihiliry of levels Oand

5,

ir must be

borne

in mind

rhar rhe numbering in borh rhe lcfr-hand and right-hand columns represenrs a

non-obligarory but parrially required ordering of rhe ind1vidual srages in an

invesrigarion. The identificarion

of

a new meaning unir, rherefore, marks rhe

bc:ginning of an inrerprerarive cycle.

The primary

imporrance of rhis

step

in rhe

sequemial analytical mode les in irs experimental aspecr. In rhe flfth srage

of


9/12

206 METHODS O F TEXT

ANO

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Table 14.1 lnterpretative levels

of OH

and concrete analytical questions

Five concrete research steps

2

1

Ho

w

can

the m

ea

ning unit be tr ansformed in the

understanding of the investigator?

How can the unit normally be understood, what

meaning would a 'normal' reader/listener attribute

to

it? How can the statement

be

paraphrased

(rewritten, freely transformad, clarified)?

2 What does the person speaking w ish

to

present

or evoke in a listener

thro

ugh

thi

s stateme

nt

, and

what

could be

hi

s/her intention s?

lf one takes on the role of the actor: what meaning

could the uni t have

for this person? What i

nt

ention

is probably being pursued? What would be an

acceptable interpretation for this person?

3

(1)

What hidden factors could underl ie the

unit

and what could be the object ive consequences for

modes of action and

th

o

ught

or for the system ?

How else could the text be read - from the

viewpoint of a non-partici pan third person?

What is the result of reading wit h different emphases?

3

12

What do

the

foll

ow i

ng mean?

The grammatical form used active, passive,

conditional, etc.)?

The themes and {groups

ofl

persons mentioned?

The linguistic peculiarities (slips, breakdowns, use

and misuse of words)?

The self-evident and generalizad matters that occur?

What might the meaning of he unit re late to?

3

13

) What else might the s

tat

ement m ean in

difieren social circumstance s?

4 What role distribution arises from the unit?

Eight levels of i

nt

erpretation

3

Level 1

Paraphrasing of all meanings of a unit

according to the wording of the

accompanying verbalization.

Level2

Explication

of

the intention of the

interacting subject.

Level 3

Explication of the objective motives of

the unit and of the objective

consequences: i.e. objective changes in

the systemic conditions

within

the

framework of the interactiva process.

Level 5

Characterization of the linguistic

fea tur

es

of the unit: identification of

distinctive features at the syntactic,

semantic and pragmatic levels.

Level 7

Expl ica ti on of general relations and

structures, particularly to do with

socia lization theory.

Leve14

What relations and attributions to persons are given Explication

of

the function of the unit in

(even when not directly named) or could be the distribution of interactiva roles.

inv olved in the text? What can be said (in

interviews) about the relationship between

interviewer and interviewee?

5 What options are availabl

e for

the

next meaning

unit?

How will it go on? What arguments can be

expected? What are importan connection points in

the text?

Level O

Explication of the context imrnediately

preceding an interactiva unit and the

systemic condition of the unit in

question.

Level6

Extrapolation

of

he interpretation of the

unit on to recurrent communicative

figures: re lational aspects or personality

fe

atures that transcend the situation.

OBJECTIVl H(Rr-


10/12

208 M

ET HODS

OF 1

lXT

ANO DISCOURS E AN A

LY

S

IS

conrexrua l

knowlcdge.

Any conrravenrion

of

this would mean, as a

consc

quence, that noth1ng

ncw could

be discovcrcd and

rhat interpretaran would

become circular.

14 5

QU LITY

CRITERIA

Because in objecrive hermeneurics rhe larenr

meaning-srructures

are revealed as

rhe resulr of inruitive

judgemenrs of appropriareness

on rhe part of rhe inter

preters, sorne srarement must be made abour rhe relationship,

wirhin

rhis

procedure,

berween rhc rypes of reprcsenrarion developed and rhe underlying

reality. Does ir reveal whar ir inrcnds

ro

reveal? On rhe basis of an ep isremo

logical circular argumcnr

1t is

claimed rhar

ir is inconclusive and

therefore

meaningless. From th1s Ocvermann et al.

conclude

pragmarically:

lf in a theorcncal sense precautions can be taken rhat help, in a practica way ro

guarantee rhe perfcwon of rhis intuitivc powcr of judgemenr, we no longer need

ro

make explicit che rules rhlt constitute rhis competence as a rheorerical precon

dirion for rhe valtdiry of an objecrive hermeneuric intcrpreration, wirhout thercby

limiring the falsifiabiliry of che meanmg-reconstrucrions. (1979: 388)

These precautions

follow the rhree facrors rhar necessarily resrricr rhe everyday

undersranding of meaning. First rhere is rhe rime factor, whi

ch

leads

ro

rhe

requiremenr

for a

reducrion

of rime

pressure

on rhe pan of rhe inrerprerers.

