33.3684, Review: Discourse Analysis: Vásquez (2022)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-33-3684. Mon Nov 28 2022. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 33.3684, Review: Discourse Analysis: Vásquez (2022)

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Date: 
From: Villy Tsakona [villytsa at otenet.gr]
Subject: Research Methods for Digital Discourse Analysis


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/33.1649

AUTHOR: Villy Tsakona
TITLE: Research Methods for Digital Discourse Analysis
SERIES TITLE: Research Methods in Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing (formerly The Continuum International
Publishing Group)
YEAR: 2022

REVIEWER: Villy Tsakona

SUMMARY

During at least the past three decades, discourse analysis and
overlapping or adjacent fields such as pragmatics and sociolinguistics
have been enriched by research focusing on digital genres. This comes
as no surprise if we consider the “ever-increasing digitization of
daily life” (p. 1): many of our practices and activities which once
involved oral or written discourse are nowadays performed via digital
discourse. So, many older researchers who started to work on oral or
written genres, or researchers joining these fields more recently,
have partly or completely concentrated on digital discourse and
attempt to apply already existing theoretical models and analytical
tools to the rapidly emerging and developing digital genres. Such
applications have obviously led to refined versions of older methods
and theories or to new ones.

It is exactly in this context that the present collection of essays
edited by Camilla Vásquez comes to elaborate on this continuous dialog
between older and more recent approaches to discourse as well as on
discourse phenomena and genres that have come into existence due to
current technological developments and/or may relate to previous (oral
or written) forms of discourse. The volume under review includes an
introduction written by the editor and 13 chapters by researchers who
have extensively worked on digital discourse using a wide range of
methods and genres.

In her “Introduction” (Chapter 1), Vásquez invites us to explore what
lies beneath the tip of the iceberg, namely beneath the papers or
books we write and read reporting on research endeavors in a more or
less concise and orderly manner. The volume aims at sharing the
contributing authors’ experiences with digital discourse analysis,
thus helping novice scholars (and even more experienced ones) to deal
with a number of methodological challenges they may encounter. Vásquez
specifically elaborates on the affordances of digital genres, for
example, their potential to “connect instantly” (p. 5) people who may
be far away from each other; on the ethical issues raised when
collecting and analyzing data the producers of which are not aware
that they may be monitored and analyzed; on the quantity of the data
required for digital discourse analysis; on the ephemeral nature of
digital discourse, since many texts may disappear after a while; and
on the need to revise already existing theories to approach digital
discourse or perhaps to come up with new ones. Vásquez’s Introduction
also includes an overview of the chapters to follow, so as to
demonstrate not only the scope of the volume, but also how the
chapters relate to each other and shed light on different questions
and issues raised within digital discourse analysis.

In Chapter 2, “The role of theory in digital discourse analysis”, Alla
Tovares highlights the significance of grounding research to a
particular theoretical paradigm/model. The author narrates the
different stages of one of her own projects investigating online
political trolling. Given that (digital) discourse analysis is
performed via a wide range of theoretical and analytical approaches,
scholars often combine different concepts and analytical tools in
their effort to provide insightful accounts of their data. In this
context, Tovares describes how researchers are expected to constantly
move from theory to data and vice versa, so as not to overgeneralize
their findings and/or not to oversimplify the phenomena under
scrutiny. She also underlines the significance of connecting one’s
analyses and findings with those of previous studies through pointing
out similarities and differences between them: “academic work is an
ongoing dialogic process” (p. 22), as she succinctly puts it. At the
end of this chapter, there is a “theory checklist” (pp. 34-35)
summarizing the necessary steps when attempting an analysis of
(digital) discourse.

In Chapter 3, “Operationalizing theoretical constructs in digital
discourse analysis”, Scott F. Kiesling discusses the process of
operationalization of the concepts which will be used for analysis.
Based on the premise that all linguistic analyses aim at detecting
some kind of pattern speakers resort to when creating meaning,
Kiesling places emphasis on researchers’ need to come up with and
employ categories which later on will allow other researchers to
replicate the study using different data, and which are most relevant
to the purposes of the study at hand. The work he reports on involves
the analysis of stance in posts coming from Reddit. The example
employed in this chapter is well chosen, since stance is a rather
vague concept that lacks a straightforward definition and,
unsurprisingly, operationalizing it took much time and effort for
Kiesling’s research team. Similarly to Tovares (in Chapter 2), the
author also stresses the significance of reiteration, namely of
constantly moving from the theoretical definition to the data and vice
versa, in order to refine the categories used for analysis.
Furthermore, Kiesling elaborates on the importance of calibrating the
members of the group so as to obtain valid results, as well as on the
benefits of collaborating with scholars from different disciplines,
who, on the one hand, can contribute to enhancing the methodological
tools available and, on the other, can offer valuable feedback to the
processes of definition and operationalization.

