John Heritage
Encyclopedia
John Heritage is Professor of Sociology at University of California at Los Angeles. He is one of the key figures in the approach known as conversation analysis
.
He came to prominence in 1984 with the publication of his book on Ethnomethodology
, the sociological tradition pioneered by Harold Garfinkel
. This book overviewed, integrated and introduced the highly technical field of ethnomethodology to a broader audience. It has now received more than 2,000 citations. Soon after the publication of this book he was appointed to the chair in UCLA where Garfinkel had worked before his retirement. At UCLA he joined Emanuel Schegloff
, one of the founders of conversation analysis (alongside Harvey Sacks
and Gail Jefferson
).
In that same year he co-edited (with Max Atkinson
) one of the definitive collections of conversation analytic studies - many of which have gone on to become classics in their own right. His own contribution to that book analysed the use of the particle 'oh' in conversation. This showed how 'oh' performed important conversational functions in displaying the speaker's change of state, from not knowing to knowing something. He has since followed up this study with work on 'oh' in response to assessment and as a preface to answering a question, as well as considering the implications of the study of 'oh' for understanding cognition.
In the late 1980s he was involved in a major study of the workings of political oratory. This identified a series of rhetorical formats which regularly led to applause in public settings.
In 1992 he co-edited (with Paul Drew) a volume that established the analysis of institutional talk as a central task for conversation analysis. The extended introduction laid out many of the central considerations that need to be addressed for an analysis of institutional talk to be successful. His chapter considered the way advice is delivered in health visitor interviews in the UK, and is a basic reference for subsequent studies of advice.
In the later 1990s he embarked on an extended programme of work on medical interaction. This had a number of strands, looking at the patterning of primary care visits, the way drugs such as antibiotics are prescribed, the way patients present their problems and how physicians deliver 'on-line' commentary on what they are doing.
Since 2000 he has been involved with influential work on questions in political press conferences (building on earlier work on the organization of news interviews more generally). A key work here is his joint book with Steve Clayman from UCLA, with whom he teaches the course 'Talk and Social Institutions' at UCLA.
More recent work has focused on the way epistemic issues - issues that relate to what speakers know and don't know - are managed in conversation. This brings together the concerns of conversation analyis with the concerns of discursive psychology
.
Conversation analysis
Conversation analysis is the study of talk in interaction . CA generally attempts to describe the orderliness, structure and sequential patterns of interaction, whether institutional or in casual conversation.Inspired by ethnomethodology Conversation analysis (commonly abbreviated as CA) is the...
.
He came to prominence in 1984 with the publication of his book on Ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology is an ethnographic approach to sociological inquiry introduced by the American sociologist Harold Garfinkel . Ethnomethodology's research interest is the study of the everyday methods people use for the production of social order...
, the sociological tradition pioneered by Harold Garfinkel
Harold Garfinkel
Harold Garfinkel was a Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is known for establishing and developing ethnomethodology as a field of inquiry in sociology.-Biography:...
. This book overviewed, integrated and introduced the highly technical field of ethnomethodology to a broader audience. It has now received more than 2,000 citations. Soon after the publication of this book he was appointed to the chair in UCLA where Garfinkel had worked before his retirement. At UCLA he joined Emanuel Schegloff
Emanuel Schegloff
Emanuel Abraham Schegloff is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles. He was born in 1937 in New York. With Harvey Sacks and Gail Jefferson, Schegloff was one of the principal creators of the field of Conversation Analysis...
, one of the founders of conversation analysis (alongside Harvey Sacks
Harvey Sacks
Harvey Sacks was an American sociologist influenced by the ethnomethodology tradition. He pioneered extremely detailed studies of the way people use language in everyday life. Despite his early death in a car crash and the fact that he did not publish widely, he founded the discipline of...
and Gail Jefferson
Gail Jefferson
Gail Jefferson was, along with Harvey Sacks and Emanuel Schegloff, one of the founders of the area of research known as Conversation Analysis . She is particularly remembered today for the methods and notational conventions she developed for transcribing talk...
).
In that same year he co-edited (with Max Atkinson
Max Atkinson
Dr Max Atkinson is an author. He is a former advisor and speech writer for Paddy Ashdown, now noted as a blogger for his commentary on public communications.Atkinson holds a PhD from the University of Essex and was a research fellow there in the late 60's....
) one of the definitive collections of conversation analytic studies - many of which have gone on to become classics in their own right. His own contribution to that book analysed the use of the particle 'oh' in conversation. This showed how 'oh' performed important conversational functions in displaying the speaker's change of state, from not knowing to knowing something. He has since followed up this study with work on 'oh' in response to assessment and as a preface to answering a question, as well as considering the implications of the study of 'oh' for understanding cognition.
In the late 1980s he was involved in a major study of the workings of political oratory. This identified a series of rhetorical formats which regularly led to applause in public settings.
In 1992 he co-edited (with Paul Drew) a volume that established the analysis of institutional talk as a central task for conversation analysis. The extended introduction laid out many of the central considerations that need to be addressed for an analysis of institutional talk to be successful. His chapter considered the way advice is delivered in health visitor interviews in the UK, and is a basic reference for subsequent studies of advice.
In the later 1990s he embarked on an extended programme of work on medical interaction. This had a number of strands, looking at the patterning of primary care visits, the way drugs such as antibiotics are prescribed, the way patients present their problems and how physicians deliver 'on-line' commentary on what they are doing.
Since 2000 he has been involved with influential work on questions in political press conferences (building on earlier work on the organization of news interviews more generally). A key work here is his joint book with Steve Clayman from UCLA, with whom he teaches the course 'Talk and Social Institutions' at UCLA.
More recent work has focused on the way epistemic issues - issues that relate to what speakers know and don't know - are managed in conversation. This brings together the concerns of conversation analyis with the concerns of discursive psychology
Discursive psychology
For other uses of the word, see discursive.Discursive psychology is a form of discourse analysis that focuses on psychological themes....
.