Andy McKinlay

‘What is it like to have ME?’: The discursive construction of ME in computer-mediated communication and face-to-face interaction:

ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) or CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) is a debilitating illness for which no cause or medical tests have been identified. Debates over its nature have generated interest from qualitative researchers. However, participants are difficult to recruit because of the nature of their condition. Therefore, this study explores the utility of the internet as a means of eliciting accounts. We analyse data from focus groups and the internet in order to ascertain the extent to which previous research findings apply to the internet domain. Interviews were conducted among 49 members of internet groups (38 chatline, 11 personal) and 7 members of two face-to-face support groups. Discourse analysis of descriptions and accounts of ME or CFS revealed similar devices and interactional concerns in both internet and face-to-face communication. Participants constructed their condition as serious, enigmatic and not psychological. These functioned to deflect problematic assumptions about ME or CFS and to manage their accountability for the illness and its effects.

Genres in support of collaborative information retrieval in the virtual library

The advent of the virtual library is usually presented as a positive development for library users. However, much of the research and development work being carried out in this field tends to reinforce the perception of the use of information resources as a predominantly solitary activity. We argue that this narrow view of the virtual library may be counterproductive to its aims. Recent studies have emphasized that information retrieval (IR) in the conventional library is often a highly collaborative activity, involving library users peers and experts in IR such as librarians. Failure to take this into account in the move to digitally based resource discovery and access may result in users of the virtual library being disadvantaged through lack of timely and effective access to sources of assistance. Our focus here is on the ways in which, in the conventional library setting, users consult with reference librarians for the resolution of their IR problems. We describe an investigation of consultation and collaboration issues as seen from the perspective of librarians and users contexts and analysed within the framework of genre. Drawing upon this analysis, we then describe the design of a prototype network, multimedia-based system which is intended to support collaboration between librarians and IR system users in the virtual library.

A discourse analytic study of ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) sufferers’ experiences of interactions with doctors

The aetiology, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of ME/CFS are controversial. Doctors and sufferers often have opposing perspectives, leading to problematic clinical interactions. We use discourse analysis to explore ME/CFS sufferers’ descriptions of interactions with medical professionals taken from an asynchronous, online sufferers’ support group. Participants described themselves as experiencing limited medical care and attention but restricted criticisms to ‘legitimate’, pragmatic or ancillary matters such as a clinicians’ unwillingness to prescribe untested treatments. Participants also described themselves as active in seeking a resolution to their problems. They thus attended to possible negative attributions of being ‘complaining’ or unmotivated to seek recovery.

An investigation of social loafing and social compensation in computer-supported cooperative work

The effects of computer-mediated communication on social loafing in brainstorming tasks and social compensation in decision-making tasks are examined. In the first experiment, subjects performed a brainstorming task in either nominal, face-to-face or computer-mediated brainstorming group conditions. Production blocking, in which brainstorming group members interfere with each others output, was minimised, but the nominal group still out-performed the other groups. In the second experiment, subjects performed a group decision task in face-to-face and computer mediated communication conditions. Social compensation in the presence of social loafing was seen to occur in the first condition, but not in the second. The paper concludes by discussing some of the consequences of both experiments for the future role of computer-mediated communication in group work.

Using topic control to avoid the gainsaying of troublesome evaluations

Previous writers have examined how topic and disagreement in assessments are managed within everyday conversation. This work, however, has focused on two-party interaction and little research has examined these issues in the context of multi-party discussion. In this article we examine these issues in the context of discussion by the admissions group of an arts and crafts guild. Analysis of the group’s discussions shows that on occasion group members find themselves in outright disagreement in assessment which leads to what is here described as ‘gainsaying’. However, a number of other instances reveal that the group is able to avoid problematic conversational structures of this sort by deploying a variety of topic control devices: insertion of collusive laughter, conversation restart and topic flow manoeuvres. The article concludes by drawing out some analytic distinctions between two-party and multi-party interactions.

The impact of early stroke on identity: A discourse analytic study

This article examines the ways in which sufferers talk about early stroke and the effects this chronic condition has on identity. Traditional research into chronic illness has largely used medical, psychiatric or cognitive models. We adopt a social constructionist perspective and use a discourse analytic methodology to study data collected via focus group interaction. Analysis of the data collected shows that participants displayed sensitivity about having acquired a potentially ‘damaged’ sense of self by mitigating negative features of their experiences. Participants also attended to the issue of whether their accounts were persuasive or believable. Some carers were present in these discussions. As a consequence, participants who had suffered a stroke displayed sensitivity to the way that carers might respond to mitigation of the negative aspects of stroke.

Attitudes and Attributions

Much social psychological study of attitudes and attributions has treated these as properties that are intrinsic to the individual, indicating how the individual evaluates or explains phenomena in the external social world. Critical approaches, by contrast, argue that in expressing evaluations or explanations, individuals are constructing versions of the phenomena that they are describing. From this perspective, evaluative or explanatory talk is oriented towards achieving local outcomes, such as accounting for individuals’ choices, avoiding blame or similar. Attitudes and attributions can thus be seen as produced in discourse and oriented to social actions rather than being (mere) outcomes of individual information processing.

'If they have a girlfriend, they have five girlfriends': Accountability and sexism in volunteer workers' talk about HIV/AIDS in a South African health setting.

Significant challenges remain in tackling the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Effective action requires both appropriate policy at a global level and informed practice on the local level. Here, we report how workers in a project in Johannesburg, South Africa, make sense of HIV transmission. Discourse analysis of data from interviews with 63 participants shows that project workers routinely attribute transmission to men’s sexual relationships with multiple female partners. This explanation is so pervasive that it renders invisible other routes to transmission. Absence of consideration of other routes to infection potentially restricts front-line practice, so hindering local attempts to tackle HIV/AIDS.

Asylum-Seekers and the Right to Work

For many people, the right to work is taken for granted. It is assumed that being in employment of some kind, earning a wage to support yourself and your family, is something to which everyone is entitled. However, it is also often accepted that there is not necessarily an automatic right to work when someone is outside his or her country of nationality, where work visas and other restrictions might apply. As highlighted in the quote above, the UK and other jurisdictions tend to restrict the scope for asylum-seekers to work, in effect making it illegal for people to work before and unless their application for asylum is accepted. Currently in the UK, asylum-seekers who have waited more than 12 months for a decision on their asylum claims, and who are deemed as not responsible for the delay, are eligible to apply for permission to work, although this is restricted to jobs on the shortage occupation list (Gower, 2011). The effect of these restrictions is such that it results in a total ban on working for almost all asylum-seekers. The quote above also makes a connection between entering a country on the grounds of seeking asylum and entering for employment purposes, in this sense restricting asylum-seekers’ rights in order to prevent someone entering to work under the guise of seeking asylum. This argument — whereby the ends are treated as justifying the means, and any negative impact on asylum-seekers may be portrayed as regrettable and unintended — leads to unfavourable outcomes for asylum-seekers and demonstrates an overriding focus on deterrence and exclusion.

The micro and the macro: How discourse of control maintains HIV-related stigma

In this article, we examine how HIV/AIDS caregivers negotiate stigma in their discourse of providing care to HIV-positive individuals. Using interview data, we demonstrate how participants employed discourse of control in attempting to avoid and counter HIV-related stigma: participants rejected fear of associating with HIV-positive individuals by drawing on their knowledge of HIV transmission and their ability to control and avoid infection. Such discourses backfire, however, as the concept of HIV infection being controllable and thus avoidable maintains accountability for the disease. Thus, participants’ micro discourse of control can maintain the macro discourse that produces HIV-related stigma.