The Conversational Racetrack - A seminar by Elizabeth Stokoe

I was lucky enough to attend a seminar by Professor Elizabeth Stokoe, which was put on by my Department of Psychology in Bath as part of the Critical Research in Social Psychology group (CRISP). Her dynamic talk focused on the power of language, presented through a series of research vignettes. One particular research piece focused on how using the word 'give' instead of 'get' in a Christmas interaction with Santa, made children act more generously.

Another example focused on presenting to the GP with more than one health concern. If GPs asked 'do you have any other concerns to discuss in this visit?', only half of patients would express their second concern. Whereas if the GP asked 'do you have some other concerns to discuss during this visit?', 90% of patients would express their other concerns (Heritage et al. 2007). As a health psychology student, the impact of changing one word on behaviour is fascinating, and certainly indicates a need to assess current communication practices to glean what is currently working best.

Looking at current practice and using it to inform communication guidelines can be done using the Conversation Analytic Role Play Method (CARM). This process involves going through a real transcript (including audio and synchronised sub-titles), pausing the conversation at a crucial moment and allowing people to make suggestions about the next interaction in the conversation. Stokoe presented examples of this using GP surgery appointment phone calls and mediation services explaining what they can offer their clients. By analysing the scripts, it was obvious where the calls were either succeeding or failing, opening avenues for future training. Conversation was likened to a racetrack: having a set beginning and end point with various obstacles and encounters along the way. I urge you to watch the below video for a more in-depth and articulate explanation of this metaphor and the in's and out's of conversation analysis.

On the whole, this presentation inspired me to delve deeper into qualitative methods, and consider communication training from a completely different viewpoint: learning from what we know works, rather than what we theorise might.

Reference

Heritage, J., Robinson, J., D., Elliott, M. N., Beckett, M., & Wilkes, M. (2007). Reducing patients' unmet concerns in primary care: the difference one word can make. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22(10), 1429-1433.