What is a discourse analysis?-
Discourse analysis is about studying and analysing language uses, both written and spoken. There are three approaches in which this can be done; formal linguistic (sociolinguistic), empirical and critical. Formal linguistic is a microanalysis of a texts'/conversations' grammar, structure and semantics. Empirical is a broader form of analysis looking at recurrent themes and genres. Finally critical analysis is even broader in that it looks at individuals and institutions along with language and how they shape one another.
Ronald Loewe, John Schwartzman, Joshua Freeman, Laurie Quinn, Steve Zuckerman, Doctor Talk and diabetes: towards an analysis of the clinical construction of chronic illness, Social Science & Medicine, Volume 47, Issue 9, November 1998, Pages 1267-1276 (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953698001920)
Description-
This study is looks at the patient-doctor relationship regarding how a chronic disease story, in this case diabetes, is narrated. It’s specifically looking at the differences between the patients’ own story (narrative) and how doctors perceive and then feedback to patients during a consultation how being diagnosed with diabetes might lead to various prognoses.
What I have learnt from the paper-
- There are definite schisms in discussing what the patient and doctor can do to controlling diabetes and who the main agent is in doing so. It’s difficult to ascertain the balance between the level of autonomy (control) a patient has over a disease and how much of it is down to medical care from the doctor and sheer luck of biology. This might get confusing when trying to empower patients to comply with the doctor’s advice regarding treatment and where the blame lies when the course of diabetes worsens.
- It’s very difficult to balance the idea of giving hope to a patient or instilling fear to motivate a patient to comply with treatment. This is especially so in the case of chronic disease whereby through a somewhat jaded perception most doctors have regarding the illness and patient compliance can make it seem as if the situation is hopeless.
