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ethods
of Text and Discourse Ana ysis
provides the
most comprehensive overview of linguistic and sociological
approaches to text and discourse analysis currently avai lable.
Among the ten llngwst1c and sociologcal models surveyed
the book looks at Grounded Theory, Content Analysis,
Conversation Analyss and Crit1cal Dscourse Analyss. Each
approach
is
presented accord
1ng
to a standardized format
which allows for d1rect systematic compansons, and the
fully annotated llsts of sources at the end of each chapter
prov1de readers with
an
add1t1onal means of evaluatlon of the
competing analytical methods.
lnterdiSCiplinary and internatlonal in its scope,
Methods
of
ext
and Discourse Analysis
suggests the benefits both lingusts
and sociolog1sts will derive from a more
1ntimate
knowledge
of each others' methods and procedures. By enabling readers
to comp
are,
contrast and apply a range of methods and
approaches, this book wlll be an essential resource for both
students and researchers.
Stefan Titscher works as a Proessor for Sociology at the Vienna Universty
of Economics
and Business Adrrn1stration.
where Michael Meyer works
as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Orgamzatonal Behaviour.
Ruth Wod k s a
Professor
lor Appled LJnguistcs ano Discourse
Analysis
at the
Un1versity
of Vienna. She currently works as a Research
P-ofessor
at
the
Austnan
Academy of
Sciences and
directs
the Research
Center
Discourse,
Poht1cs
and ldentity .
Eva
Vetter is
aff.tiated
to the Department of
Romamstcs
at
the
University
of Vienna.
Cover Des1gn JKS Communica:ons
ISBN 0 7619 6482 7
7807 4827
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c
ti
ons
London Thousand Oaks
New
Deihi
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Methods ofText
and
iscourse nalysis
Stefan Titscher Michael Meyer, Ruth Wodak
and
Eva
Vetter
Tran
s
lated
by
ryan
j nn r
SAGE Publications
London Thousand
Oaks
N
ew
e
lhi
_-.
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) i
1
}
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S ean Tirscher, M ichael Meyer, Rurh \XIodak
and
Eva Verte r 2000
Firsr pub lished 2000
Ca rroons
Klaus
P.
Becker
All nghrs reservcd. No pan of rhis pub hcarion may be
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y form or by any means, electronic, mcchanical
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r
ecordtng or orhe
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ONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Inrrod
uct
ion
PA
RT
METHODS
ND
TE XTS
1
On
Social-scicm ific Mc
rh
ods
of
Text Analysis
2 What is a Texr'
3 How ro Ob tain Material for Ana lysis- An Overview
4
Map
of Methods and T heori
es
P RT
2 OUTLINE OF METHODS O FTEXT NALYSIS
VJ
3
20
31
50
53
Content Analys is
6 Grounded Theor)' 74
7
Er
hnographic Merhods 90
8 Two Ethno methodologically Oriented Methods
of
Text Analysis:
Mem bership Categoriza tion Device Analysis and Conversation
Analysis 1
04
9 Narrative Semiorics Smantique Stru cturale) 125
10 SYMLOG as a Met hod of Text Analysis 136
11 Two Approaches to Critica Discourse Ana lysis 144
12 Functional Pragmatics 171
13 Distincrion Theory Text Analysis 185
14 Objective Hermeneurics 198
PART 3 OVERVIEW
N
D
CO
MP R ISON
213
15 Bibliometric Survey: The Prominence of Methods of Text Analysis 215
16 Comparison of Methods of Text Analysis
226
Glossary
Ap pendix: Publi.:ations and Keywords for Bibliomet
ry
Bibliography
Index
23
7
247
253
273
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CH PTER 4
OBJECTIVE
HERMENEUTI S I
o
jective hermeneurics belongs ro the group of reconsrructive procedures that
. are cha racrenzed by rhe nonon
of
d iscovering larenr srrucrures. Wirho ur
relymg on any scienrific episremology
of
irs own, ir rarher works on rhe basis
of
e v e r ~ ~ a y
undersrandmg and refines rhis by means
of
a clearly motivared and
exphm ser of rules. In 1s historical developmenr ir grew from being an emprica)
procedure denved from
s e ~ r c
practice, and is in rhar sense based
on
rhe expe
nences of such research r a ~ c e and on their rcconsrrucrion' (Bohnsack 1991: 69).
The
d e v e o ~ m e n r of obecnve hermeneurics
as
a merhod of rcxr analysis
w a ~
accompamcd by a need for rhe developm
ent
of a new merhodology for rhe
soc
al.scences. Th1s need
ha
s irs o rigin in rhe exrension
of
the research
doma
n
o soc10logy m ro arcas that are arrributed ro the exisrence of a social suh con
sciOus.
As
h ~ r m e n
~ r i c
rhe merhod rhereby rranscends rhar boundary imposcd
o.n rhe classcal vananr, because rhe larrer is rrapped in rhe world of rhc indi
VIdual
and
his
or
her inrenrions.
In addition to thi s looking behind rhe scenes' objective hermeneutics is
cha racrenzed above all by a
compa
ratively
exp
licit dererminarion of principies
and
procedures thar analysrs musr follow.
1
TH OR
ETICAL ORIGINS
T h ~
c e d u ~ e s used in objecrive hermeneurics were developed in rhe conrexr
of
an .mvesugauon of rhe soc ializarion
of
children in fam ilies, in order ro be able
ro mrerprer records of family i nrernal inreracrion. The dec iding
mom
enr for rhis
srudy was rhe ques non of
how
ch ildren can participare in the social world of
fam dy e ven rhough rh e.y .firsr
hav.e
ro acquire rhe n
ec
essary comperences for
thts. The classKal subecnvtst learnmg theories
of
Ericson,
Mead
and Piager
could
~ r o v t d e no
adequare
answers
ro this,
and
so rhe merhod
was
developed
by fallmg back on the rheories described bclow.
