Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T21:48:30.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Discourse Analysis in Research on Aging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Linda A. Wood
Affiliation:
University of Guelph
Rolf O. Kroger
Affiliation:
University of Toronto

Abstract

This article explores the potential of discourse analysis for understanding issues in aging and in the lives of older people. We describe discourse analysis from the perspective of discursive psychology and identify the basic features of discourse analysis: (1) talk and written texts are viewed as action; (2) talk itself is the topic of interest (not an index of internal states); (3) variability is viewed positively. Stages of discourse analysis are briefly discussed. We then consider examples of discourse-analytic research (on identity construction, phatic communion, frame stereotyping and humour). We conclude by suggesting possible uses and applications of discourse analysis in research on aging.

Résumé

Cet article étudie les possibilités offertes par l'analyse du discours pour comprendre les questions portant sur le vieillissement et la vie des personnes âgées. Les auteurs décrivent l'analyse de discours selon la perspective de la psychologie discursive et déterminent les principaux aspects de l'analyse du discours, soit (1) les tests verbaux et écrits sont perçus comme une action; (2) le discours est considéré en lui-même comme un sujet d'intérêt (et non une indication des états d'esprit); (3) la variabilité est reconnue comme un élément positif. De plus, ils traitent brièvement des étapes de l'analyse du discours. Ils présentent ensuite des exemples de recherches analytiques de discours (touchant la construction de l'identité, les menus propos, de même que les stéréotypes du vieillissement et l'humour). Finalement, les auteurs concluent en suggérant des utilisations et applications possibles de l'analyse du discours en matière de recherche sur le vieillissement.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Austin, J. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness: Some universale in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, K., & Middleton, D.J. (1993). Discursively formulating the significance of reminiscence in later life. In Coupland, N. & Nussbaum, J.F. (Eds.), Discourse and Lifespan Identity (pp. 5580). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Coupland, J., Coupland, N., & Grainger, K. (1991). Intergenerational discourse: Contextual versions of ageing and elderliness. Ageing and Society, 11, 189208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coupland, J., Coupland, N., & Robinson, J.D. (1992). “How are you?”: Negotiating phatic communion. Language in Society, 21, 207230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coupland, J., Robinson, J.D., & Coupland, N. (1994). Frame negotiation in doctor-elderly patient consultations. Discourse & Society, 5, 89124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coupland, N., & Coupland, J. (1993). Discourses of ageism and anti-ageism. Journal of Aging Studies, 7, 279301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coupland, N., & Coupland, J. (in press). Age-identity and health-identity in geriatric medical discourse. Proceedings of the Botkyrka Seminar on Health Care Encounters and Culture, 1992. The Swedish Institute and Museum of Immigration.Google Scholar
Coupland, N., Coupland, J., & Giles, H. (1989). Telling age in later life: Identity and face implications. Text, 9, 129151.Google Scholar
Coupland, N., Coupland, J., & Giles, H. (1991). Language, Society and the Elderly: Discourse, Identity and Ageing. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Edwards, D., & Potter, J. (1992). Discursive psychology. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and text: Linguistic and intertextual analysis within discourse analysis. Discourse & Society, 3, 193217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gergen, K.J. (1985). The social constructionist movement in modern psychology. American Psychologist, 40, 266275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grainger, K. (1993). “That's a lovely bath dear”: Reality construction in the discourse of elderly care. Journal of Aging Studies, 7, 247262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grice, H.P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In Cole, P. & Morgan, J.L. (Eds.), Syntax and semantics: Vol. 3. Speech acts (pp. 4158). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Grimshaw, A. (1993). [Review of Handbook of Language and Social Psychology]. Language in Society, 22, 103111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, H.E. (1994). Conversations with an Alzheimer's Patient. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harré, R. (1984). Personal being. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Harré, R., & Gillett, G. (1994). The discursive mind. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harwood, J., & Giles, H. (1992). “Don't make me laugh”: age representations in a humorous context. Discourse & Society, 3, 403436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopper, R. (1988). Speech, for instance: The exemplar in studies of conversation. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 7, 4763.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirk, J., & Miller, M.L. (1986). Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroger, R.O., & Wood, L.A. (1983). Ethogeny, social identity and suicide. In Sarbin, T.R. & Scheibe, K.E. (Eds.), Studies in social identity (pp. 7191). New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Middleton, D., & Buchanan, K. (1993). Is reminiscence working?: Accounting for the therapeutic benefits of reminiscence work with older people. Journal of Aging Studies, 7, 321333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orange, J.B., & Mathew, M. (1994). Conversational repair in Alzheimer's disease: A longitudinal study. Poster presented at the Second International Conference on Communication, Aging, and Health, Hamilton, Ontario, May.Google Scholar
Pomerantz, A.M. (1986). Extreme case formulations: A new way of legitimating claims. Human Studies, 9, 219230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1991). Analyzing discourse. In Bryman, A. & Burgess, R. (Eds.), Analyzing qualitative data. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ramanathan-Abbott, V. (1994). Interactional differences in Alzheimer's discourse: An examination of AD speech across two audiences. Language in Society, 23, 3158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabat, S. (1991). Facilitating conversation via indirect repair: A case study of Alzheimer's disease. The Georgetown Journal of Languages and Linguistics, 2, 284292.Google Scholar
Sabat, S., & Harré, R. (1992). The construction and deconstruction of self in Alzheimer's disease. Ageing and Society, 12, 443461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sampson, E.E. (1993). Identity politics. American Psychologist, 48, 12191230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tannen, D. (1989). Talking voices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wood, L.A., & Kroger, R.O. (1993). Forms of address, discourse and aging. Journal of Aging Studies, 7, 263277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, L.A., & Kroger, R.O. (1994). The analysis of facework in discourse: Review and proposal. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 13, 248277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, D., & Pollner, M. (1970). The everyday world as a phenomenon. In Douglas, J. (Ed.), Understanding Everyday Life (pp. 80103). Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar