Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper provides an ethnomethodologically grounded account of how mental predicates and psychological terms feature in-and-as the doing of psychotherapeutic work. Drawing from an early unpublished formulation by Harvey Sacks concerning the manner in which speakers may come to ‘just have a thought’, and published findings detailing preference organisation with regard to storytelling (that the telling of a first story often invites the telling of a second story) and self-disclosure (that an initial self-disclosure can invite a second), the paper examines how utterances such as ‘I suddenly thought’ might feature in psychotherapeutic interactions. Drawing from a corpus of audio recordings of psychotherapy sessions, I demonstrate that the work of such utterances is anything but to referentially index some kinds of hidden cognitive, psychological mental states or processes. Rather, such utterances can work as extended ‘on topic’ topic markers, and when embedded in a therapist produced, self-disclosive story, can work prospectively to configure future therapeutic talk. I show how this features as an important component of the ordinary work practices that clinicians and psychotherapists engage with, and how this might yield additional insights relating to how the work of therapy gets done.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This study is an endeavor to connect mass communication research regarding parental mediation of television with interpersonal research concerning topic avoidance in adolescence. A total of forty-four families (mother, father, and adolescent) participated in this study. The results indicated that adolescents reported a negative correlation between topic avoidance and discussing violent television programming with both parents. For the adolescent, as topic avoidance increased with either parent negative mediation about violence decreased. For the topic of sex, a negative relationship between topic avoidance and parental mediation was found for the father only. Furthermore, mothers engaged in more negative mediation of sex and violence than fathers regardless of the adolescents’ gender. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Unlike recent studies in the fields of cultural studies or geography the concept of location as a category of social or cultural analysis does not figure prominently within contemporary political theory. In the investigation of the formation of political community geographic or cultural location may provide important insights into the coherence of the boundaries of community. Emphasizing location in the study of political community, however, also prompts a reconsideration of the role of location in classical political thought. My paper will explore Aristotle?s notion of topos and Giambattista Vico?s theory of sensus communis in their treatments of classical rhetoric. I will focus on how the ideas of topos and sensus communis at the foundation of rhetoric contain a particular theory of location. Topoi are the topics, mental locations, or commonplaces, organized by the speaker in the act of rhetoric. Meticulously outlined in Aristotle?s Rhetoric, they serve as the core forms or ?containers? of rhetoric, memorized by a speaker and called upon during a speech or argument. Location as a concept in political theory assists not only in understanding the margins and limits of a community, but also in critically assessing how communities come together. In the philosophical thinking of Aristotle and Vico rhetoric is a form of speech that brings about agreement within a community, even in the face of the contestation of argument. My analysis of topos demonstrates the function of rhetoric in the structuring of community and the quality of political discourse.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Introduction: Improving symposium quality and increasing participant ownership are important principles in pharmacist Continuing Professional Education (CPE). This study sought to determine the impact of utilizing online needs analyses on these principles.
Methods: Prior to an annual CPE symposium, potential pharmacist participants prospectively completed two online needs analyses to determine the symposium’s topic and specific learning objectives. Upon completion of the symposium, participants evaluated the influence of completing the needs analyses by ranking their level of agreement, using a five-point Likert Scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree), with the following statements: “Being involved in the development of this symposium by completing both needs analyses: (1) influenced my decision and interest in attending today, (2) increased my satisfaction with the symposium, (3) led to a better designed CPE symposium, (4) led to more relevant CPE for my professional learning needs, (5) enhanced my ability to reflect on what my specific learning needs are.”
Results: Forty-four participants responded; twenty-three of them completed both needs analyses and 21 completed neither. Prospective needs analyses significantly influenced pharmacists’ decision to attend the CPE symposium (p<0.01), increased pharmacist satisfaction with the symposium (p<0.001), led to a better designed symposium (p<0.001), improved relevance to professional practice (p<0.01), and enhanced pharmacists’ ability to reflect on learning needs (p<0.05) compared to those who did not participate in the needs analyses.
Conclusions: Prospective needs analyses may increase pharmacist CPE symposium attendance, satisfaction, design, relevance, and self-reflection abilities.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Stance analysis is a multidimensional technique of text analysis that identifies segments in which the speaker’s language use signals affect or evaluation, intensity or certainty. This technique is derived from multidimensional corpus analysis and based on linguistic theories about interaction and evaluation in text. We typically have used stance analysis as a way to investigate task-directed language in online and face-to-face focus groups and consumer interviews to locate the rich opinionated areas of discussion.

We look first at how to interpret the texts from the viewpoint of appraisal: people offer evaluation or appraisal at different points of their discourse, not just at its end, depending on which perspective they are using at any stage of the discourse. That perspective is the stance they are taking. Stance has multiple dimensions, each of which reflects different aspects of how speakers position themselves vis-à-vis other speakers, or take a perspective on a particular topic. The dimensions of stance are strongly influenced by the rhetorical impact of personal and interpersonal reference, as exemplified by the use of personal pronouns. For the poster session we will demonstrate the applicability and utility of stance analysis in qualitative research for analyzing task-directed discussions, using focus groups as an example.