How can we capture the words, gestures and conduct of study participants? How do we transcribe what happens in social interactions in analytically useful ways? How could systematic and detailed transcription practices benefit research? Transcribing for Social Research demonstrates how best to represent talk and interaction in a manageable and academically credible way that enables analysis. It describes and assesses key methodological and epistemological debates about the status of transcription research while also setting out best practice for handling different types of data and forms of social interaction. Featuring transcribing basics as well as important recent developments, this book guides readers through: • Time and sequencing • Speech delivery and patterns • Non-vocal conduct • Emotive displays like laughter, tears, or pain • Talk in non-English languages • Helpful technological resources As the first book-length exposition of the Jeffersonian transcription conventions, this well-crafted balance of theory and practice is a must-have resource for any social scientist looking to produce high quality transcripts.

Transcribing Speech Delivery

In most forms of written talk, conventional substitutions for communicative elements of talk are employed, for example commas, question marks, exclamation marks, italics, capital letters and underlined text. However, as we will see, this only captures a fraction of the communicative features that are present. In this chapter we explicate how to transcribe details of speech delivery and demonstrate their central role for communicating not just emotional or ironic content, but also for conveying what action an utterance is accomplishing (for example, statement, command, accusation or question). Our argument throughout this volume is that wiping out these elements impoverishes our understanding of what is accomplished in interaction.

Speech delivery includes changes in pitch, loudness, tempo, and degrees of emphasis and voice ...

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