.
From
hermeneutics the merhod borrowed
the
notion rhat allunderstanding
IS condm.oned by the prior knowledge
of
the inrerprerer and rhar ir is extended
rhrough 1nterprerarion a
nd
thereby c reares new
con
d itions for und
erstanding
h e r m ~ n e u t c e ~ r c l e . Looked at in th is way one could take the sequ ential
analyncal
procedure
as a special case
of
rhe he
rm
eneur
ic c ircle.
OBJECT VE
E ~ ~ E U T I C
199
The concepr of rhc subconscious was borrowed from freudian psycho
analysis and
extended
inw
the
social s
ubcon
scious. Thi s app lies ro rhose parts
of meaning strucrurcs rhar are nor rea
li.
cd by participanrs, even rhough rhey
exerr influence as un recognized conditions
or
uninrended consequences
of an
acrion. T he reference ro Freud, however, should only be understood as a srruc
tural analogy ro illusrrare the model and
nor
as a transfer
of th
e
concept of
drive
into rhe rea lm of inreracrions (Oevermann eral. 19 79: 368).
Like rhe critica rheory
of Horkh
eimer and
Adorno,
objecrive h
ermeneu
rics
rejecrs all rhose models rhar seek to undersrand rexrs using a preordained
sysrem
of
caregori es.
Ir
also adoprs rhc claim
of
rhe enlighrenmenr which
would
show, in this case on a linguistic leve, how acrion is constrained by dogmas,
myrhs and ideologics
2 BASICTHEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS
In
ob
jecrive hermencurics a particular view emerges of rhe relationship berwecn
individual and soc iery that mainrains an cqual disrancc from
two
opposite
poles: a subjecrivisr posirion on rhe one hand and a social-theo reri
ca
l objecriv
iry on rhe or her. T hcsc
rwo
perspecrives are not seen as conrrad icrions
hutas
a
dualism conrri buring ro a plausible descriprion of interacrive human behaviour.
The
rension berween individual auronomy
and
rhe determincd nature
of
socicty
is mainrained.
The
freely acring subject is invesrigared wirhin rhe consrrainrs of
borh his
or
her personal biography
and
prevailing social srrucrures.
This model has consequences for rhe dcfinirion of rext. The significance of
rexr-pr
oducers
as psychologica
ll
y observable individuals disappears.
lnreracrive rexrs
co
nsrirme,
on
the bass of recons
rr
ucrable rules, objecrive
mean
ing srruccures, and rhcse objectve
meaning
s
rr
uctu res
repre
sen t che l
atenr
meaning-srrucrures
of
rhe interacrion irself. Ir can also be said rhar a rexr, once ir
is
produced,
consmures
a social rea lny wirh irs
own
rules
and
irs own procedures
for reconsrrucrion. This realiry can be arrnbured ncirher ro rhe speaker s disposi
rion for acrion
and
arrendanr psychJC circumsrances,
nor
ro rhe
mrernal
psychic
realiry of rhe recipienr. (Oevermann et al.
1979:
379)
Accordingly objecrive hermeneutics understands meaning
asan
objecrive social
strucrure rhat emerges in teractively. T his impl ies rhar meaning arises m mutua l
action, bur thar rhe co
nt
riburions
of
rhe respect ive parricipants in rhe crearion
of meaning are inaccessible and rherefore ourside rhe inrerest of rhe researcher.
A leve of
larenr meaning-srrucrures (also known as objecrive meaning-srruc
rures) is posrulared as an essenrial basis for individual inrenrions. From rhis
arises a furrher need, ro
introduce-
ar leasr ar rhe descriprive leve - a
concep
t
of rhe subconscious. Transferred ro rhe mo del of psychoanalysis th is means that
f
rom
t
he viewpoinr of
Ob jec
ri
ve Hermeneurics rhe boundary berween rhe
conscious and rhe pre-conscious is decisive, since it coincides with rhe delimi
t
ar
i
on
of
whar
is
inrenriona
l'
(Oevermann er
al.
1979: 377).
Pcr
so
na
liry
7/25/2019 Met_3_Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis Chapter 14
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200
fH O J
S
OF
fEXT
AN )
D I
SCOU
RSE AN AL YS IS
st
rucwres, in the v1ew
of
obective hermeneutics, are n
ot
defined as psycho log
ica l st r
uct
ur es
bu
t
as
'manifestations of soc1al structu r
es'
and sh ou ld be
inrerpreted accordingly (1-lcinze
1987: 76).
By means of che cenrralno tion of latency,
account
is taken of
ch
e fact thar
socia l subjects a re
ci
ed inro accion co nrex ts and pa rricipate in ac
ci
ons whose
meaning-srruccure they
can
on ly parrially inrerprer. l e
is
no acc idenc
ch
ac
ch
e
scarcing poinr for che method comes from
research
inco soc ializa
ci
on . Thi s is
co n
cerne
d, among och
er
c
hin
gs, w ich explain ing ho w ch ildren part i
cipare
ac ci
vely in
me
an
ing-c
reat
ing acri
ons
even
chough
the y lack c
he
co mp
erence co
understand
che
meaning
rhac is c r
eated.
An
ana
l
ogous
s1tua
ri
on arises
when
we
consider che objecrive her meneucic1st who analyses using che counrer-facrua l
construcr
chat ass
um
es a
comperen
t
spea
ker. The
compc
cenc
speake
r is c ha rac
terized by a total understanding
of
creaccd sense-stru cru res. This
ap
peal ro a
co
mp
ecenr speaker in che gencric sense- che human
as
a genus, nocas
an
ind i
vidual - forms che basis in o bjeccive h
er
mene m ics for che use of incuirive
assessmcnrs of appropr iarcness in cr
ans
mitting che arene sense-sc
ru
crures of
inreractions.
