Hypothesis: Older people (usually males) will hold the most
power.
Transcript of separate conversations from Gogglebox from the
same working class family:
-------- =separate conversations
J= Jonathan (Dad)
N= Nikki (Mum) Jo= Josh
(Son) A=Amy (Daughter)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jo: Is that how you danced with your wrists dad at |bar
mitzvahs|
J:
|I know|
N: Don’t criticize
(.) you’re father’s dancing (.) he is fabulous
Jo: Is it (2) (dances) is |it| yeah
N: |I| would
never ever married someone who can’t dance (1) it’s such a turn off
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
N: He is so stunning (.) you’ve got to admit he’s so good looking
J: You really like him don’t |you|
N:
|He’s| one of the best looking men on this Earth
J: Uh |huh|
N: |He| |is|
A:
|Apart | from dad (3) after |dad|
N:
|He’s| stun|ning|
A:
|After|dad
N: Yeah after dad
J: Yeah she really meant that didn’t she
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A: Dad (.) then their gonna come back at us (2)
J: Well unfortunately (.) they hate the west anyway (2) if
don’t (1) if someone doesn’t have the ideology (.)
N: Then they |think|
J:
|then| they’re going to destroy them just the same (1)
A: So then why don’t we just stay out of it and not get
involved and |then|
N: |No
because we can’t (.) they
J:
|Because they will still all (.)
N: need| they need the support of countries like us and|
America|
J: they’ll still attack us|
|They| need (.) that’s why they are called allies (1) countries get
|together|
A: |So
what’s| gonna |happen|
J:
|It’s| good fighting bad (.) it’s good fighting evil
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
·
Interruptions: J=5 N=5
Jo=0 A=3
·
Sentence length: J=70 N=70
Jo=17 A=34
Through all three conversations, interruptions were a
constant factor. There were 13 interruptions overall: 2 in the first
conversation, 5 in the second conversation and 6 in the last. The higher amount
of times that someone interrupts could suggest that they are the more powerful
participant within a conversation. Stereotypically males are more likely to
interrupt than women. This is from Zimmerman and Wests ‘Dominance Theory’. Another theory that could support
interruptions as a significant feature in analysis is Fairclough’s ‘Unequal
Encounters’. One person supposedly is more dominant than the others in a conversation,
although it can change; if one person is interrupting more than others, they
could hold the influential power, and they may appear to seem more dominant.
The parents interrupt the most and equally which was what I
had originally expected, although I did think that ‘J’ was going to interrupt
the more as he’s the dad of the family. In the last conversation ‘J’ interrupts
4 times, which is the most in the conversation. In the second conversation ‘N’
interrupts the most (3 times) which could suggest that between them
'J' is more dominant.
Another attribute that could show who has the most power is
sentence length. If someone has the most power and dominance then they most
likely would have longer air time. The data shows that overall in all three conversations,
oddly, both parents had an equal amount of sentence length. 'J' spoke 10 times
and 'N': 11. The reason behind this could be that they both spoke lot when explaining to 'A' in conversation 3.
'Jo' isn't surprising to have spoken the least words considering
he only spoke twice. 'A' spoke nearly half the amount as her parents which does
prove my hypothesis. However it disproves The Dominance Theory when comparing
her to 'Jo', who should have spoke more than her.
Goes against the theory/hypothesis:
·
'A' interrupts 'N' which is odd as 'A' is 'N's'
daughter and so it is expected that the mother would have more dominance and
power so her daughter would be expected to not interrupt.
·
'A' also interrupts 'J'-who is also her parent
which again is surprising as she would be expected to 'respect her elders' and
act like 'J' has the highest power overall, which he should do.
·
So, overall 'A' acts completely unexpected to as
she should do, according to theory.
·
What is also unexpected is that 'Jo'
surprisingly doesn't speak that much. H is present in all conversations, yet
only speak in one. The Dominance Theory states that males will interrupt more
and hold more power, so theoretically he should at least contribute to show his
power.
