The Nature of Conversational Structure in Family Interaction in Television Programming: An Analysis of Three Program Formats of Television Content in the U.S.A.

Autor/inn/en	Davis, Leslie K.; Johnson, Fern L.
Titel	The Nature of Conversational Structure in Family Interaction in Television Programming: An Analysis of Three Program Formats of Television Content in the U.S.A.
Quelle	(1978), (26 Seiten)Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Discourse Analysis; Documentaries; Language Patterns; Language Research; Language Styles; Language Usage; Nonverbal Communication; Programing (Broadcast); Sociolinguistics; Speech Communication; Television; Television Research + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Diskursanalyse; Documentary film; Documentary films; Dokumentarfilm; Sprachmodell; Sprachstruktur; Sprachforschung; Sprachstil; Sprachgebrauch; Non-verbal communication; Nonverbale Kommunikation; Soziolinguistik; Fernsehen; Fernsehtechnik
Abstract	Research was conducted to examine selected formal features of conversational segments enacted by family members in three modes of television programming: documentary, prime time, and soap opera. A sample of videotape recordings for each program format was content-analyzed for: (1) segment length, (2) length of conversational turn, and (3) duration of interturn pauses. Also noted for each segment were the style of conversation (casual, personal, or intimate) and the size of participant grouping. Results indicate that: (1) segments of conversation are the longest in the soap opera format; (2) the ratio of turn time to interturn pause time in segments is approximately 3:1 in all program formats; (3) soap opera segments contain the greatest number of conversational turns per segment; (4) length of conversational turn is similar in prime-time and soap opera segments and shorter in documentary segments; (5) the longest segments of conversation occur among four-member groups in the documentary, among groups of five or more in prime time, and between dyads in the soap opera; and (6) the mean length of conversational turn per segment is longest and the longest single turn within each segment greatest in those conversations conducted in intimate style. The results together suggest that television format constrains the formal modes of interaction presented to the viewer and that regardless of format, formal stylistic features are modeled in some distinctive ways. (Author/AM)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC