Microethnographic research practices: generating, segmenting and transcribing audiovisual data as full-fledged analytic procedures

Abstract

An account is offered here of the analytic perspective and procedures for generating, segmenting and transcribing interactional data employed and developed during more than a decade of applied linguistic research within the Social Interaction and Ethnography Research Group for the analysis of social action accomplished in language use. Analytic assertions about the activities of participants of a social encounter require detailed observation of audiovisual records, demanding revisitation for careful research. Therefore generation, segmentation and transcription of talk-in-interaction are considered integral steps of analysis in and of themselves. Proposals for multimodal transcription are highlighted, and the importance of training in data analysis sessions is emphasized.