The vast quantity of data potentially collected from the internet for
analytical purposes is one of the biggest challenges digital discourse
analysts are faced with. In Chapter 4, “Data sampling and digital
discourse”, Stephen Pihlaja explores the possibilities and drawbacks
of trying to create cohesive, representative, and manageable samples
for analysis. The author begins with a brief overview of diverse
approaches to sampling digital discourse, including the compilation of
very large corpora, the investigation of the discourse produced within
specific online communities, the study of digital discourse related to
a specific topic or public event, the focus on the generic and
linguistic particularities of certain social media networks, and the
study of online participants’ practices and motives through
interviews. Then, Pihlaja describes in detail his own steps and
criteria for sampling during a project concerning how and why people
of different religious backgrounds address their online audiences.
Such steps and criteria are determined by the researcher’s aims and
focus, but simultaneously can modify the latter at some point.

Chapter 5, “Data collection, preparation, and management” by Ramona
Kreis, provides an overview of different methodological issues and
challenges to be dealt with by digital discourse analysts. The fact
that digital media may give us access to a wide variety of data as
well as to huge amounts of texts for sampling forces scholars to
constantly take decisions which shape the datasets for analysis. In
other words, easy access and large quantities may be simultaneously
convenient and inconvenient for data sampling. Kreis specifically
discusses the temporality and ephemerality of digital discourse, the
platform-specific constraints on accessing and retrieving the data, as
well as issues concerning the anonymity and privacy of those who
participate in the creation and dissemination of digital texts. Even
when compiling large datasets using relevant tools/software,
researchers do not have full control of what is collected and what is
omitted by such tools/software. On the other hand, downloading data
for smaller datasets has its own limitations, such as time-consuming
procedures, storage problems, and algorithms that control what is
visible and what is invisible to the researcher.

Caroline Tagg and Tereza Spilioti dedicate Chapter 6 to “Research
ethics”. They underline the fact that research ethics is not a
once-and-for-all decision concerning the design of a research project,
but rather several decisions which researchers need to take in each
and every step of their projects. The authors also make a distinction
between macro ethics involving “safeguarding human rights, minimizing
harm, maximizing the benefits of the research, respecting autonomy,
protecting privacy, and ensuring reciprocity” (p. 92), and micro
ethics or ethical literacy, whereby “a researcher reflects on their
own research practices, poses and addresses critical questions, and
continually (re)assesses the risks through ongoing dialog with
research participants, peers, and other stakeholders” (p. 93).
Research ethics is therefore related to the project design and
minimization of the data, issues concerning informants’ privacy and
consent, and the strategies for the dissemination of research findings
so as to avoid the identification of the informants. This chapter also
includes a discussion of ethical considerations during two case
studies – one from each author’s research endeavors: the first one
pertains to Twitter discourse and mass media images (Spilioti), while
the second one pertains to mobile messaging between close friends and
colleagues (Tagg). The chapter ends with two interviews with scholars
working on potentially distressing and offensive digital data, “an
area of discourse analysis that poses increasing risk to the mental,
emotional, and physical well-being of the researchers involved” (p.
108). This is another aspect of data processing which is related to
ethics but is not often taken into account.

In Chapter 7 on “Digital tools for digital discourse analysis”, Trena
M. Paulus provides a detailed narrative of how she and her
collaborators employed the ATLAS.ti software to perform a qualitative
analysis of digital discourse coming from GoFundMe and consisting of
requests for financial help by people who face serious health problems
and cannot afford the medical expenses. Given that many discourse
analysts are used to performing qualitative analyses using
conventional material and tools (e.g. printed files of data,
notebooks, and coding systems devised by them), it is definitely
interesting to become familiar with how qualitative data analysis
software works and could assist researchers in their projects. To this
end, the author walks us through the analytical process step-by-step:
from considering ethical issues when compiling the dataset, then
collecting the data and coordinating with other scholars in a joint
project, to becoming familiar with and annotating the data, coding
specific extracts to facilitate retrieval, identifying patterns, and
creating graphics and visual representations of the findings, which
will prove helpful when reporting them. It therefore seems that
qualitative data analysis software can assist researchers throughout
their work as long as they dedicate some time to becoming familiar
with the tools included in such software and they can afford its cost
or work in institutions which provide access to it.

