Introduction

In survey methodology questions are primarily seen as semantic entities, that is, linguistic units that have a certain meaning. Taking a conversation analysis viewpoint, we may look at survey questions as turns-at-talk. In addition to questions being semantic units, they are also interactional units to be used in an interview. Turns have an internal organizational structure. As we will see in this chapter, many survey questions are designed in such a way that their organizational structure is unfit for adequate use in the interview. This holds especially true for closed questions that are followed by a set of response options, as well as questions that contain a term or concept that is further explained or specified. The turn organizational character of these two types of questions makes them vulnerable to interruption by the respondent.

A speaker can perform several actions in one turn-at-talk. For example, when a speaker says, “Uh, John, can I have the sugar, please?” he first takes the turn and indicates that he is going to say something (“Uh”). Next he attracts somebody's attention (“John”), displaying that he selects John rather than Liza as his addressee. Next he requests the sugar (“can I have the sugar”), and finally he is being polite (“please”). Note that “being polite” is a separate action, and that this action can be performed by several phrases, such as “please” or “Do you mind?”

When people talk they not only produce meaningful utterances.