Study Design, Methodology, and Profile 35the coding decisions. The professor and student interviews were transcribed as
well. Coders also drew together in-class coders’ notes and their own reports of
the tapes and transcripts to form short written ethnographic accounts of each
class.^14
Coding Complexities: The Trouble with Turns
Although this sounds like a great deal of work, nevertheless my description to this
point is deceptively straightforward in comparison with the actual process. Here I
give just a few examples of the complex nuances involved in coding these class-
room exchanges. As with most quantitative analysis, there is frequently a trade-off
involved when we sort the messy stuff of human social interaction into the unre-
alistically neat, but more easily manipulable, categories required for this kind of
work.
For some time now, the field of language studies known as “conversation analy-
sis” has relied heavily on the “turn” as a unit of analysis.^15 By breaking down ex-
changes into turns, conversation analysts have been able to discern crucial aspects
of the sociology of turn-taking and the overall structure of discourse. In the law
school classroom, this approach should be relatively easier to apply than in ordi-
nary conversation, because the structure of turns in these classrooms is, in gen-
eral, relatively formalized. With the professor controlling most of the interaction,
there is a clearer division of labor than in many conversational situations, and the
back-and-forth usually follows a relatively set pattern in which the professor ei-
ther speaks or designates a student to speak. However, even in this relatively struc-
tured speech situation, ambiguities arise.
Let’s start with a fairly common example, an exchange between a professor
and student (both white males). We enter the conversation at turn 20:^16
Transcript 3.1 [1/5/20]20 Prof.: I can’t (), okay, all right, that doesn’t help me much but
// what- but what // is an offer?
21 Class: // [[Laughter (.01)]] //
22 Student: It’s a commitment or a promise, which satisfies the intentions of
individuals embarking on a () agreement.
23 Prof.: All right, so, it’s a commitment, and the reason it has to be a
commitment is?
24 Student: So someone can rely on it.
25 Prof.: Okay, in other words, we’re trying to enforce reasonable expecta-
tions, and if I’m making a commitment or promise, there is a basis
for your reasonable expectations. Right? Okay, so an offeror is the
person who makes the offer, and the offeree, obviously, is the
person who accepts it, right?
26 Student: Right. (.01 pause)
27 Prof.: All right. Now, do I have to know about an offer before I can accept
it?