School of Psychology

Alexandra Kent completed her BSc Social Psychology, MRes Social Research Methods and her PhD in Discursive Psychology at Loughborough University.  She joined the School of Psychology at Keele University in Sept 2012 as a Lecturer in Psychology.  Her research combines a theoretical reworking of the way language and psychology are understood with detailed technical analyses of empirical data using conversation analysis.  Her research interests include family mealtime interaction, the negotiation of power and authority in interaction, children’s talk and socialisation, and parenting practices.

Call for PhD Studentships

Social Interaction

Dr Alexandra Kent (A.Kent@keele.ac.uk)

School of Psychology, Keele University

Are you a finalist or Masters student with interests in language, communication or social interaction?

The research institute at Keele has just announced their annual competition for fully funded PhD studentships (http://www.keele.ac.uk/risocsci/prospectivestudents/postgraduatefundingopportunitiesfor2013-2014/). I am looking for a keen PhD candidate to get involved with ongoing research studying how urgent problems or difficulties are managed during conversations.

My research primarily uses conversation analysis and discursive psychology to study the practical accomplishment of social life. It addresses the question of how people interact with each other. How do we perform highly coordinated social actions within interaction? I have previous conducted research looking at family mealtime activities and how parents try to control their children’s actions. I am keen to develop this line of research and to expand to alternative data sites.

I’m interested in any situation in which real-life urgency or rapidly changing circumstances impinge on and shape the interaction. Instances range from mundane everyday interactions such as a parent demanding a child stops waving their knife around to a busy 999-emergency call centre. Potential sites of data collection are extremely varied and can be designed around the prospective candidate’s interests and experience. Possible examples might include (but are not limited to):

-       Parents calling a telephone helpline because they have reached the end of their tether and are scared they are going to hit their child.

-       Air traffic control conversations when planes are discovered to be on a collision course.

-       Calls to Roadside assistance services following car breakdowns or accidents

-       Parents supervising children at playgrounds or parks and responding to the child doing something potentially dangerous.

This project would be excellent for a wide range of student interests within the field of discourse and interaction studies. Specifically, it would cater for those interested in how fast-paced real-world actions are practically accomplished. If you are interested in this project, or indeed wish to discuss any ideas you have for a PhD project using conversation analysis or discursive psychology, please contact me via email at your earliest convenience). I look forward to hearing from you.

Journal Articles:

Antaki, C., & Kent, A., (2012) Telling people what to do (and sometimes, why): Contingency, entitlement and explanation in staff requests to adults with intellectual impairments. Journal of Pragmatics 44(2012) pp. 876-889

Craven, A., and Potter, J., (2010). Directives: Entitlement and Contingency in Action. Discourse Studies, 12(4), pp. 419-442.

Kent, A (2012), Compliance, resistance and incipient compliance when responding to directives, Discourse Studies, 14(6), pp711-730

Book chapters:

Kent, A. & McCarthy, P., (2011), Discourse Analysis and ANLP, in Applied Natural Language Processing and Content Analysis: Identification, Investigation, and Resolution, (Eds) McCarthy, P. & Boonthem, C., IGI Global, pp. 33-52.

Kent, A., (2012) Responding to directives: responding to directives: What can children do when a parent tells them what to do?, in Disputes in everyday life: Social and moral orders of children and young people (Eds) M. Theobold., S. Danby., American Sociological Association’s Studies of Children and Youth and Emerald Books,  pp. 57-84

Book reviews:

Kent, A., (2012) Book review: Gardner, H. & Forrester, M. (2010), Analysing Interactions in Childhood: Insights from Conversation Analysis, Discourse Studies, 14(1), pp. 139-140

Craven, A., (2011) Book review: Filipi, A, (2009), Toddler and Parent Interaction, Discourse Studies, 13(2), pp. 267-269