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Introduction to conversation analysis and health care encounters

This two day course is a contemporary working introduction to applying conversation analytic methods to the study of communication in health care. It includes formal lectures, practical exercises, demonstrations and an extended supervised small group practicum.

Participants will learn about conversation analysis as a qualitative method for studying communication in health care, how to go about making video or audio recordings of naturally-occurring encounters between patients, caregivers and health care providers in different settings and gain practical skills in transcribing and analysing them. By the end of the course participants will understand how to apply conversation analytic methods either within standalone projects or alongside other methods in health services research towards the improvement of patient care.

This course is led by Dr Rebecca Barnes, an expert in applying conversation analytic methods. It is open to anyone who would like to understand the basic principles behind conversation analytic methods and to develop practical skills how to apply them to health care encounter data. Participants do not need to have any previous experience or knowledge of conversation analytic methods, although involvement in, or future ambitions towards planning a research project applying these methods would make the course more relevant.

COURSE DELIVERY

Please note that some of the teaching sessions for this online course will involve you participating in live, interactive Zoom sessions, which will fall between the hours of 09:00 and 17:00 UK time. We are very happy to welcome bookings wherever you are internationally, but please make sure that you are able to attend video calls between these hours. 

Content:

  1. What is conversation analysis (CA)?
  2. What kinds of questions can CA methods address in health research?
  3. Collecting naturalistic data: Ethical issues, recording and transcribing.
  4. Analysing naturalistic data: Making and working with collections.
  5. Extended group practicum with expert supervision.
  6. Understanding pathways to impact and how to disseminate CA findings.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

  1. Understand the basic principles behind using CA to study health care encounters
  2. Recognise the sorts of research questions for which CA methods may be appropriate
  3. Determine how to collect high quality recordings of health care encounters in different settings, and identify the key conventions used in the CA approach to transcription
  4. Apply practical skills in working with recordings and transcripts of health care encounters to build collections of interaction practices for CA analysis
  5. Give examples of the kinds of impact CA studies can have in health research and the range of strategies for disseminating CA findings

We provide:

  • Experienced, approachable tutors who are actively engaged in health research using CA methods
  • Access to slides, transcripts and recordings for you to work with during the course
  • A guest speaker on the evening of the first day
  • Information on relevant software, recommended reading lists, further training opportunities and events


Online course


Course details:

Course fee: TBC
Duration: 2 days
Total places: 24
Venue: TBC

If you have any questions and queries please email us


This has been an excellent course with exceptional tutoring. Having tutors in the small group sessions is a key differentiator between Oxford and the other research methodology training providers - I feel this makes the course a more rich and supported experience.

Working with real data really made the course come alive

Your passion for CA, your enthusiasm for sharing your expertise, and your genuine consideration of others' thoughts/ideas came across in buckets.

and a team of applied CA researchers

Oxford Qualitative Courses

This highly-regarded programme is delivered in online and face to face formats to suit a range of learners.  We use a mixture of lectures and small group work, delivered by our team of qualitative researchers from the University of Oxford’s Medical Sociology and Health Experiences Research Group. Our group has run these successful courses for twenty years alongside active involvement in qualitative research on a variety of topics, ranging from studies of experiences of health conditions and of healthcare practice, to evaluations of organisational change. Our group also includes qualitative methodologists at the forefront of developing qualitative methods including conversation analysis and evidence synthesis.

Findings from our group’s research on patient experiences, together with supported video, audio and text extracts, can be found on the HEXI.ox.ac.uk website. Our portfolio of research and expertise informs current local, national and international healthcare policy and research. 

The syllabuses of our qualitative courses draw on a wide range of expertise from within our research group, including the disciplinary areas of medical sociology, anthropology, and public policy. 

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We may be able to offer in-house training, please contact us to discuss your needs.

Got a question? Contact us:

Our friendly team are on-hand to answer your questions and queries

Email:  oxfordqualitativecourses@phc.ox.ac.uk