QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL
RESEARCH DATA
SG 2 0 56
WEEK 4: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Jacqueline Gibbs
,• Discourse means simply written and spoken
communication.
• Discourse when used in social
science/sociology refers to: the conventions,
content, possible statements, rules and way in which
an issue is given meaning at the level of language. e.g.,
Medical discourse, Legal discourse.
• When sociologists engage in discourse analysis, we WHAT IS DISCOURSE
are interested in how is meaning conveyed and
constructed at the level of language.
• And what we are really interested in is the
relationship between language and action – how does
how we speak about things relate to how we
understand them and how we socially behave?
, WHAT DOES DISCOURSE DO?
“A discourse provides a set of possible statements
about a given area and organizes and gives structu
the manner in which a particular topic, object, pro
is to be talked about. In that it provides descripti
rules, permissions and prohibitions of social
individual action.”
(Kress, 1985, 7)
Think: Discourse of childhood; discourse of crime
punishment; discourse of gender; discourse of relig
, • Gill (2008) explains:
• We deal with the world through socia
constructions – the meanings which
we give are assembled at the level of
LANGUAGE language (i.e., not just a mirror of how
AND things are).
ACTION • Language is action oriented, and
discourse is social practice. We use
discourse to do things and interpret
things within contexts.
• If social life is experienced as conflict
– discourse aims to establish one
version of life over another.
, • “the lifeworld and meaning
making through the use of
language. This method
AND SO, DA typically involves an analytical
EXPLORES process of deconstructing
and critiquing language
use and the social context
of language usage’ (Salkind
2010: 368)
, THEORISING DISCOURSE
• Michel Foucault was interested in the history of
knowledge and its relationship to discourse.
• Highlighted the place of discourse in meaning construction.
• Discourse as: "systems of thoughts composed of ideas,
attitudes, courses of action, beliefs, and practices that
systematically construct the subjects and the worlds of
which they speak.“ (Lessa 2006, summarising Foucault
1972)
• For example, a discourse of sexuality, constructs
understandings/knowledge about sexuality.
• Discourse is about power: how we speak or can speak
constructs what can known.
• Discourse → knowledge → power!