Then rhe inruirive power of judgemenr should nor he roo neurorically

resrricred'

(Oevermann

eral. 1979: 393) or n

eurral

iz

ed

by a group inrerprera

rion, when rhe readings produced in rhe group should be

consranrly

examined.

Finally rhere is rhe

requiremenr

for rhe

implementarion

of

more th an one

the

orerical

approach, order

ro

av o id everyday characrerizarions in rhe

imerprerarion.

As for the effect

of

the knowledge

ac

hieved

rh

rough ob jecrive hermeneurics,

particularly

in

sociahzarion

theory,

Oevermann

et al. (1979: 402) assume rhat

the empirical validiry

of

general

conceprs

in soc ialization

rheory

can be meas

ured

by rhc

cxrent

to which individual units of

inrera

crion, or a series of

such

unirs, may be fitted unambiguously

nw

irs general definitions . Theories am i

their concepts,

in rhis inrerprerarion, have ro prove rhemselves

as suitable

in

concrete cases of a n a l y ~ i s Oevermann er al. (1979) rejecr rhe roleraring of

individual cases in which

an unambiguous

fir is impossible.

In their opinion

rhe

emprica validiry of conceprs in a

rheory

affecred by rhis type of incomparibil

ity

is

called inro

quesrion.

As an accessible escape

roure

in such a problem siruarion rhey

propose, wirh

relevanr examples, rhar: (a) rhe theorerical basis of rhe faulry conceprs shou ld be

modified, or the conceprs rhemselves should be redefined; and/or (b) addirional

validity

condirions should

be

inrroduced.

In rhis way a

straregy

is

proposed

which would free rhe analysr

from

having

ro

pursue a scienrifically orienred and

rigid

norion of

falsificarion.

OBJ ECT I

VE

HERI'1ENEU1CS 209

14 6 PRECONDITIONS

ND

AREAS OF APPLICATION

\Y/e

have

already menrioned, from

orher viewpoinrs, particular

precondir

ions

which

affecr rhe analysrs rhemselves

and

the use of

knowledge

in

applying the

merhod.

To

complete

rhe picrure

we shall

now

address

the

quesrion

of the nec

essary

qu a

liry of rhe

(recorded

) material.

As far

as arcas

of

application

are

concerned

rhere

are

no resrrictions, in rhe

sense

thar objecnve hermeneutics

irseli

claims rhar

in

pnnciple any recordmgs

of social inreracnon may be used

as source material.

That

is ro say,

textual

and

audio

and visual

material may

all be used in

addition

ro vanous combinanons

of recorded material. The fundamental requiremenr of rhe method in this

respecr

concerns the capabiliry

of rhe

data ro

be

pur

inro sorne sequence, wh1ch

is harder ro conrrive

with

non-sequential visual material (

such

as phorographs).

\ ~ e

musr

look separare

y at observations, which Oevermann

er al. (

1979:

428)

require

musr be made

as

extensively and fairhfully ro rea liry

as

possible,

in

uther wurds ar

rhe leve of

good

qualiry

sound-recordings . This requiremenr

for literal

observaran

records is undersrandable if

une

keeps in mine thar data

which-

as is

normal

for observation-

depend

on

particular framcwurks

uf cat

egories and

meaning parrerns

impede access

ro latenr

meaning-srrucrures.

n

spire of rhis

general openness concerning

the

form

of rhe

data marena

l ro

be

analysed,

objecrive

hermeneurics

makes predominant

use

of

carefully

tran

scribed sound recordings.

14 7

SIMILARITIESAND DIFFERENCES IN

COMP RISONWITH

OTHER

METHODS

ND

PROCEDURES

Objecrive hcrmeneurics 1s distinguished

from orher reconstruc

t ive

procedures

primanly through irs assumprion

of

larency. This providcs rhe mosr suirable

basis for

comparison.

Even if objecrivc hermeneurics does

nor

view subjective inrentions purely as

a soulless reflection

of

social

strucrures,

ir

does clearly

disringuish

irself

from

social-phenomenologically orienred methods rhat seek

ro

promorc individual

meaning panerns

as

srructuring, orientational and

rypificarion processes

(Marthiesen 994:

81).