On
che basis
of
linguisric co
mp
erence and compcrence in norm
governe
d
behav
iour rhac resu lc from
belonging ro
a social co mmunity, che
inrerprccer justificd che ac tions of che su b jeccs. In cerms
of
episremology chcre
is
no difference berween
ch
e
analys
c and che
subject
involved in che case
under
invescigacion. Thc a na lysr has only che advancage of an objeccive view unen
c
umb
ere
d by s icuacional
co
nscraincs .
143 GOALS OFTHE METHOD
With che concepr of rhe arene meaning srructures objewve possihil
iries
of mean
ing are incroduced as reJI, irrespecuve of whether or not rhey are mtenuonally
rcali
zed by
rhe pamcipams
to che
mrcraction. Objewvc Hermeneutics means
rhar imerpretanvc proccdurc rhar is needed to un lock this rea liry. (Oevermann et
al. 1979: 381)
The goal of
chis
me
ch
od,
rhereforc,
is
to
r
ender
vis ible o bjecrive s r
rucrur
es
of
m teracrions. The srru cru res a re ch
aracte
riz ed as ob jective heca use rhey
opera
re
i
nd
epcnden d y of rhe sub jecrive inrenrions of the parricipan rs . Thi s motivares rhe
need ro
extend
rhe field of
ana
lyrically accessible social reality by a lac
enr
bm
acrion-decermining level.
'Oevermann's goa l is rruly ambit ious.
He
is l
oo
king f
or
a practica r
esearch
oriented
basis ro a social science th eory and me
rh
od ology
rh
at, ar rhe same
time,
exrends
ove r r he enrire field of whar hum ans are able
to experience'
(Garz
&
Kr
ai
mer 1994: 7) . In che wo rds of Oevermann er a l. (1979: 353) rhemselves:
'The
claimed
genera l significance
of
rhis position for
sociolog
i
cal an a
lysis
over-
< is reflecced in the srrong
claim
rha r meaning-analysis
procedures rhar
follow
rhi s
mo
de l demonstrate che funda m
en
tal operarion of mea s
ur
cme m
or of
che
production of rheorerical ly relevant
data
in
ch
e soc ia l sciences.'
If
like
Oevermann
et al. (
1979: 367)
we
consi
der latent
meani
ng-scruc
rures
ro
be
r
ea
l,
r
O BJECTIVE HE R11EHEUTIC5 201
chis br ings wnh ir a
requi
r
eme nr
for a general re-oricmat ion in
ch
e social scl
enccs rhat has so
fa
r not led
t
any adequate inr cllig ib le meth ods of data
collecrion.
This
helps
ro
explain why statemenrs
on
che
concrete goal of
rhc
mcthod are nmmally embedded in rhe broader comexr
of
discussion
of
che rcal
iry of rhe a
bov
e-me
nrion
ed objecrive
mcani
ng-s trucrures:
However we may ulrimate ly solve rhe problem rhat materialtzes herc of allocaring
objcc.rive meanings to psychic causes,
ir
1s in the
f1rst
insta n
ce
a matter o proving
rhe existcnce o rwo fundamcnrally d1fferent levels o reailty. On rhe one hand,
rhere
IS
rhe reality
of
che
l.
nenr
meanmg s
tru
ctures of a rexr rhat can
be
recon
struct.:d mespective of rb
e1r
mental represenration on rhe pare of che rexr produccr
and rext recip
ie
nt , and rhat muse consmure che srarring pomt fo r soc1al research,
at wha rcvcr leve of realir
y.
And on rhe o
rh
er hand therc IS rhe realiry of subjcc
ri
vely and inrentionally represenred meanings in a texr on thc part of che acring
subj
ec
rs. (Oevermann eral. 1979: 367)
Objecrive hermcneucics, as a merhod of texr analysis an d as a merhodology,
may
be
summarized chus:
'i
r is exclusively a matter
of rhe careful
ex rens1ve
analysis of che objeccive
meaning
of inreracrio nal cex ts a
nd
o f rhe larem m
ean
ing
of inrerac
r
io
ns,
an
d chi s procedure
of re
co nstructive tex tual understanding
has norhmg to do with ... rhe underscanding of processes wirhin the psyche'
(Oeverm
ann er a
l.
1979:
38
1).
144 OUTLINE OFTHE METHOD
144 1 Principies and procedures
The method
of
objecrive bermeneurics is based
on
two modes
of
procedure
sequenri al ana lysis and derailed analysis -
rh
at
are dercrmined
by
four
pr inci
p ies,
of
which th ree ma y subsumed under che head ing of
context variation
The
fou
nh prin
cipie , however- che principie of
ch
e se
quential
mode of
procedurc
w ill be discussed under rhe head ing procedures
14 4 1 /
Basic
concepts
Con text variation In rhou ght
cxperimenrs,
conte'
7/25/2019 Met_3_Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis Chapter 14
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202
METHODS
OF TEXT
AND
O
SCOURSE
AI\:ALYSIS
(1996:
10 0
) msis ts
that
'a k nowledge of rhe actual conrexr of rhe ut terance
may only
he used if
all th
e r
eadings
compatib le with
the
rexr
to
be interpreted
have really been explicated as fully as possible'. ' In terna comext', on rhe
orher hand,
refers to the cumularive
information that is
derived from the
sequentlal analysis . This type of conrext may well be,
and
indeed should be,
invoked
for the
exclus
ion of sorne of the r
esulrant readings.
