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Orchestrated Encounters: An Essay in the Comparative Analysis of Speech‐Exchange Systems
Author(s) -
Dingwall Robert
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9566.ep10487779
Subject(s) - realisation , everyday life , focus (optics) , ethnography , sociology , epistemology , social life , linguistics , social science , philosophy , anthropology , physics , quantum mechanics , optics
This paper reviews some of the contributions of conversational analysis and argues that its range of questions has been unduly restrictive. In particular, it is contended that its goals cannot be achieved without some reference to contextual features of a kind which have traditionally interested ethnographers, although it may offer a more rigorous methodology. These arguments are illustrated and developed through an analysis of speech‐exchange in tutorials in a school of health visiting. It is concluded that the restoration of a comparative focus and a re‐examination of Sacks’original writings may open important avenues for the empirical grounding of statements about wider social structures and their realisation in everyday life.