In rhese kinds of ana lyses objecrivc social srrucrure, in

rhe

shape

of milieu and environmenr,

is

conceptualized

as

a

marginal condirion

which contrasrs srrongly wirh rhe way in which objecrive hermeneurics handles

ir.

Ohjecrive Hermenemics - unlike convencional hermeneur1cs as dcveloped by

Habermas for che social sc1ences- no longer deals solelr rh onenrarions rrans

mmed via rhe psyche and w1th rhe psychically unconsc1ous. Rarher it clams to

elaborare the soc1ally unconscious - i.e. larenr' social meanmg srrucrures.

(Bohnsack 1991: 68 )


11/12

210 METHODS O F HXT AND DISCOURS E ANALYSIS

A furrher compara i ve dunenswn derives from rhe s

tricr separar

an

of

externa

and interna conrexr,

as

underraken by objecrive hermeneutics. (The basis of

this is rhe

sequenrial

analyt1cal procedure and rhe economy rule.) The 'classical

hermeneuricisrs', in arder ro discover rhe meaning of rhe

individua

l segmenr,

irrespecrive of its posirion,

invoke

informaran from rhe complete rexr

and

also

employ conrexrual

informaran ro a differenr exrent.

As for the

directions

for (a) rhe

approach

ro the

ma t

erial ro be inv es

rigated,

and (b)

the

invesrigation of

the

material irself, rhe merhod

provides

highly

developed guidelines.

Thc

srcps

ro

be followed for discovering the latenr

meaning-strucrures are rherefore

laid down

for

rhe user. This

sets

objecrive

hermeneurics aparr from all those supposed

'merhods'

rhar provide only one

prescribed

framework-

normally

from a special perspecrive- wirhin

which

rhe researcher can frccly operare.

Trus

also means, however, thar the opera

ri o nalizarion of relevanr conceprs, rhar is

rhe

approach ro rhe material,

depends more or less upon intui rion.

The

inrelligibiliry and comparabiliry of

resulrs

are

burdened

by rhis, cven

if

rhe freedom

of interpretarion ir

allows

cannot, a priori, be negarively evaluared. From rhi s compararive viewpoint rhe

erhnomerhodologically

orienred

merhods, or rh ose collecrively sry

led 'dis

course analysis', may primarily be seen as

polar opposires

ro

objecnve

hermeneutics.

Whcn compared

ro

conrenr

analysis

procedures

(suc

h

as

SYMLOG)

which

analyse

a rext wirh

rhe

help of a

preordaincd framework

of

caregor

ies,

objecrive

hermen eurics srands out by

virtue

of irs requiremcnr for an analysis in rhe 'lan

guage

of the

case'.

A contravenrion of thi s

princip

ie would

lead

ro a

r e o n ~ t r u t i o of rhc preconce1ved opinions of the

inrerpreters

rather than a

recon

s

truction of

the

larenr meaning.

14 8

LITERATURE

Ocvermann, Ulrich, Allerr, T., Kona u, E. Krambe ck, J (1979), 'D1e

.Methodologie einer obektiven H ermeneu tik und ihrc allgememe forschungslo

gsche Bedeutung

in den Soz1alwissenschaften, in Hans-Georg Soeffner (ed.),

Imerpretattve Verfahren in den Sozial- und Textwissenschaften. Sturrgarr: Mctzlcr,

352-434.

Oevermann,

Ulrich, Allert, T., Konau, E Krambeck, J. (1983),

'Die

Methodologie der objektiven Hcrmcneutik', in Peter Zcdler Heinz Moser (cds),

Aspekte qualitatwer Soalforschung. Studren

zr

t Aktionsforschung, empirischer

Hermene utik rmd reflexrver Soz;ralteclmologre. Opladen: Westdeurscher Verlag,

95-123.

Oevermann,

Ulrich (1993), 'Die objektive Hermeneurik als unverzichtbarc

methodologische Grundlage fr die Analyse von Subekriviriit. Zugleich cine

Kritik der Tiefenhermencunk', in Thomas Jung Stcfan Mller-Doohm (eds),

\Virklichkeit im Deutungsproze/5. Verstehen in den Kultur- und

Sozralwissenschaften.

Frankfurt: Suhrkamp,

106-89.