This
means
that
only rhe fi rst place in a sequence is analysed independenrly of i
nt
erna and
externa context.
Readings
'We consider
the relationship
between utterance
anda
contextua
condition
that pragmatically realizes the urterance
to
be a
rcading' (Oevermann
et
al. 1979: 415). That is ro say, a reading includes a textual segmenr
and
the
possible pragmatic
framework
rhat relates
ro
ir.
The producrion
of readings is
the central operat ion conducred by objectivc hermeneur ics in its
sequenrial
ana
lysis procedure,
based on th
e model of latcnt
me
an ing-structures (see
Oevermann 1996: 93).
he
principie of extensive tnterpretation In this
respect
extensiveness
o
analysis
plays an essenrial role. Oevermann et a l. characterize rhis as follows:
Ths
mean>
going against
ch
e
eve
ryday pracricc of understanding motives m rhat
che mrenrion of an action partner >hould not be revealed as accurarely and quickly
as possible, but on
che
conrrary as fully as posstble. This
in
volves rhat all prcsup
poSttions m
che
rext should be included as explicirly as posstble, tncluding the
mosr 'improbable' readings or rhose
rh
t in che lighr of prior knowledge of
ch
e
case- may
be
rorally excluded. (1979: 393)
lt
is therefore crucial rhac
at
the beginning of an
inrerpretation as many
readings
of a texr
as
possible are made explicir and rhen invesrigaced in rhe course of rhe
detailed analysis
(a r level 6 of rhe
framework
of
caregories designed by
Oevermann er aL 19 79 :
395ff., sce also
sec
ri
on 14.4.3.), m arder ro establish
whic
h
ma
y be
excluded
on gr
ounds
o f
th
e
actua
l
inreraction
and which m
ay
be
uph
el
d.
In ge
ner
al even the most improbable rea dings should be pre served
unril
the
ap p
earance
of an explicir
conrradicrion.
he principie of
complete
interpretattOII This
principie
is rooted in rhe
assumption thar
everyching
that
is
said has more sense
th an is acrively
per
ceived.
Therefore everyrhing that ca
n in sorne
way
be
determined should be
incorporated into
the analysis. This
im
plies that
'eve
ry
parricle
, every legi.ble,
audib
le, visible, tangible (ultimacely eve n ras tab le or smellahle)
elemenr
n o
marter
how
small
and
inconspicuous musr
be
exp
licitly
inrerpreted for its
motivaran and
musr
be firted
imo
che conrext of
the
whole' (Oevermann
1996: 112). For pragmaric
r
easo
n
s, however, audiovisual materia
l is
nor
m ally dispcnsed wirh
in favo
ur of
rr
a nsc ribed
mate
r ial,
altho
ugh duc
conside
r
aran
is given ro
st riking inronation pa tterns, speec
h
rhythm
s and
sim
ilar
events.
he
principie
o
economical use
of
individual hypotheses (economy rttle)
This
rule rneans
rhat
, in rhe sense of
the
grearest possible contextua
variaran,
everyrhing rhat could rescricr the mulriplicity of readings is omirred. This par
ticul
arly
affecrs the externa context (see
abovc,
and
Oeve
rma
nn 1996:
99),
bur
OBJECTIVE HERMENf:UTICS
203
also so-ca lled ind ividual hyporhcses, since one
of
th e hasic assumptions of this
me
th
od is
rhat
psychol
ogy
and orher f
eatures
specific
to
an individual are rhe
conscquence
of
social phenomena (H einzc 1987: 79) .
14 4 1
.2 Procedures
Sequential anal) StS
The sequential-analy
t ical
mode
of
procedurc is
of
funda
mental importance in the methodology
of
ohjective hermeneutics. lt consists
of
break
i
ng
clown rhe rexr or
material
sel
ected
for analysis
into sma ll
er
units
and
then inrerprering
them
in sequence.
The meanmg
possibilities
which are
thereby
achieved are progressivcly
more
resrricred
during the
progress of
the
analysis
unril rhe srrucrure of a particular case is clear. 'In rhis rhe indi\idualiry of a case
becomes apparent. Ir appears
during
rhe
sequent
ial analysis
as
a successively
construcred interna co nt
ext'
(Oeve
rm ann eral. 1979: 426). Oevermann
et
a l.
explain
furrhcr:
In the course of sequencial analysis, what we refer toas rhe imernal comext of an
tnteracrive rcxt is constirured with successively mcreasmg concisene>s. In con
trasr to che externa contextua condirions thar may be f
unh
er subdivided imo
rhose which remain unalrered, and rhose which modify themselves for thc course
of
che
entire scene, thc interna contexr is a resulr of che i
nr
erpreta
ti
on of rhe
scene's rexr, and is traceable only through chis text. (1979:
422
Detailed analysis
Breaking
down the cexr inro separare
sequences
is a pre
condition
for rhe dec
ai
l
ed
an alysis, in rhe
course
of which chere
is
an excensive
inrerprcrarive pwcedu
re, begin
n ing
wirh
rhe smallest meaning
unir
s. H
ere,
as
many meaning-bearing conrex
ts
as
possible are conscrucr
ed
for each of rhesc
smallest
units. Through the sequence of unics, rhe number of possiblc
conrex
cs
(or
readings) reduces itself
during the course
of
che
analysis; in
an
tdeal case, rhe
number of possibles will be reduced toa single
conrexr
and in chis
way
rhe case
ro be analysed
may
be clearly
outlined.
Characrcrisrically, and in
accorda
nce
wirh the underlying principie of che
greatest
possible contextua va riaran, for
rhis
purpose no advance knowledge
of the case rh
at wo
uld
preclud
e
particular
readings is
considered
in the ana lysis.
Through
the
analysis
a real process
of
selectiviry and
exclusions
of
oprions
is reconstrucced.
