Conversation analysis and interpretive quantitative research on psychotherapy process and problematic interpersonal behavior

Bibliographic Data

ID20400879
AuthorsMichael A Westerman (New York University, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume21
Issue2
Pages155-178
Publication date2011-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheory & Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-3543 • E-ISSN: 1461-7447
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959354310394719
OpenAlexW2314419044
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited39

In this article, I examine conversation analysis, a fruitful area of qualitative research, in order to extend my prior explorations of the idea that quantitative methods can and should be part of the repertoire of interpretive approaches employed by investigators committed to treating psychological phenomena as irreducibly meaningful. My examination includes considering several lines of research by investigators who are not practitioners of conversation analysis in which quantitative methods were employed to study patient behavior in psychotherapy and defensive behavior more generally. These lines of inquiry show that (a) quantitative research methods have a good deal to offer practitioners of conversation analysis as they endeavor to advance our understanding of the organization of interactions, and (b) we can employ quantitative methods and continue to embrace a commitment to interpretive inquiry. I also offer a critique of fundamental methodological precepts associated with conversation analysis, which differ notably from the precepts guiding most qualitative research efforts in psychology. In a fascinating twist, these precepts, which include discomfort with interpretive research procedures, have resulted in limitations in very recent attempts by some practitioners of conversation analysis to employ quantitative methods in their investigations

Conversation · Conversation analysis · Epistemology · Interpersonal communication · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Communication · Computer Science · Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics · Emotions and Moral Behavior · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Psychology · Social Psychology