Analyzing Discourse Data

Objective:
 To study how language creates and maintains social identities.
 to investigate the functions of language, and how meaning is
constructed in different contexts, which, to recap, include the social,
cultural, political, and historical backgrounds of the discourse.
What is discourse analysis?
In its simplest form, discourse is verbal or written communication
between people that goes beyond a single sentence. Importantly,
discourse is more than just language. The term “language” can include all
forms of linguistic and symbolic units (even things such as road signs), and
language studies can focus on the individual meanings of words. The
discourse goes beyond this and looks at the overall meanings conveyed by
language in context. “Context” here refers to the social, cultural, political,
and historical background of the discourse, and it is important to take this
into account to understand underlying meanings expressed through
language.
What are the types of discourse analysis?
In academic settings, there are four main types of discourse analysis:
Descriptive
Focuses on analyzing how language is used to describe the characteristics
of people, objects, concepts, or events.
Narrative
Attempts to uncover the underlying story behind a text, speech, or
communicative interaction.
Argumentative
Explores how language is used to tilt the audience in favor or against a
topic or issue.
Expository
Examines language-in-use and how it conveys information.
How to Analyze Discourse Data
Step I: Decide on your discourse analysis approach.
There are many different approaches and techniques we can use to
analyze.
a. Language-In-Use - this approach focuses on the finer details of
language used within the discourse, such as sentence structure
(grammar) and phonology (sounds). Analyzing discourse through
language-in-use involves identifying the key technicalities of language
used in discourse and investigating how the features are used within a
particular social context. language has in the social context, and vice
versa.
b. Socio-political Approach - an approach that looks beyond the
technicalities of language and instead focuses on the influence that
language has in the social context, and vice versa
c. Socio-cultural Approach - an approach to Critical Discourse Analysis
that was developed by Norman Fairclough. Socio-cultural analysis
regards discourse as interactional activities and emphasizes the social
function of language.
d. Socio-Cognitive Approach - developed by Teun Van Djik (2001) this
approach shows that discourse can only be adequately described in
terms of notions of cognition such as information, knowledge, or beliefs
of participants.
Step 2: Gather information and theory on the context.
Next, you must establish the social and historical context in which the
material was produced and intended to be received. Gather factual details
of when and where the content was created, who the author is, who
published it, and to whom it was disseminated to.
Step 3: Analyze the content for themes and patterns.
This step involves closely examining various elements of the material -
such as words, sentences, paragraphs, and overall structure - and relating
them to attributes, themes, and patterns relevant to your research
question.
Step 4: Review your results and draw conclusions.
Once you have assigned particular attributes to elements of the material,
reflect on your results to examine the function and meaning of the
language used.
Here, you will return to your research questions and compile your answers
to them, based on the analysis. Make sure that you can answer your
research questions thoroughly, and also substantiate your responses with
evidence from your data.