Carmen Lee’s Chapter 8 on “Researching multilingual digital discourse”
delves into the particularities of investigating multilingual online
discourse and hence begins with a brief discussion of how
multilingualism and relevant notions (e.g. translanguaging,
translingual practices, code-meshing, polylingual languaging, and
metrolingualism) are conceptualized in current research. Lee then
proceeds with mapping four broad patterns of multilingual discourse
that have attracted scholarly attention so far: 1) the coexistence of
languages on a webpage, where each of them exhibits different
functions; 2) multilingual interaction by social media participants
who do not share a common language or alternate between shared
language resources; 3) metalinguistic discourse about multilingualism
online, mostly concentrating on language choices and language policies
online and offline; and 4) digital discourse as social practices
placing emphasis on what speakers wish to achieve via the use of
different languages online and how such choices are shaped by their
values and ideologies. The author also describes the methodological
steps she took to explore the multilingual digital discourse produced
as part of a social movement, and underlines the significance and the
advantages of researchers’ participation in the data under scrutiny.

Multimodality and its analysis are the focus of Ruth Page’s Chapter 9
on “Analyzing multimodal interactions in social media contexts”.
Multimodality is one of the basic characteristics of digital discourse
and has attracted the attention of researchers coming from different
disciplines, such as social semiotics, pragmatics, and digital
literacy. Given that each discipline works with different theoretical
concepts and analytical tools, the author argues that it is important
for researchers to define their goals with precision and to adopt
theoretical and methodological frameworks which are compatible with
their goals. While presenting her own project on group selfies and
Snapchat feature stories, Page elaborates on the challenges
researchers may face when analyzing multimodal discourse. Such
challenges pertain to the type of data chosen for analysis,
transcription and annotation procedures, the selection of software
suitable for the analysis at hand, ethical and legal considerations
(especially when publishing research findings), inter-rater
reliability (when more than one analyst work on the same project), and
intra-coder testing (when one works alone).

Multimodal data are also the focus of Aditi Bhatia’s analysis. In
particular, she presents an illustrative example of her long-term
project on “Identity construction in digital professions”, within the
framework of which she investigates how YouTube influencers project
themselves as credible and authentic individuals. Chapter 10,
“Analyzing online videos”, begins with a brief overview of diverse
studies examining digital data coming from YouTube and, then, the
author proceeds with developing her analytical schema by drawing on
critical approaches to discourse. The proposed analysis demonstrates
the ways YouTube influencers “shift between multiple communicative
goals and identities” (p. 188) in order to attract and maintain
audience attention. One of the important things in Bhatia’s chapter,
in my view, is the self-disclosing statement and simultaneously piece
of advice offered to (more or less) young scholars: she admits that
her research on such material “grew organically from a personal
interest” (p. 193). She thus insists that “the best understanding of
social media comes from personal experience of the platform(s) and
prevents one from analyzing data at a superficial level or making
presumptions about participant use or behaviors” (p. 193).

A less common but no less inspiring type of research is discussed in
Marie-Louise Brunner and Stefan Diemer’s Chapter 11 on “Cross-platform
analysis”. Based on the premise that digital discourse exhibits
significant variation across social media networks, even if produced
by the same individual, company, institution, etc., the authors
underline the importance of comparing discourse strategies and
affordances so as to bring to the surface how digital content
producers employ different linguistic/semiotic resources to address
different audiences in different online settings. Brunner and Diemer
advocate a mixed-methods approach combining both qualitative and
quantitative analytical methods, and explore both successful and
unsuccessful strategies of online communication. The findings of their
own research project investigating companies’ digital communication
strategies in social media platforms show that companies adjust their
discourse to the particularities and affordances of each platform so
as to enhance audience involvement. The chapter also offers detailed
practical information concerning how to set up a cross-platform
analysis study.

In Chapter 12, “Using corpus linguistics to study online data”, Ursula
Lutzky and Andrew Kehoe elaborate on how corpus linguistics tools and
methodology can be applied to the analysis of digital discourse. Their
chapter begins with a brief overview of the relevant literature, where
the authors concentrate on what corpus linguistics involves, the
distinction between general/reference and specialized corpora and,
most importantly in the present context, the difference between the
“web as corpus” and the “web for corpus”. The former pertains to using
“the whole web as a very large collection of texts” (p. 221), while
the latter refers to “building a corpus using texts downloaded from
the web” (p. 222) on the basis of certain criteria. The authors
illustrate their theoretical and methodological points by describing
the steps they took for the analysis of a corpus consisting of tweets
referring to the Ryanair airline, mostly concentrating on keywords and
collocations. Their discussion concludes with valuable considerations
and suggestions about the choice of keywords when building a corpus,
and potential limitations and ethical issues which scholars may come
across.

