Appendix: Discourse Quality Index (DQI): instructions for coders

Summary

Each speech act is coded separately. The coding is done according to the seven categories explained below. Each coding decision must be justified in the comment section with supporting quotes and page or column numbers. So that the justifications can be easily found, use a separate paragraph for each coding decision and leave space between the individual paragraphs. Detailed and good justifications of the coding decisions are very important for the success of the project. These justifications allow the reader to understand why particular codes were chosen. Furthermore, detailed and good justifications of the coding decisions may allow the establishment of subcategories of the various codes in later stages of the project. For each speech, relevant and irrelevant parts have to be distinguished, and only the relevant parts should be coded. If a speech has no relevant parts, it is not coded at all. The relevant parts concern demands entering the debate. A demand is a proposal by an individual or a group on what decisions should or should not be made. Demands that are closely related to each other constitute an issue. If there are two or more issues, the debates on each issue need to be coded on separate coding schemes. If an actor makes two or more speeches in the same debate, each speech must be coded separately although the codes for the later speeches may be the same as the codes for the earlier speeches.