This procedure
is different
from
ch
e everyday
mode
of
inrer
preta
rion in rhat the analysrs
dedicare mo
re rime to ir
and
attempt to
take
cognisance
o f the op t
ions
r
hat are
really possible.
14.4.2 Selecrion
of
material
and
units
of
analys
is
For ob jective hermcneurics, inter
ac
tion sequences, such as fami ly conve rsa
rions or public speeches,
come
into play
as primary
sources of data.
The true object of
che
procedures of Objcctive Hermcneutics are records of real,
symbolica
ll
y rransmitted social actions or inreracrions,
be
rhey written, acous
ti c
visual, combined in a variety of media
or
recordable in other ways. The precise
7/25/2019 Met_3_Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis Chapter 14
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204 M
ET HODS r AND lYSCOURSE
A NALYSIS
material
form
of
thc record
1s,
for the inrcrpretative procedures
of Objective
ermencutics, a purely
contingent
tcchnical
circumsrance,
since its interpretabil
ity, irrespective of its material form, is bound up in principie with rhe cond1rion of
rhe lmgu,snc rcahzabiiJty or paraphrasabdiry
of
inreracrive meanings. (OcvermJnn
eral. 1979: 378)
Here it is mostly a quesrion of rranscripts rhat derive from rape-recorded mrcr
acrions. The procedure has already also been applied ro borh
sound and
p1crures of TV broadcasrs, m written passages, and - in contradicrion of rhe
pnnciple
of
lingmsric reahzarion - ro film posrers and phorographs (Garz
&
Kraimer 1994). Wirh such sraric pcrorial marerials ir has,
of
course, proved
very difficulr ro reahze rhe sequencing.
On rhc basis of rhe rheorerical assumption rhar rhe entire case strucrure is
reproduced in each tndividualunir
of
interacrion, iris nor necessary ro analyse
rhe complete case-record
hut
only an extraer
(or
'scene') from ir; rhis musr
lead, however, ro a consisrenr case-hypothesis. The developmenr of such a
hyporhesis imposes a mnimum length
requirement on
rhe extraer.
For
the
opening phase of an extraer iris rrue ro say rhar in inreracrion sysrems involv
ing a hisrory (for example familics) rhis is of
no panicular
sgnificance.Ir is only
in newly emerging sysrems (such as therapeuric 'first conracrs') thar inirial
sequences are imporranr, since the beginning has a particular impact
on
rhe sub
sequenr developmenr.
\Y/e
are aware, therefore, rhar in a trivial sense in rhc
analysis of inreracrions wirh
no
previous hisrory, rhe true beginning- rhe open
ing sequence in Schegloff's rcrms - musr also form rhe beginning
of
rhe
inreracrion scene ro be analysed' (Oevermann eral. 1979: 434). Orherwise,
the
extraer is selecred purely at random. The resulrs from rhis firsr extraer may rhen
be compared wirh rhe n l y s i ~ of furrher exrracrs
thar
should ideally be in
sorne reconsrrucrable relanonship wirh rhe first one, ro compensare for matrers
of simation-spectfic chance. The procedure does not, however, prescribe a mn
imum number
of
exrracrs ro be analysed.
The princip ie of sequenrial analysis requires rhat rhe
extraer
be
broken
clown inro individual meaning unirs, in
order
ro creare rhe precondition for
analysis of rhe interna
conrcxt thar
must be considered in rhe
producrion
of
readings. The size of such sequences is not laid clown in the procedure. In
pracrice ir is decided in such a way as ro give rhe interprerers rhe impression
that they are gaining new informaran about the srructure through rhis new
sequence. But since-
on
rhc basis of the principie of
comp
lete
interpretation
norhing happens by chance for objecrive hermeneutics and everyrhing is seen
as srructurally morivared, rhese meaning unirs
are normally
very shorr,
par
ticularly in an inirial phase: sometimes, indeed, rhey consisr merely
of
'throat-clearing'.
Here
is an example of rhe development of such boundaries:
/up to lnow lnobody has ltold me /Mr. Ambassadorl those /categorized
/under I and who of course are qualified academic translators/. As
already
indicared, rhe
unirs-
parricularly ar rhe beginning- are
very
shorr
and
ofren
only
conform
ro a grammattcal
patternmg into
(partial) sentences rowards rhe
end
of an
extraer.
O
Bj
ECT I
VE
HERME:NEUTICS 205
14
.4.3 lncerprecative framework
Wirh objective hermeneurics, in rhc
form
of sequcntial dcraded analysis, rhc
imerprerer has available a concrete insrrumenr wirh which ro approach a rexr:
rhere is a
framework
consisring of eighr analyrical levels. Alrhough Ulrich
Oevermann, in recent years, has d1sranced himself firmly from rh1s framework,
irs pracricabiliry as an mrroducrion ro objecrive hermeneuric inrerpreration -
particular
y
for
beginners- remams
unconrested.
Wirh regard ro rhe status
and
funcrion of rhis framework, Ocvermann eral.
(1979: 394)
srare: '[r is no more rhan a frame for an cxclusivcly qualirarive
descriprive reconsrrucrion of rhe actual urrerances, a kind of "check lisr" for
interprcters rhar should require rhem ro question their material in sufficient
derail
'.
As a rcsult
of
this there is nothing ro prevent a diffcrenr weighting being
given ro the individual levels of rhe analysis or their conversion 1nro concrete
sreps in the research. E ven if rhesc lcvels are
notro
be undemood as a rigid clas
sificarion framework, they rcmain sufficiently precise
in
their formulation ro be
validas rules in the sense used here. In Table
14.1
we ser out rhe eight leveb of
Ocvcrmann eral. (1979) in comparison with rhe concrete reformularions which
we applied in our own cmpirical work. For rhis truncated presentaran we
employ the
version
of
the lcvcls
as summarized
by Schuster (
1994:
108-111
),
who preserves Oevermann's original wording. Subsequenrly we shall address
rhe problem of the comparihilirr of rhe original with
our
n:formularion, and
draw attenrion ro possible diffcrcnces.
