Advances in Membership Categorisation Analysis

Richard Fitzgerald is Professor of Communication at the University of Macau, China (SAR). Before joining the University of Macau in 2014 he has held posts at Cardiff University and the University of Queensland. He has researched and written extensively on broadcast and digital media and methods of qualitative Discourse Analysis. His recent major publications include Advances in Membership Categorization Analysis (2015, Sage) co-edited with William Housley, and On Sacks. Methodology, Materials and Inspirations (2021, Routledge) co-edited with Robin Smith and William Housley. He is a former Editor in Chief of Discourse, Context and Media where he remains an Honorary Member of the Editorial Board and is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Macau.William Housley PhD, DSc.Econ. FAcSS is Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University. He is an internationally recognised expert in qualitative and social research methods, sociological theory, the study of practical reason, science and technology studies, ethnomethodology, membership categorization analysis, social interaction and digital sociology. His contribution to Sociology was confirmed through the award of a DSc Econ. by Cardiff University in 2012 for his internationally recognized work in the field of interaction, communication and social organization. He has served as an editor of Qualitative Research (SAGE) and the editorial board of Big Data and Society (SAGE). Professor Housley was awarded the prestigious Vincent Wright Chair, at Sciences Po, Paris, for 2017. He has published numerous papers and books, including Society in the Digital Age: An Interactionist Perspective (2021, SAGE).

MCA provides an orientation, set of questions, and identification of discrete discourse devices to aid understanding of the moral work  being accomplished by speakers’ and writers’ as they  select  category terms and tie them to descriptions.  Fitzgerald and Housley’s Advances in Membership Categorization Analysis brings together cutting edge theoretical explication with fascinating examples ( YouTube posts, intimates video chatting, a review board assessing parole, a research team meeting, online breaking news updates)  and is a must-read for anyone interested in identities and interaction.

• Chapter1: Introduction to Membership Categorization Analysis - William Housley & Richard FitzgeraldChapter2: De-Reifiying Categories - Rod WatsonChapter 3: Prospective and Retrospective Categorization: Category proffers and inferences in social interaction and rolling news media - Elizabeth Stokoe & Frederick AttenboroughChapter 4: Categorization Work in the Courtroom: The ‘foundational’ character of membership categorization analysis - Christian LicoppeChapter 5: Challenging Normativity: re-appraising category, bound, tied and predicated features - Edward Reynolds & Richard FitzgeraldChapter 6: Omnirelevance in Technologized Interaction: Couples coping with video calling distortions - Sean RintelChapter7: Membership Categorization and Methodological Reasoning in Research Team Interaction - William Housley & Robin James Smith