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The interplay of text, meaning and practice : Methodological considerations on discourse analysis in medical education

Kärreman, Dan LU and Levay, Charlotta LU (2017) In Medical Education 51(1). p.72-80
Abstract

Context: The study of discourses (i.e. verbal interactions or written accounts) is increasingly used in social sciences to gain insight into issues connected to discourse, such as meanings, behaviours and actions. This paper situates discourse analysis in medical education, based on a framework developed in organisational discourse analysis and widely deployed in other social science disciplines. Objectives: This paper aims to examine the constructs of ‘discourse’ and ‘discourse analysis’, and how various understandings of discourse and discourse analysis may play out in empirical and analytical settings, with a particular focus on the field of medical education. Methods: The study is based on a literature analysis of discourse analysis... (More)

Context: The study of discourses (i.e. verbal interactions or written accounts) is increasingly used in social sciences to gain insight into issues connected to discourse, such as meanings, behaviours and actions. This paper situates discourse analysis in medical education, based on a framework developed in organisational discourse analysis and widely deployed in other social science disciplines. Objectives: This paper aims to examine the constructs of ‘discourse’ and ‘discourse analysis’, and how various understandings of discourse and discourse analysis may play out in empirical and analytical settings, with a particular focus on the field of medical education. Methods: The study is based on a literature analysis of discourse analysis approaches published in Medical Education. Results: Findings suggest that empirical studies through discourse analysis can be heuristically understood in terms of the links between text, practices and meaning. Conclusions: Discourse analysis provides a more strongly supported argument when it is possible to defend claims on three levels: practice, using observational data; meaning, using ethnographic data, and text, using conversational and textual data.

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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Medical Education
volume
51
issue
1
pages
9 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:27981655
  • wos:000393764500013
  • scopus:85006117069
ISSN
0308-0110
DOI
10.1111/medu.13212
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cc24dded-4446-42f3-b431-b8c3118585f0
date added to LUP
2017-01-25 10:59:52
date last changed
2024-10-05 10:45:35
@article{cc24dded-4446-42f3-b431-b8c3118585f0,
  abstract     = {{<p>Context: The study of discourses (i.e. verbal interactions or written accounts) is increasingly used in social sciences to gain insight into issues connected to discourse, such as meanings, behaviours and actions. This paper situates discourse analysis in medical education, based on a framework developed in organisational discourse analysis and widely deployed in other social science disciplines. Objectives: This paper aims to examine the constructs of ‘discourse’ and ‘discourse analysis’, and how various understandings of discourse and discourse analysis may play out in empirical and analytical settings, with a particular focus on the field of medical education. Methods: The study is based on a literature analysis of discourse analysis approaches published in Medical Education. Results: Findings suggest that empirical studies through discourse analysis can be heuristically understood in terms of the links between text, practices and meaning. Conclusions: Discourse analysis provides a more strongly supported argument when it is possible to defend claims on three levels: practice, using observational data; meaning, using ethnographic data, and text, using conversational and textual data.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kärreman, Dan and Levay, Charlotta}},
  issn         = {{0308-0110}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{72--80}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Medical Education}},
  title        = {{The interplay of text, meaning and practice : Methodological considerations on discourse analysis in medical education}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/medu.13212}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/medu.13212}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}