In Chapter 13, “Approaching online practices through ethnography”,
Brook Bolander maps the potential and methodologies of ethnographic
approaches to digital discourse, where “the research process is not
linear” and “decisions about approach, process, and tools are not
one-off that are made at the beginning of a research project and
separate from, for example, the development of research questions or
analytical frameworks” (p. 238). Ethnographic approaches to digital
discourse do not concentrate exclusively on the screen-based data
collected by researchers, but also explore user-based data providing
information about the social meanings and goals of digital discourse
as conceptualized by those who produce and/or interpret it. Moreover,
Bolander provides a brief overview of the evolution of digital
ethnography starting from linguistic approaches examining digital
discourse as a “new”, distinctive variety drawing on preexisting oral
and written varieties, and moving towards approaches which do not
consider online and offline discourse as separate but rather as
interwoven. Her own proposal employs mixed methods and hence blended
data (i.e. qualitative and quantitative analysis of screen-based data
as well as user-based data collected via questionnaires) to
investigate online participants’ interaction (e.g. turn-taking, topic
control, and speakership), social behavior (e.g. dis/agreements and
other discourse moves), and participation patterns (related to the
frequency and length of the messages/posts).

In the final 14th chapter of the volume, “Reflective approaches to
analyzing digital discourse”, Riki Thompson familiarizes us with the
particularities of reflective research. Emphasis is here placed, on
the one hand, on researchers’ constant reflection and adjustment of
their methodological tools and analytical goals and, on the other, on
how the participants in the study could benefit from their
participation by enhancing their metacognitive reflection and
awareness of their own practices in online environments, and
eventually by being incited to challenge their own perspectives and
understandings of such practices. Throughout her narrative, the author
underlines the flexibility and critical approach required to
constantly adapt to unforeseeable research conditions and to refine
one’s methodological tools. She also elaborates on the significance of
researcher’s familiarity not only with the digital genres and
environments chosen for analysis, but also with informants’ potential
needs and motivations while participating in the research process.
Last but not least, Thompson concludes that “[d]espite the impression
one might get when reading scholarly publications, the research
process is rarely neat and orderly, especially when doing digital
discourse and internet research. […] By leaving out the messiness
inherent in the process, we provide a false sense of order and fail to
share the problems and challenges that others can learn from” (p.
274).

EVALUATION

I could not agree more with Thompson’s self- and other-disclosing
statement above. Scholarly accounts of our methodologies are brief and
well-structured in our effort to portray ourselves as capable of
following a research plan with specific goals and analytical steps.
This is also reflected in most of the chapters of this volume: the
authors narrate their own “research stories” (p. 51) as trajectories
or journeys towards a “happy ending”: that is, they narrate their
“success stories” leading to publications in their effort to encourage
other scholars, assist them in their endeavors, and reassure them that
they are not alone in this. That, in my view, is the most significant
and valuable contribution of this volume.


However, as we all know, it is exactly because of their proposed
methodology and respective goals that research projects and endeavors
may not always have the chance to be implemented. Scholars are often
denied funding and, therefore, are forced either to quit their plans
or to revise them so as to satisfy the requirements of peer-reviewing
and/or ethics committees. It would have been interesting and
polyphonic to include in such a volume a few chapters dedicated to
“unsuccessful stories” accounting for what went methodologically
“wrong” and how researchers tried to “amend” it, as long as they were
lucky enough to have been given the opportunity. Such discussions
would not so much function as cautionary tales of what to avoid, but,
more importantly, they could incite us to reflect on–and perhaps be
more critical of–the increasingly strict and restrictive ethical
regulations and methodological requirements, which may occasionally
hinder scholars from performing and publishing in-depth and well
contextualized analyses.

The volume is a sine qua non reference work not only for young
scholars interested in investigating digital genres and practices, but
also for more experienced ones wishing to enrich their methodological
tools. It covers a wide variety of digital genres, topics, and
methodologies, and simultaneously demonstrates the complexity of
approaches as well as the need for modifying older approaches or
creating new ones. Besides the references cited in the chapters, the
authors offer key references for further reading as well as useful
tips, practical recommendations, and suggestions for software
resources, which will all definitely prove most helpful to the
readers. Well-structured and easy to read, the chapters of the volume
provide detailed descriptions of the proposed methods. Hence, they
could become sources of inspiration or even problem solving for those
interested in digital discourse analysis. The volume is therefore
highly recommended for scholars within digital humanities and social
sciences, including of course pragmatics, discourse analysis,
sociolinguistics, and ethnography of communication.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Villy Tsakona is Associate Professor of Social and Educational
Approaches to Language at the Department of Early Childhood Education,
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She has
published articles on humor research, political and media discourse
analysis, as well as on critical literacy theory and applications. She
has recently co-edited ‘The dynamics of interactional humor: Creating
and negotiating humor in everyday encounters’ (with Jan Chovanec 2018)
and authored ‘Recontextualizing humor: Rethinking the analysis and
teaching of humor’ (De Gruyter Mouton 2020). Personal webpage:
http://www.concept-pl.us/villy.tsakona



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