Levels 1, 2 and 4 of Oevcrmann
et
al. correspond ro rhe concrete: formula
rions wirh the same numhers. As may be seen in Table
14.1,
point 3 of our
reformularion covers, in broad outlinc:,
severallevels-
namdy
3,
5
and
7. In
this case the following resrricnons apply ro any comparison:
1
The subdivision of poinr 3 in our concrete realization entails that the itali
cized secrions of rhe lefr-
hand column can only
be
undersrood
in a
condicional way as counters ro the levels given in rhe right-hand column.
2
The
quesrion of summari,:ing lines of interpretarion
and
evaluating alrer
native
readings against each
other
(which occurs undcr
level 7 in
Oevermann
eral.) is
not
treared separately ar any poinr
in
our reformula
tion. We ha ve considered this aspecr of inrerprerative work as a single entity
which is inherent in the sequential analytical procedure
and
rherefore per
manenrly present. Accordingly rhere is lirrle or no correspondence in rhe
case of leve 6 of rhe righr-hand column.
On the
matter
of rhe comparihiliry of levels Oand
5,
ir must be
borne
in mind
rhar rhe numbering in borh rhe lcfr-hand and right-hand columns represenrs a
non-obligarory but parrially required ordering of rhe ind1vidual srages in an
invesrigarion. The identificarion
of
a new meaning unir, rherefore, marks rhe
bc:ginning of an inrerprerarive cycle.
The primary
imporrance of rhis
step
in rhe
sequemial analytical mode les in irs experimental aspecr. In rhe flfth srage
of
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206 METHODS O F TEXT
ANO
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Table 14.1 lnterpretative levels
of OH
and concrete analytical questions
Five concrete research steps
2
1
Ho
w
can
the m
ea
ning unit be tr ansformed in the
understanding of the investigator?
How can the unit normally be understood, what
meaning would a 'normal' reader/listener attribute
to
it? How can the statement
be
paraphrased
(rewritten, freely transformad, clarified)?
2 What does the person speaking w ish
to
present
or evoke in a listener
thro
ugh
thi
s stateme
nt
, and
what
could be
hi
s/her intention s?
lf one takes on the role of the actor: what meaning
could the uni t have
for this person? What i
nt
ention
is probably being pursued? What would be an
acceptable interpretation for this person?
3
(1)
What hidden factors could underl ie the
unit
and what could be the object ive consequences for
modes of action and
th
o
ught
or for the system ?
How else could the text be read - from the
viewpoint of a non-partici pan third person?
What is the result of reading wit h different emphases?
3
12
What do
the
foll
ow i
ng mean?
The grammatical form used active, passive,
conditional, etc.)?
The themes and {groups
ofl
persons mentioned?
The linguistic peculiarities (slips, breakdowns, use
and misuse of words)?
The self-evident and generalizad matters that occur?
What might the meaning of he unit re late to?
3
13
) What else might the s
tat
ement m ean in
difieren social circumstance s?
4 What role distribution arises from the unit?
Eight levels of i
nt
erpretation
3
Level 1
Paraphrasing of all meanings of a unit
according to the wording of the
accompanying verbalization.
Level2
Explication
of
the intention of the
interacting subject.
Level 3
Explication of the objective motives of
the unit and of the objective
consequences: i.e. objective changes in
the systemic conditions
within
the
framework of the interactiva process.
Level 5
Characterization of the linguistic
fea tur
es
of the unit: identification of
distinctive features at the syntactic,
semantic and pragmatic levels.
Level 7
Expl ica ti on of general relations and
structures, particularly to do with
socia lization theory.
Leve14
What relations and attributions to persons are given Explication
of
the function of the unit in
(even when not directly named) or could be the distribution of interactiva roles.
inv olved in the text? What can be said (in
interviews) about the relationship between
interviewer and interviewee?
5 What options are availabl
e for
the
next meaning
unit?
How will it go on? What arguments can be
expected? What are importan connection points in
the text?
Level O
Explication of the context imrnediately
preceding an interactiva unit and the
systemic condition of the unit in
question.
Level6
Extrapolation
of
he interpretation of the
unit on to recurrent communicative
figures: re lational aspects or personality
fe
atures that transcend the situation.
OBJECTIVl H(Rr-
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208 M
ET HODS
OF 1
lXT
ANO DISCOURS E AN A
LY
S
IS
conrexrua l
knowlcdge.
Any conrravenrion
of
this would mean, as a
consc
quence, that noth1ng
ncw could
be discovcrcd and
rhat interpretaran would
become circular.
14 5
QU LITY
CRITERIA
Because in objecrive hermeneurics rhe larenr
meaning-srructures
are revealed as
rhe resulr of inruitive
judgemenrs of appropriareness
on rhe part of rhe inter
preters, sorne srarement must be made abour rhe relationship,
wirhin
rhis
procedure,
berween rhc rypes of reprcsenrarion developed and rhe underlying
reality. Does ir reveal whar ir inrcnds
ro
reveal? On rhe basis of an ep isremo
logical circular argumcnr
1t is
claimed rhar
ir is inconclusive and
therefore
meaningless. From th1s Ocvermann et al.
conclude
pragmarically:
lf in a theorcncal sense precautions can be taken rhat help, in a practica way ro
guarantee rhe perfcwon of rhis intuitivc powcr of judgemenr, we no longer need
ro
make explicit che rules rhlt constitute rhis competence as a rheorerical precon
dirion for rhe valtdiry of an objecrive hermeneuric intcrpreration, wirhout thercby
limiring the falsifiabiliry of che meanmg-reconstrucrions. (1979: 388)
These precautions
follow the rhree facrors rhar necessarily resrricr rhe everyday
undersranding of meaning. First rhere is rhe rime factor, whi
ch
leads
ro
rhe
requiremenr
for a
reducrion
of rime
pressure
on rhe pan of rhe inrerprerers.
