Matters of Opinion: Talking About Public Issues (Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics, Series Number 19)

Where do opinions actually come from? Drawing on the analysis of conversations from focus groups, phone-ins and broadcast interviews, Greg Myers argues that members of the public use opinions in order to get along with other people, and demonstrates that how they say things is just as important as what they say. This book clarifies the current debate on the nature of the public's participation in conversation. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series title 5 Title 7 Copyright 8 Dedication 9 Contents 11 Acknowledgments 12 Transcription conventions 15 Focus-group data 17 Sustainability indicators 17 Public rhetorics of environmental sustainability 17 Global citizenship and the environment 18 Radio phone-ins 18 Television vox pops 19 Chapter 1 Paradoxes of opinion 21 Facts and opinions 23 Private and public 25 Individual opinions and group identities 27 Consistent and contradictory 30 Structural and ephemeral 33 Local and global 34 Social science data as talk 37 Plan of the Book 40 Chapter 2 A tool kit for analysing group discussions 42 An opinion 43 An opinion in interaction 44 Turn-taking 48 Turns and continuers 49 Overlaps and keeping the floor 50 Adjacency pairs and preference 52 Categories 55 Participant roles 57 Words 58 Discourse markers 59 Politeness 61 Pronouns and reference 62 Reported speech and thought 62 Rhetoric 63 Transcription 64 Analysing opinions in interaction 66 Chapter 3 Forums for opinion: ‘What is it that’s going on here?’ 67 Contexts for opinions 68 Situation – marked and unmarked spaces 69 Participants – roles and groups 70 Acts – questions and interpretations 71 Norms – sequences and interpretations 73 Key – enacting vs. rehearsing 74 Why analyse components of speech events? 76 Contextualizing focus groups 76 Opening – how do we talk? 78 Participants’ introductions – where are we talking from? 80 Prompts – what are we talking about? 82 Closing – who are you? 84 Cues in a hybrid genre 85 Shifting forums 86 Chapter 4 Institutions of opinion: voice of the people? 87 The shaping and reporting of opinion: a cognitive view 90 Cognitive views of opinion: news 91 Cognitive views of opinion: polls 93 The construction and circulation of opinion: a social view 96 Decision-makers and agendas 97 Researchers and questions 99 Groups and commonplaces 101 Publics and media 103 Talk and the cycle of public opinion 105 Why public opinion still exists 106 Chapter 5 Topics in interaction: ‘Why that now?’ 109 Opening topics 114 Acknowledging topics 115 Interpreting topics 117 Rejecting topics 120 Changing topics 121 Closing a topic 125 Reopening topics 127 Why do topics matter? 129 Chapter 6 Agreeing and disagreeing: maintaining sociable argument 132 Encouraging disagreement 134 Agreeing 136 Disagreeing with other participants 138 Disagreeing with the prompts 145 Using the moderator 146 Constructing others 148 Disagreement and the analysis of opinions 150 Chapter 7 Representing speech: other voices, other places 154 Forms and functions of reported speech 156 Functions of reported speech and thought 159 Situation: intensifying an event 160 Situation: typifying a repeated event 162 Participants: hearers and overhearers 163 Participants: speaking for another 165 Acts: new words for the same meaning 167 Acts: new meanings for the same words 169 Key: offering evidence 170 Key: enacting hypothetical speech 172 Reported speech and opinions 174 Chapter 8 Questioning expertise: Who says? 177 Understanding expertise 178 Talking about experts 180 Indefinite: ‘they say’ 182 Interrelated: ‘it’s like’ 182 Inconclusive: ‘Who do you believe?’ 183 Interested: ‘who’s paid for that?’ 183 When do participants talk about experts? 184 Talking as experts 186 Talking to experts 187 Seeing for oneself 189 Collective memory 191 Challenging claims 193 Thinking rationally 195 Challenging rationality 195 Responding to the challenge 196 Experts and entitlement 197 Chapter 9 Radio phone-ins: mediated sociable argument 199 Phone-ins 202 Collaborating 204 Modelling the encounter 204 Opening the encounter 207 Keeping to topic 210 Displaying disagreement 212 Closing the encounter 214 Opinions 216 Talkable topics 217 Opinion as a topic 219 What’s taken for granted: commonplaces 219 Broadcasting sociable argument 221 Chapter 10 Vox pop television interviews: constructing the public 223 Vox pop questions and answers 224 Categorization 227 Why me?: accounting at the inauguration 229 Why us?: responding to categorization in Harlem 232 What now?: references to people after the Clinton–Lewinsky broadcast 237 Visualizing the public 240 Conclusion 242 Chapter 11 Opinions as talk 243 Expressing an opinion is an action in words 244 Opinions are expressed in interaction 246 Opinions are packaged 249 Opinions are mediated 250 Opinions are intertextual 252 The common sense of opinions 254 References 255 Index 275 Matters Of Opinion Offers An Insight Into 'public Opinion' As Reported In The Media, Asking Where These Opinions Actually Come From, And How They Have Their Effects. Drawing On The Analysis Of Conversations From Focus Groups, Phone-ins, And Broadcast Interviews With Members Of The Public, Greg Myers Argues That We Must Go Back To These Encounters, Asking Questions Such As What Members Of The Public Thought They Were Being Asked, Whom They Were Talking As, And Whom They Were Talking To. He Suggests That People Don't Carry A Store Of Opinions, Ready To Tell Strangers; They Use Opinions In Order To Get Along With Other People, And How They Say Things Is As Important As What They Say. This Book Illuminates Current Debates On Research Methods, The Public Sphere, And Deliberative Democracy, On Broadcast Talk, And On What It Means To Participate In Public Life.--jacket. Paradoxes Of Opinion -- A Tool Kit For Analysing Group Discussions -- Forums For Opinion: 'what Is It That's Going On Here?' -- Institutions Of Opinion: Voice Of The People? -- Topics In Interaction: 'why That Now?' -- Agreeing And Disagreeing: Maintaining Sociable Argument -- Representing Speech: Other Voices, Other Places -- Questioning Expertise: Who Says? -- Radio Phone-ins: Mediated Sociable Arguments -- Vox Pop Television Interviews: Constructing The Public -- Opinions As Talk. Greg Myers. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [235]-254) And Index. Matters of Opinion offers an interesting insight into'public opinion'as reported in the media, asking where these opinions actually come from, and how they have their effects. Drawing on the analysis of conversations from focus groups, phone-ins and broadcast interviews with members of the public, Greg Myers argues that we must go back to these encounters, asking questions such as what members of the public thought they were being asked, who they were talking as, and whom they were talking to. He reveals that people don't carry a store of opinions, ready to tell strangers; they use opinions in order to get along with other people, and how they say things is as important as what they say. Engaging and informative, this book illuminates debates on research methods, the public sphere and deliberative democracy, on broadcast talk, and on what it means to participate in public life. Matters of Opinion offers an interesting new insight into 'public opinion' as reported in the media. Drawing on conversations from focus groups, phone-ins and broadcast interviews, Greg Myers asks where these opinions actually come from, and how they have their effects, and what it means to participate in public life That's the last box the survey offers, after all the choices the researcher can imagine, and the humiliating 'Don't know'.