This is an exciting addition to the dynamic, multidisciplinary field of membership categorization analysis. Bringing together the biggest names in MCA this landmark publication provides a contemporary analysis of the field and a platform for emerging researchers and students to build upon. The book sets out the current methodological developments of MCA highlighting its analytic strength – particularly when examining social identity and social knowledge. It provides a sophisticated tool of qualitative analysis and draws from a wide range of empirical studies provided by global scholars. The culmination of years of international research this agenda-setting text will be essential reading for academics and advanced students using membership categorization across the social sciences; particularly in media and communication studies, sociology, psychology, education, political science and linguistics.

This is an exciting addition to the dynamic, multidisciplinary field of membership categorization analysis. Bringing together the biggest names in MCA this landmark publication provides a contemporary analysis of the field and a platform for emerging researchers and students to build upon. The book sets out the current methodological developments of MCA highlighting its analytic strength – particularly when examining social identity and social knowledge. It provides a sophisticated tool of qualitative analysis and draws from a wide range of empirical studies provided by global scholars. The culmination of years of international research this agenda-setting text will be essential reading for academics and advanced students using membership categorization across the social sciences; particularly in media and communication studies, sociology, psychology, education, political science and linguistics.

A critical examination of the principles and practice of qualitative research is provided in this book which examines the interplay between context and method, making it invaluable for both the experienced and the beginning researcher. A range of methodological and practical issues central to the concerns of qualitative researchers are addressed. These include: the validity and plausibility of qualitative methods; the problems encountered using specific techniques in a range of social settings; and the moral issues raised in qualitative research. These themes are related to practical issues which are illustrated by a breadth of examples and in-depth case studies. The contributors look at the methods and strategies that they have used to study everyday life, and make suggestions to readers on why and how they might conduct their own studies. They raise issues that go beyond `cookbook' discussions of issues such as how to enter social settings, manage the subjects of one's research and ask `good' questions in the process of formulating research strategies. These issues are addressed within the framework of the larger purposes and uses of qualitative research where specific methodological problems are not used as ends in themselves.

This is an exciting addition to the dynamic, multidisciplinary field of membership categorization analysis. Bringing together the biggest names in MCA this landmark publication provides a contemporary analysis of the field and a platform for emerging researchers and students to build upon. The book sets out the current methodological developments of MCA highlighting its analytic strength – particularly when examining social identity and social knowledge. It provides a sophisticated tool of qualitative analysis and draws from a wide range of empirical studies provided by global scholars. The culmination of years of international research this agenda-setting text will be essential reading for academics and advanced students using membership categorization across the social sciences; particularly in media and communication studies, sociology, psychology, education, political science and linguistics.

Conceived as the meanings that individuals attach to their selves, a substantial stockpile of theory related to identities accumulated across the arts, social sciences, and humanities over many decades continues to nourish contemporary research on self-identities in organizations. In times which are more reflexive, narcissistic, and fluid, the identities of participants in organizations are increasingly less fixed and less certain, making identity issues both more salient and more interesting. Particular attention has been given to processes of identity construction, often styled 'identity work'. Research has focused on how, why, and when such processes occur, and their implications for organizing and individual, group, and organizational outcomes. This has resulted in a burgeoning stream of research from discursive, dramaturgical, symbolic, socio-cognitive, and psychodynamic perspectives that most often casts individuals' efforts to fabricate identities as intentional, relational, and consequential. Seemingly intractable debates centred on the nature of identities - their relative stability or fluidity, whether they are best regarded as coherent or fractured, positive (or not), and how they are fabricated within relations of power - combined with other conceptual issues continue to invigorate the field. However, these debates have also led to some scepticism regarding the future potential of identities research. Yet as the chapters in this Handbook demonstrate, there are considerable grounds for optimism that identity, as root metaphor, nexus concept, and means to bridge levels of analysis has significant potential to generate multiple compelling streams of theorizing in organization and management studies.

Demonstrating how the methods and findings of conversation and discourse analysis may inform the development of empirical research questions, this text offers clear comparisons between the two approaches, as well as offering a positioned argument.

Providing an up-to-date picture of the main methods for the quantitative analysis of text, this book begins by overviewing the background and the conceptual foundations of the field. The author then covers the traditional thematic approaches of text analysis, followed by an explanation of newer developments in semantic and network text analysis methodologies. Finally, he examines the relationship between content analysis and other kinds of text analysis - from qualitative research, linguistic analysis and information retrieval. Computer-assisted Text Analysis focuses on the methodological and practical issues of coding and handling data, including sampling, reliability and validity issues, and includes a useful appendix of computer programs for text analysis.

Focusing on applied conversation analysis (CA), this timely book offers practical insights and guidelines for CA scholars studying social interactions in institutional settings. Written in an accessible style and packed with case studies, examples, activities, and practical tips, the book takes readers through the entire process of planning and carrying out an applied CA research study. By highlighting challenges, debates, and important questions, each chapter provides the theoretical foundation necessary for making informed decisions at every stage of a research project. The book is divided into three sections (context and planning, doing a project using conversation analysis, and disseminating your research) to mirror the research process.

MATLAB is a powerful data analysis program, but many behavioral science researchers find it too daunting to learn and use. An Introduction to MATLAB for Behavioral Researchers is an easy-to-understand, hands-on guide for behavioral researchers who have no prior programming experience. Written in a conversational and non-intimidating style, the author walks students—step by step—through analyzing real experimental data. Topics covered include the basics of programming, the implementation of simple behavioral analyses, and how to make publication-ready figures. More advanced topics such as pseudo-randomization of trial sequences to meet specified criteria and working with psycholinguistic data are also covered. Interesting behavioral science examples and datasets from published studies, such as visualizing fixation patterns in eye-tracking studies and animal search behavior in two-dimensional space, help develop an intuition for data analysis, which is essential and can only be developed when working with real research problems and real data.

How can we capture the words, gestures and conduct of study participants? How do we transcribe what happens in social interactions in analytically useful ways? How could systematic and detailed transcription practices benefit research? This book demonstrates how best to represent talk and interaction in a manageable and academically credible way that enables analysis. It describes and assesses key methodological and epistemological debates about the status of transcription research while also setting out best practice for handling different types of data and forms of social interaction. Featuring transcribing basics as well as important recent developments, this book guides you through: Time and sequencing Speech delivery and patterns Non-vocal conduct Emotive displays like laughter, tears, or pain Talk in non-English languages Helpful technological resources As the first book-length exposition of the Jeffersonian transcription conventions, this well-crafted balance of theory and practice is a must-have resource for any social scientist looking to produce high quality transcripts.