Measuring conformity to discourse routines in decision-making interactions

Abstract

In an effort to develop measures of discourse level management strategies, this study examines a measure of the degree to which decisionmaking interactions consist of sequences of utterance functions that are linked in a decisionmaking routine. The measure is applied to 100 dyadic interactions elicited in both face-to-face and computer-mediated environments with systematic variation of task complexity and message-window size. Every utterance in the interactions is coded according to a system that identifies decision-makmg functions and other routine functions of utterances. Markov analyses of the coded utterances make it possible to measure the relative fi'equencies with which sequences of 2 and 3 utterances trace a path in a Markov model of the decision routine. These proportions suggest that interactions in all conditions adhere to the model, although we find greater conformity in the computer-mediated environments, which is probably due to increased processing and attmfional demands for greater efficiency, The results suggest that measures based on Markov analyses of coded interactions can provide useful measures for comparing discourse level properties, for correlating discourse features with other textual features, and for analyses of discourse management strategies.

1. Introduction to the pragmatics of computermediated communication

“…For example, Simpson, citing Cherny (1999), notes the easier construction of multiple floors in synchronous CMC. Harrison and Allton (this volume) note that email is more economical in that the interaction is accelerated by combining several conversational moves into a single message (see also Condon and Č ech 2010). At the same time, the rapid exchange of messages in multiparty chat interfaces that display messages in the order received can result in disrupted turn adjacency, loosened norms of relevance, and decreased conversational coherence, as discussed in the chapter by Herring. Finally, several of the chapters shed yet another light on the impoverishment question.…”

Profiling turns in interaction: discourse structure and function

“…(Of course, the average 67 turns for these five interactions is less than 1/3 the average 229 turns in the face-to-face condition.) Though the computer-mediated interactions contain larger proportions of utterances participating in routine sequences [8] and larger proportions of utterances that explicitly manage the interaction by referring to the interaction itself [6], computer mediation did not change the packaging and decisionmaking strategies in these interactions.…”