Discourse analysis

Introduction

Key terms: qualitative research, qualitative data analysis, biographic data (textual or visual), positionality, introductory course, relevant for students in any PhD phase.

ECTS: 1.5
Number of session: 2
Hours per session: 4

Do you have interviews or other biographic data and do you want to know how to analyse them in-depth? Discourse analysis will help you do exactly that.

This course is designed to deepen students’ understanding of discourse analysis as both a method and a critical practice. Through exposure to at least three types of discourse analysis, students will gain insight into the intellectual traditions and methodological choices that underpin these approaches.

Rather than simply applying ready-made models, students are encouraged to critically engage with, adapt, and even rework existing frameworks to suit the needs of their own research.

There are four sessions with mini-lectures and practical training. The focus is on grasping theoretical concepts and turning these into tools you can use to analyse your data. Literature on the concepts of identity, discourse, focalisation and argumentation as well as on self-reflexivity are discussed in class as a basis for this analysis. The lecturer explains the use of these concepts on the basis of concrete examples.

The course uses students' own empirical material as the basis for hands-on analytical work. For those who do not yet have their own data, the course offers the opportunity to work with selected examples. 

Entry level and relevance

No prior knowledge or experience with discourse analysis or qualitative data analysis in general is required for attending this course.

The course can be useful for students in any PhD phase, and from diverse social science and humanities fields, including history, anthropology, and cultural, minority and subaltern studies. 

Relations with other courses

This course complements the EGSH course Qualitative data analysis with grounded theory. Grounded theory and discourse analysis are two major approaches to qualitative data analysis. There is overlap between them, but there are also differences: while grounded theory is more action-oriented (aimed at explaining behaviours), discourse analysis is more about the meaning and role of language (for instance, in how people try to achieve things, take on particular social roles, or construct their personal identity or sense of community).

Researchers can employ either one of these approaches depending on what is custom in their research field and what is useful for their own research.

In addition, this course can be combined with the EGSH course Qualitative coding and analysis of textual data with ATLAS.ti. The latter course explains how ATLAS.ti can be used for the systematisation of all sorts of qualitative data analysis, including discourse analysis.

Sessions and preparations

Session 1: Introduction to discourse analysis
•    Introduction of the theoretical background to the method of discourse analysis and of the main concepts used during the course.
•    Introduction by participants of their research and the role of interviews in their analysis.
•    Lecture about the use of ‘reading against the grain’ based on samples from interviews and other texts from the media as well as on academic research.
•    A first step in the analysis of the interviews of the participants with a focus on ‘stereotypes’ and ‘stereotypical images’ in the context of their research area.
Preparations: reading preparatory literature. Participants will be informed about all required readings well in advance by email.
Participants are also asked to submit an interview, oral source or other ego-document that they like to analyse during the four meetings of the course. The lecturer will assess its suitability for the analysis.

Session 2: Discourse, subject-positions, contexts and identities
•    Analysis in sub-groups of participants’ interviews based on the concepts of discourse, subject-positions, contexts and identities.
•    A discussion on the problems encountered during the analysis.
Preparations: reading literature on the concepts used in the analysis.

Session 3: Focalisation, argumentation and silences
•    Analysis in sub-groups of participants’ interviews based on the concepts of focalisation, argumentation and silences.
•    A discussion on the problems encountered during the analysis.
Preparations: reading literature on the concepts used in the analysis.

Session 4: Self-reflexivity, ‘othering’ and alternative subject-positions
•    Analysis in sub-groups of participants’ interviews.
•    Connecting the outcome of the analysis to the research question.
•    Relating the analysis to other research methods.
•    Wrapping up: evaluating the usefulness of the method of discourse analysis for analysing your research material.
Preparations: reading literature on the concepts used in the analysis.