How do you choose a suitable discourse analysis approach for your research topic?

1 Identify your research question and purpose

The first step is to clarify what you want to investigate and why. Your research question and purpose will determine what kind of data you need, what level of analysis you will focus on, and what theoretical framework you will adopt. For example, if you are interested in how people construct their identities through online narratives, you might need to collect personal stories from blogs or social media, analyze them at the level of content and style, and use a social constructionist perspective.

2 Review the literature and existing approaches

The next step is to review the relevant literature and existing approaches in your field of study. This will help you identify the gaps and challenges in the current knowledge, as well as the strengths and limitations of different discourse analysis methods. You will also learn how other researchers have defined and operationalized key concepts, such as discourse, genre, context, and meaning. For example, if you are studying how politicians use language to persuade their audiences, you might want to compare and contrast different models of rhetorical analysis, such as classical, neo-Aristotelian, or critical.

3 Select a suitable approach based on your criteria

The final step is to select a suitable approach based on your criteria and preferences. You might consider several factors, such as the compatibility of the approach with your research question and purpose, the availability and quality of the data, the feasibility and validity of the analysis, and the ethical and practical implications of the research. You might also consult your supervisor or peers for feedback and advice. For example, if you are examining how gender is constructed in media discourse, you might choose a feminist or queer approach that challenges the dominant norms and stereotypes.

4 Describe and justify your approach in your research proposal

Once you have selected a suitable approach, you need to describe and justify it in your research proposal. You should explain how your approach fits your research question and purpose, how it relates to the existing literature and approaches, how it informs your data collection and analysis, and how it contributes to your research goals and outcomes. You should also acknowledge the limitations and assumptions of your approach, and how you will address them. For example, if you are using a critical discourse analysis approach to explore how racism is reproduced in news discourse, you should state how you will define and identify racism, how you will select and sample the news texts, how you will apply the analytical tools and categories, and how you will interpret and report the findings.

5 Apply your approach to your data and report your results

The last step is to apply your approach to your data and report your results. You should follow the principles and procedures of your approach, and use appropriate tools and techniques to analyze your data. You should also document and justify your analytical decisions, and provide evidence and examples to support your claims. You should also discuss the implications and limitations of your results, and relate them to your research question and purpose, as well as to the broader literature and context. For example, if you are using a conversation analysis approach to investigate how people negotiate meanings in online chats, you should transcribe and annotate your data, identify the sequential and interactional patterns, illustrate them with excerpts, and explain how they reflect the participants' goals and strategies.

6 Learn from your experience and refine your approach

The final step is not really a step, but a continuous process of learning from your experience and refining your approach. Discourse analysis is not a fixed or rigid method, but a flexible and dynamic one. You might encounter new challenges and opportunities, discover new insights and perspectives, or revise your research question and purpose along the way. You should be open to feedback and criticism, and willing to adapt and improve your approach. You should also reflect on your own position and role as a researcher, and how they affect your choices and interpretations. For example, if you are using a multimodal discourse analysis approach to analyze how images and texts interact in advertisements, you might realize that you need to incorporate more visual or semiotic theories, or that you need to consider the cultural and historical context of the ads.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?