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Methodology

The IC-You project is based on a combined methodology designed to provide an understanding of various institutional settings from an emic perspective, i.e. from the perspective of members of the institution who act within it. Two interconnected lines of analysis are  implemented:

  • Social practices:  Our primary methodological tool is multimodal microanalysis of face-to-face video-recorded social interactions. We study the linguistic, prosodic and nonverbal resources conventionally used by participants for producing, interpreting and coordinating turns and actions in their everyday institutional practices. Analysis sheds light on how competences are valued in practice, through the moment-to-moment unfolding of talk and the participants’ mutual orientations.
  • Social representations: A second methodological tool is the analysis of social representations. The participating young people as well as representatives of their institutions are involved in focus group discussions and confrontational interviews. These data are audio and video recorded, transcribed and subjected to qualitative interaction analysis. This procedure provides complementary information on people’s relation to the institutional order, and to their own or others’ interactional competences.
These two lines of analysis are completed by a content analysis of official institutional policies, based on relevant documents (curricula in school or in professional training; guidelines for speech therapists, interview protocols for job interviews; etc.). This will allow us to pinpoint discrepancies, where relevant, between the institutions’ official policies and possible hidden agendas as materialized in everyday practices within the institution.