Orchestrated Encounters: An Essay in the Comparative Analysis of Speech‐Exchange Systems

Abstract

Abstract This paper reviews some of the contributions of conversational analysis and argues that its range of questions has been unduly restrictive. In particular, it is contended that its goals cannot be achieved without some reference to contextual features of a kind which have traditionally interested ethnographers, although it may offer a more rigorous methodology. These arguments are illustrated and developed through an analysis of speech‐exchange in tutorials in a school of health visiting. It is concluded that the restoration of a comparative focus and a re‐examination of Sacks’original writings may open important avenues for the empirical grounding of statements about wider social structures and their realisation in everyday life.