Then rhe inruirive power of judgemenr should nor he roo neurorically
resrricred'
(Oevermann
eral. 1979: 393) or n
eurral
iz
ed
by a group inrerprera
rion, when rhe readings produced in rhe group should be
consranrly
examined.
Finally rhere is rhe
requiremenr
for rhe
implementarion
of
more th an one
the
orerical
approach, order
ro
av o id everyday characrerizarions in rhe
imerprerarion.
As for the effect
of
the knowledge
ac
hieved
rh
rough ob jecrive hermeneurics,
particularly
in
sociahzarion
theory,
Oevermann
et al. (1979: 402) assume rhat
the empirical validiry
of
general
conceprs
in soc ialization
rheory
can be meas
ured
by rhc
cxrent
to which individual units of
inrera
crion, or a series of
such
unirs, may be fitted unambiguously
nw
irs general definitions . Theories am i
their concepts,
in rhis inrerprerarion, have ro prove rhemselves
as suitable
in
concrete cases of a n a l y ~ i s Oevermann er al. (1979) rejecr rhe roleraring of
individual cases in which
an unambiguous
fir is impossible.
In their opinion
rhe
emprica validiry of conceprs in a
rheory
affecred by rhis type of incomparibil
ity
is
called inro
quesrion.
As an accessible escape
roure
in such a problem siruarion rhey
propose, wirh
relevanr examples, rhar: (a) rhe theorerical basis of rhe faulry conceprs shou ld be
modified, or the conceprs rhemselves should be redefined; and/or (b) addirional
validity
condirions should
be
inrroduced.
In rhis way a
straregy
is
proposed
which would free rhe analysr
from
having
ro
pursue a scienrifically orienred and
rigid
norion of
falsificarion.
OBJ ECT I
VE
HERI'1ENEU1CS 209
14 6 PRECONDITIONS
ND
AREAS OF APPLICATION
\Y/e
have
already menrioned, from
orher viewpoinrs, particular
precondir
ions
which
affecr rhe analysrs rhemselves
and
the use of
knowledge
in
applying the
merhod.
To
complete
rhe picrure
we shall
now
address
the
quesrion
of the nec
essary
qu a
liry of rhe
(recorded
) material.
As far
as arcas
of
application
are
concerned
rhere
are
no resrrictions, in rhe
sense
thar objecnve hermeneutics
irseli
claims rhar
in
pnnciple any recordmgs
of social inreracnon may be used
as source material.
That
is ro say,
textual
and
audio
and visual
material may
all be used in
addition
ro vanous combinanons
of recorded material. The fundamental requiremenr of rhe method in this
respecr
concerns the capabiliry
of rhe
data ro
be
pur
inro sorne sequence, wh1ch
is harder ro conrrive
with
non-sequential visual material (
such
as phorographs).
\ ~ e
musr
look separare
y at observations, which Oevermann
er al. (
1979:
428)
require
musr be made
as
extensively and fairhfully ro rea liry
as
possible,
in
uther wurds ar
rhe leve of
good
qualiry
sound-recordings . This requiremenr
for literal
observaran
records is undersrandable if
une
keeps in mine thar data
which-
as is
normal
for observation-
depend
on
particular framcwurks
uf cat
egories and
meaning parrerns
impede access
ro latenr
meaning-srrucrures.
n
spire of rhis
general openness concerning
the
form
of rhe
data marena
l ro
be
analysed,
objecrive
hermeneurics
makes predominant
use
of
carefully
tran
scribed sound recordings.
14 7
SIMILARITIESAND DIFFERENCES IN
COMP RISONWITH
OTHER
METHODS
ND
PROCEDURES
Objecrive hcrmeneurics 1s distinguished
from orher reconstruc
t ive
procedures
primanly through irs assumprion
of
larency. This providcs rhe mosr suirable
basis for
comparison.
Even if objecrivc hermeneurics does
nor
view subjective inrentions purely as
a soulless reflection
of
social
strucrures,
ir
does clearly
disringuish
irself
from
social-phenomenologically orienred methods rhat seek
ro
promorc individual
meaning panerns
as
srructuring, orientational and
rypificarion processes
(Marthiesen 994:
81).
In rhese kinds of ana lyses objecrivc social srrucrure, in
rhe
shape
of milieu and environmenr,
is
conceptualized
as
a
marginal condirion
which contrasrs srrongly wirh rhe way in which objecrive hermeneurics handles
ir.
Ohjecrive Hermenemics - unlike convencional hermeneur1cs as dcveloped by
Habermas for che social sc1ences- no longer deals solelr rh onenrarions rrans
mmed via rhe psyche and w1th rhe psychically unconsc1ous. Rarher it clams to
elaborare the soc1ally unconscious - i.e. larenr' social meanmg srrucrures.
(Bohnsack 1991: 68 )
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210 METHODS O F HXT AND DISCOURS E ANALYSIS
A furrher compara i ve dunenswn derives from rhe s
tricr separar
an
of
externa
and interna conrexr,
as
underraken by objecrive hermeneutics. (The basis of
this is rhe
sequenrial
analyt1cal procedure and rhe economy rule.) The 'classical
hermeneuricisrs', in arder ro discover rhe meaning of rhe
individua
l segmenr,
irrespecrive of its posirion,
invoke
informaran from rhe complete rexr
and
also
employ conrexrual
informaran ro a differenr exrent.
