Thomas Luckmann
Introduction
Peter Gross
Documenting the spoken word and describing being together. Some differences
and problems
Bernd Switalla
The identification of communicative data as a language theoretical problem
Klaus R. Scherer, Harald G. Wallbott, Ursula Scherer
Methods for the classification of movement behavior: a functional approach
Siegfried Frey, Hans-Peter Hirsbrunner, Annemarie Bieri-Florin
From the screen to the data protocol: the problem of raw data acquisition in
the investigation of nonverbal interaction
Peter Winkler
Notation of verbal expression
Uli S. Jorns
Encoding and purpose attribution in the notation of nonverbal phenomena,
conveyed with the help of the examples of head posture and facial movements
Enclosure
Bernd Schneider
Tüt-tüüüt: Telephone noises, officially transcribed
Projects
Wilfried Passow
Theatrical production und reception in the theatrical studies laboratory
Luis J. Prieto
Proposal for a general semiology
Literary report
Vilmos Voigt
Semiotics in eastern Europe
I. Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,Yugoslawia, Poland
Thomas.-M. Seibert
Towards the development of semiotic questions in jurisprudential basic research
Documenting the spoken word and describing being
together. Some differences and problems
Peter Gross, University of Constance
Summary. For a number of reasons the face-to-face situation is of great
importance in everyday life and the social sciences. With regard to the latter,
one of these reasons pertains to the production of data or data-material. A
very large portion of data is gathered by social scientists using the
face-to-face situation as a tacit resource. A critical and reflective
methodology of the social sciences should, however, look at the face-to-face
situation as a topic in its own right. While a "description" of
face-to-face
relationships does not seem to entail difficulties as long as it is confined to
transcripts of the spoken word, such "descriptions" become more difficult
if
than attempt is made to include paralinguistic, prosodic and visually organized
phenomena. Standardized notational systems (coding systems) exist for the
former but are almost nonexistent for the latter phenomena. This contribution
seeks to shed some light on some of these problems.
The identification of communicative data as a language
theoretical problem
Bernd Switalla, Technical University Aachen
Summary. The article discusses the notion of "data" in verbal and
nonverbal
discourse and the use of this notion in communications research. It analyses
various ways of identifying elementary and complex units of communication and
elucidates the role of pragmatic presuppositions in the implied understanding
of such units and their boundaries. It is concluded that the constitution and
methodical interpretation of communication data should be based on a theory of
symbolic action and that notational practice should also follow these lines. On
the basis of a notational example some initial practical suggestions are made,
and some consequences are drawn for the use of notational systems in general.
Methods for the classification of movement behavior: a
functional approach
Klaus R. Scherer, Harald G. Wallbott und Ursula Scherer,
University of Gießen
Summary. Nonverbal signs in communicative behaviour are difficult if not
impossible to "transcribe" since their coding is continuous, iconic, and
probabilistic rather than discrete, arbitrary, and invariant as is the case for
most verbal signs. Therefore we suggest that coding systems for nonverbal
behaviour be employed that rely on the segmentation of movements into
functional units. A coding system for hand, head, and body movements based on
the work of Ekman and Friesen is described and reliabilities (Cohen's Kappa)
are reported. Preliminary results from two studies using these systems suggest
interesting relationships between nonverbal behavior and personality traits of
actors and the attribution of personality traits by raters. In addition, a
computer-generated multi-channel behavior score containing verbal, nonverbal,
and paralinguistic indices is presented. It serves as an example for the use of
these coding categories in micro-analyses of the relationships between behavior
patterns in different communication channels.
From the screen to the data protocol: the problem of
raw data acquisition in the investigation of nonverbal interaction
Siegfried Frey, Hans-Peter Hirsbrunner and Annemarie Bieri-Florin,
University of Bern
Summary. The paper discusses methodological problems inherent in current
attempts to notate spontaneous movement. Design features of three basic
strategies for constructing code catalogues are being described and evaluated
with respect to the possibilities they provide, and the limitations they impose
upon the investigation of nonverbal behavior. It is being shown that many of
the problems which render coding of nonverbal behavior difficult, arise from
the definitions of the coding units employed, rather than from the complexity
of the phenomena that are to be assessed. A newly developed technique, based on
a time series description of nonverbal interaction, is being described and
discussed with regard to the possibilities it offers for a more extensive
assessment and analysis of nonverbal behavior in face-to-face interaction.
Notation of verbal expression
Peter Winkler, University of Constance
Summary. In general, there are three different kinds of notation for
paralinguistic features. a) normal phonetic transcriptions, b) verbal
transcriptions by trained and untrained raters, and c) auxiliary use of
measurement of acoustic parameters and their visualization. Normally,
combinations of these three modes of transcription are used. In this paper we
discuss: the relationship and the difference between measurement and
descriptions; theoretical constructs and symbols of notation; transcripts and
their reproductions. Examples of notations which are used in empirical research
illustrate the manner of the phoneticians' notation of nonverbal-vocal,
non-lexical, and prosodic features, suprasegmentals, and voice quality, and
demonstrate which units are selected for transcriptions. Synthesis of
measurements and verbal descriptions, adequacy of selection, scientific terms
related to common sense verbalizations, definite and detailed signs allow to
improve the quality of notations.
Coding and purpose attribution in the notation of
nonverbal phenomena, conveyed with the help of the examples of head posture and facial
movements
Uli S. Jorns, University of Constance
Summary. It is argued that generic as opposed to descriptive coding systems do
not permit unambiguous reconstruction of the nonverbal phenomena represented.
Therefore, a researcher interested, for example, in the role of facial
movements in everyday communication will make ambiguous statements, if he bases
them on generic coding systems. The categories of such systems contain not only
descriptive but also evaluative and inferential elements and are often
formulated in everyday language. Thus they are of little help to the
researcher, if he does not know how they are constituted in everyday
communication. The categories of descriptive coding systems, on the other hand,
permit unambiguous reconstruction and give access on the level of coded
material to maximum variation of the nonverbal phenomena represented. However,
they are void of communicative meaning. The researcher using descriptive coding
systems must somehow recapture the dimension of meaning in order to make
relevant statements about everyday communication. A procedure to that effect is
discussed.
