Conversation Analysis

Abstract

Conversation analysis (CA) is primarily a method for the study of spoken interaction. It is most of all concerned with the sequential organization of interaction, but it is also interested in the inferential frameworks people use in making sense of each other in interaction. It was originated by Harvey Sacks in the 1960s, and it is influenced by the ethnomethodological sociology of Harold Garfinkel. In the study of religion/s, it can be used for the microanalytic study of various kinds of religious activity types. With the help of the method, the analyst can both explicate the central religiously relevant tasks the participants accomplish in these activity types and uncover the interactional methods they use in accomplishing them. Mostly, conversation analysts use video or audio recordings of naturally occurring interaction as data, but written interaction, such as discussion in social media, can also be analyzed with the method. CA can be productively combined with ethnographic methods.