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Notes to Chapter 4
1 Several of the German and a limited number of the English gatherings were centred around
Raclette grills. This is essentially table top version of an electric barbecue. Between 2 and 6
people sit together cooking food in small 'pans' under the grill. I discovered this in Germany but
purchased one for England. The sociable effect was much the same as in the German setting -
as guests wait for their culinary creations to cook heightened levels of chat quickly develop
amongst participants, with the omni-present possibility of having to check that one's food isn't
burning offering a legitimate activity switch if conversation dries up.
2 Those gatherings that were recorded in my own home consisted of persons whom I had
invited. I assumed the normal role of host, and therefore selected on that basis persons who I
would normally invite, irrespective of whether I was recording or not. It cannot be denied
however, that the need to obtain recordings did have at some influence on my motivation in
organising and attending some of the gatherings in both cultures. *
31 have provided what I regard as the predominant relational details here (e. g. primary
relationships such as husband - wife, brother - sister, or if no other relationship exists between
any two participants, friend - friend).
4 The actual recordings process appeared prima facie unproblematic at the outset of this
investigation. However, the technical contingencies being able to gather data suitable for the
type of analysis that I intended to carry out came to occupy a considerable amount of my time in
the initial part of the data collection phase.
51 avoided using an 'auto-reverse' function found on most tape recorders today. As I intended
to leave the tape running for several hours I did not want the same tape re-recording on side A
upon coming to the end of side B. The Sony had an alarm which signified the end of a side with
a beep, although this itself presented another set of problems during the recording stage (see
sec. 4.4).
r' The PZM mike was used in settings where participants were 'mobile' and were moving nearer
to and further from the mike, for example, when a host(ess) would take a turn at talk with her
into the kitchen to retrieve food or utensils, or in garden settings where participants were more
physically mobile in general. In such instances, the boundary on the mike'expanded' to include
such talk.
7 The button mike was used when I decided that the presence of the boundary mike (larger and
more obtrusive) would interfere with the interaction so as to disrupt it.
8 Re-chargeable batteries emit a 1.25 v. charge compared to the 1.5 v in standard non-
rechargeable batteries. The lower voltage can and did on occasion cause malfunctioning of
recording equipment.
9 The relationship between and complementary uses of ethnographic and conversation analytic
approaches to cultural analysis is comprehensively explored in Hopper (1990/91) to which the
reader is directed for a more thorough discussion than can be afforded here.
10 There is a problem here in that reader will know my surname, therefore my wife's surname
and then possibly - by looking at participants relational details provided in parts of the thesis -
be able to work out participant's identities. I am hoping that the chances of this happening, and
the desire on the readers to go through this process will be so minimal as to not threaten the
ethical integrity of the study.
11 1 reconstruct my general line from memory here as, by definition, permission seeking
lTisodes took e
place before the tape recorder was running.
1 Requests have perhaps received more study for their face implications than any other speech
act type (see Chapter 1).
13 Tannen (1984,33-4) describes this as an 'observer's paradox'.
`14
As with consent seeking episodes, these utterances occurred 'off-tape', usually as the
machine was still beeping to signal the end of a particular side of a cassette. They are then also
reconstructed from memory.
15 1 have elsewhere referred to this dual role as one of 'doing socia(b)l(e) science' (see Philburn
ý2002]).
6 An additional problem in the German settings was my uniqueness as the 'Englishman'. I felt
on occasion that I did attract undue attention on the basis of my cultural membership. This
usually involving, me being asked in English about issues ranging from the state of the national
football team to inquiries as to whether I would prefer'fish and chips'to the food prepared for
other guests. Of course this both allowed humour to enter the conversation whilst providing an
opportunity for participants to display their spoken English - invariably better than my spoken
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