Discourse Analysis - invited pre-conference workshop

This workshop introduces the basics of discourse analysis. Discourse analysis is a broad methodology that came into the frame into psychology in the mid-eighties and it has been at the fore of the surge of qualitative methods in psychology. In more recent years it has been increasingly used in health related topics, looking at issues around identity in chronic illness, choice in infant feeding and discourses of health promotion. This workshop will introduce the origins and general principles of discourse analysis, considering briefly the different varieties from positioning theory, Foucauldian discourse analysis and discursive psychology, before moving on to analysis of data from health care settings. The workshop participants will have the opportunity to work within small groups analysing a piece of health related data from different discursive perspectives. The workshop is aimed at those relatively new to discourse analysis, but with a keen interest in qualitative methodologies.