Multimodal Interaction Analysis in Cultural Psychology Research

In this chapter, I will argue that established methodological procedures such as Conversation Analysis, Discursive Psychology and Multimodal Video Analysis constitute a fruitful avenue for future research in Cultural Psychology. Particularly, I will argue that combining Charles Goodwin’s approach to studying social interaction with conversation analytically informed Discursive Psychology lends itself to study meaning-making processes that go beyond language. The strength of these approaches lies in their potential to study meaning-making processes and ‘shared’ normativity as they arise in mundane every day social interaction. While meaning-making practices have in the past largely been studied by focusing on verbal data little attention has been given in the past to the role of other modalities, e.g., embodied practices in social interaction, the shape of which is always situational and ecologically embedded. I will illustrate this approach with examples from a recent study carried out in a preschool in India. I will conclude by discussing challenges and potentials as well as future avenues for this line of research in the field of Cultural Psychology.