I know what it is’. An interactional study of sex discovery in prenatal ultrasound examinations

Bibliographic Data

ID7750738
AuthorsC Licoppe (0000-0002-0777-0599), Nicolas Rollet (0000-0002-4367-5417, Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France, corresponding author), Luca Greco (0000-0002-1511-1657, Université de Lorraine)
Year2024
Volume26
Issue5
Pages643-668
Publication date2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4456 • E-ISSN: 1461-7080
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614456241241206
OpenAlexW4394978532
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited35

One of the most exciting moments in a prenatal ultrasound session is learning the sex of the baby.Following a conversation analysis perspective, we present a multimodal analysis of sequences of interaction between patient and practitioner at the time the foetus’ sex is the focus of attention. Based on video data collected from maternity wards and private practitioners, we report on two types of sequences, which illustrate the different ways of responding to the perceptually-occasioned formulation of the foetus’ sex: as a telling or as a noticing (in which case participants orient towards jointly seeing). While the possibility of both response is inherent to the sequential properties of noticing-based claims in general, we will discuss how the production of both types of sequences is sensitive and articulated to the distribution of epistemic authority as a practical achievement in this medical setting, along two dimensions: expert versus ordinary knowledge, and professional vision versus lay gaze

Conversation · Conversation analysis · Children's Rights and Participation · Communication · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Medicine · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Psychology