OB )EC 71V E HERMENEUT ICS 21 1

Oevermann, Ulrich (1983),

'Zur

Sache. Ote Bedeutung von

d o r n o ~

methodolo

gischem Sclbst,crsrandnis fr die Begrundung cincr marerialen soziologtschen

Strukturanalyse', in Ludwig von Friedeburg jrgen Habermas (eds), Adorno

Konferem: 198].

Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 234-89.

14 9 SECONDARY LJTERATURE

14 9 1

Handbooks

Lamnek, Siegfried (1989), Qualitatwe Soalforschung, vol. 2: Methoden und

Techniken Miinchen: Psychologie-Verlags-Union,

213-32.

H eckmann, Friedrich (1992), 'lnterpretarionsregeln zur Auswertung qualitativer

lnrerviews und sozialwissenschaftlich rclevanter "Texte". Anwendungen der

Hermeneunk fur d1c

e m p i r i ~ h e

Sozialforschung , in Jr gen H. P Hoffmeyer

Zlornik (ed.), Analyse verbaler Daten. OpiJden: Westdeutscher Verlag,

l42-67.

Reichertz, Jo (

l9

95), 'Die objektive Hermeneutik- Darstellung und Knrik', in

Eckhard Knig Pcter Zedler (eds ), Bilanz qualrtativer Forsclmng, vol. Il:

Methoden. Wcinheim: Deutscher Studienverlag, 379-423.

14 9 2

Other presentations

of method

Bobnsack, Ralf (1991), Rekonstruktne Soz;ialforschrmg. Emfiilmmg in

Metbodologre und Praxis qualitatwer Forsclumg.

Opladen: Leske, 66-81.

Garz, Dctlef Kraimer, Klaus (eds) (1994),

Dze

\Velt als Text. Theorie, Kntrk

und Praxis der obektiven Hermeneutik. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.

Heinze, Thomas ( L987), Qualztattve Sozialforsclumg: Erfalmmgen, Probleme

und

Perspektiven. Opladen: Westdeutscher Vcrlag, 75-96.

Schuster, Gudrun (1994), 'Die objektive Hermeneurik nach Oevermann', in

Arbeitskreis

Qualnative

Sozialforschung (ed. ),

Verfiihrung

z;um

qualitativen

Forschen.

Wien: WUV-Universiriirsverlag, 10

1-15.

14 9 3 Sample applications

Hildenbrand,

Bruno

Jahn,

Walter (1988), Gemeinsames Erziihlen

und

Prozesse der Wirkhchkcitskonstruktion in familiengeschichthchen Gespriichen',

Zeitschrift {ir Sozrologie, 17: 203-17.

Mathes,

Rainer (1992), 'He rmeneurisch-klassifikatorische Inhaltsana lyse von

Leitfadengesprachen. ber das Verhalrnis von quantitativen und qualitativen

Verfahren der Textanalyse und dte Moglichkeit ihrer Kombination', in J lirgen H.

P

Hoffmeyer-Ziotnik (ed.),

Analyse

verbaler Date11

Opladen: Westdcutscher

Verlag, 402-24.


12/12

212 ~ E T H O D S

OF

TEXT ANO

DISCOU

RSE ANALYSIS

Oevermann,

Ulrich (1996), 'Bcckerrs Endsp1cl als Prufsrem hcrmeneut1scher

Mer hodologic. Eine lntcrprerarion mit den Verfahren der objekriven Hermeneutik

(Odcr:

Ein objektiv-hermeneurisches

Exertitium) ,

in

Hans-Dieter

Konig (ed.),

eue Versuche, Becketts Fndspzel

z

verstehen. Sovaltuissenscha tlzches

lnterpretzeren nach Adorno. frankfurr: Suhrkamp, 93-249.

..bo )'O()

PtiN -.

77 T l t ~ N J C I I i . / n t A / AllOJJ'

lJ lC

J o r;ccci Je

I r

1.11:

77:>

..rcc.cc-r

oor

n:xr.J

iN 'T'Hi.J'

JvA)

NOTES

This

chaprer

is based on a

German

paper wrirren

by

Karl Berger, Thomas

Gamperl and G1sela I l agma1r.

2

This framework

of

concrete researc

h sreps

was

developed by Stefan Tirscher.

3 Oevermann

eral.

(1979: 395-402) in rhe

summary

given in Schusrer (1994:

108-11).

P RTTHREE

Overview nd Comparison

met_3_methods of text and discourse analysis chapter 14

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