As for the
directions
for (a) rhe
approach
ro the
ma t
erial ro be inv es
rigated,
and (b)
the
invesrigation of
the
material irself, rhe merhod
provides
highly
developed guidelines.
Thc
srcps
ro
be followed for discovering the latenr
meaning-strucrures are rherefore
laid down
for
rhe user. This
sets
objecrive
hermeneurics aparr from all those supposed
'merhods'
rhar provide only one
prescribed
framework-
normally
from a special perspecrive- wirhin
which
rhe researcher can frccly operare.
Trus
also means, however, thar the opera
ri o nalizarion of relevanr conceprs, rhar is
rhe
approach ro rhe material,
depends more or less upon intui rion.
The
inrelligibiliry and comparabiliry of
resulrs
are
burdened
by rhis, cven
if
rhe freedom
of interpretarion ir
allows
cannot, a priori, be negarively evaluared. From rhi s compararive viewpoint rhe
erhnomerhodologically
orienred
merhods, or rh ose collecrively sry
led 'dis
course analysis', may primarily be seen as
polar opposires
ro
objecnve
hermeneutics.
Whcn compared
ro
conrenr
analysis
procedures
(suc
h
as
SYMLOG)
which
analyse
a rext wirh
rhe
help of a
preordaincd framework
of
caregor
ies,
objecrive
hermen eurics srands out by
virtue
of irs requiremcnr for an analysis in rhe 'lan
guage
of the
case'.
A contravenrion of thi s
princip
ie would
lead
ro a
r e o n ~ t r u t i o of rhc preconce1ved opinions of the
inrerpreters
rather than a
recon
s
truction of
the
larenr meaning.
14 8
LITERATURE
Ocvermann, Ulrich, Allerr, T., Kona u, E. Krambe ck, J (1979), 'D1e
.Methodologie einer obektiven H ermeneu tik und ihrc allgememe forschungslo
gsche Bedeutung
in den Soz1alwissenschaften, in Hans-Georg Soeffner (ed.),
Imerpretattve Verfahren in den Sozial- und Textwissenschaften. Sturrgarr: Mctzlcr,
352-434.
Oevermann,
Ulrich, Allert, T., Konau, E Krambeck, J. (1983),
'Die
Methodologie der objektiven Hcrmcneutik', in Peter Zcdler Heinz Moser (cds),
Aspekte qualitatwer Soalforschung. Studren
zr
t Aktionsforschung, empirischer
Hermene utik rmd reflexrver Soz;ralteclmologre. Opladen: Westdeurscher Verlag,
95-123.
Oevermann,
Ulrich (1993), 'Die objektive Hermeneurik als unverzichtbarc
methodologische Grundlage fr die Analyse von Subekriviriit. Zugleich cine
Kritik der Tiefenhermencunk', in Thomas Jung Stcfan Mller-Doohm (eds),
\Virklichkeit im Deutungsproze/5. Verstehen in den Kultur- und
Sozralwissenschaften.
Frankfurt: Suhrkamp,
106-89.
OB )EC 71V E HERMENEUT ICS 21 1
Oevermann, Ulrich (1983),
'Zur
Sache. Ote Bedeutung von
d o r n o ~
methodolo
gischem Sclbst,crsrandnis fr die Begrundung cincr marerialen soziologtschen
Strukturanalyse', in Ludwig von Friedeburg jrgen Habermas (eds), Adorno
Konferem: 198].
Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 234-89.
14 9 SECONDARY LJTERATURE
14 9 1
Handbooks
Lamnek, Siegfried (1989), Qualitatwe Soalforschung, vol. 2: Methoden und
Techniken Miinchen: Psychologie-Verlags-Union,
213-32.
H eckmann, Friedrich (1992), 'lnterpretarionsregeln zur Auswertung qualitativer
lnrerviews und sozialwissenschaftlich rclevanter "Texte". Anwendungen der
Hermeneunk fur d1c
e m p i r i ~ h e
Sozialforschung , in Jr gen H. P Hoffmeyer
Zlornik (ed.), Analyse verbaler Daten. OpiJden: Westdeutscher Verlag,
l42-67.
Reichertz, Jo (
l9
95), 'Die objektive Hermeneutik- Darstellung und Knrik', in
Eckhard Knig Pcter Zedler (eds ), Bilanz qualrtativer Forsclmng, vol. Il:
Methoden. Wcinheim: Deutscher Studienverlag, 379-423.
14 9 2
Other presentations
of method
Bobnsack, Ralf (1991), Rekonstruktne Soz;ialforschrmg. Emfiilmmg in
Metbodologre und Praxis qualitatwer Forsclumg.
Opladen: Leske, 66-81.
Garz, Dctlef Kraimer, Klaus (eds) (1994),
Dze
\Velt als Text. Theorie, Kntrk
und Praxis der obektiven Hermeneutik. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
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OF
TEXT ANO
DISCOU
RSE ANALYSIS
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PtiN -.
77 T l t ~ N J C I I i . / n t A / AllOJJ'
lJ lC
J o r;ccci Je
I r
1.11:
77:>
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oor
n:xr.J
iN 'T'Hi.J'
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NOTES
This
chaprer
is based on a
German
paper wrirren
by
Karl Berger, Thomas
Gamperl and G1sela I l agma1r.
2
This framework
of
concrete researc
h sreps
was
developed by Stefan Tirscher.
3 Oevermann
eral.
(1979: 395-402) in rhe
summary
given in Schusrer (1994:
108-11).
P RTTHREE
Overview nd Comparison