Chapter 1 – On the Analysis of Interaction: An Introduction to Conversation Analysis

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the program of sociological research which is known as conversation analysis (CA). CA sets out to detail the tacit, organized reasoning procedures which inform the production and recognition of naturally occurring talk. CA is a radical departure from previous forms of analysis in that the production of utterances, and the sense they obtain, is seen as an accomplishment, the achievement of which is inextricably tied to the circumstances in which they are produced. The analytic objective is to explicate the procedures on which participants rely to produce utterances, and by which they make sense of other people's talk. A fundamental assumption informing CA is that ordinary talk is a highly organized, orderly phenomenon. The goal of analysis is to reveal the basis of this orderliness. This analytic objective is not based on any theoretical speculation as to the nature of conversation. Rather, insights about the character of conversational interaction are distilled from empirical investigation of specific materials. The programmatic relevance is a form of social organization: it is a part of the shared commonsense knowledge that speakers bring to their interactions with others.