What are multimodal data and transcription

This chapter opens with a discussion of what is meant by ‘multimodal data’ and ‘multimodal text’, and reflects on theoretical approaches to multimodal communication that derive from social semiotics. It then discusses how technological developments have changed the tools for data collection and analysis, and have created new contexts for study. Finally, the chapter focuses on a selection of different transcription techniques which provide a sense of the choice-making processes involved in multimodal data analysis and representation.