University of Wollongong

Research Online
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive) Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health

2005

Doing Discourse Analysis

Gordon R. Waitt
University of Wollongong, gwaitt@uow.edu.au

Publication Details
Waitt, G. R. (2005). Doing Discourse Analysis. In I. Hay (Eds.), Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography (pp. 163-191).
U.K.: Oxford University Press.

Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library:
research-pubs@uow.edu.au
Doing Discourse Analysis
Abstract
My hope in writing this chapter is to generate enthusiasm for geographical research employing discourse
analysis. My intention is to provide some advice on doing discourse analysis to facilitale the design of research.
I first outline why some geographers have been inspired by this approach. I suggest how Foucauldian
discourse analysis is a break from other critical methods applied to textual analysis, including content analysis,
semiology, and iconography. The theoretical underpinnings of the method provided by Michel Foucault, a
French poststructuralist philosopher, is a key source of difference. I therefore condense Michel Foucault's
contribution to discourse analysis by sketching out his key theoretical concepts and their methodological
implications. To discuss the methodological implications 0f doing discourse analysis I draw upon the advice
of feminist geographer Gillian Rose and linguist Norman Fairclough. I provide a list of questions to help
implement a Foucauldian approach to discourse analysis and illustrate their implications lor 'doing' geography
by drawing upon examples. This chapter should therefore be read only as an appetiser as there are many forms
of discourse analysis. The suggested readings provide a much larger selection of the theoretical and
methodological possibilities.

Keywords
Doing, Discourse, Analysis

Disciplines
Life Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Publication Details
Waitt, G. R. (2005). Doing Discourse Analysis. In I. Hay (Eds.), Qualitative Research Methods in Human
Geography (pp. 163-191). U.K.: Oxford University Press.

This journal article is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/scipapers/3936

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