Protocol Analysis as a Method for Analyzing Conversational Data / Carlos G. Aleman and Anita L. Vangelisti.

Protocol analysis, a technique that uses people's verbal reports about their cognitions as they engage in an assigned task, has been used in a number of applications to provide insight into how people mentally plan, assess, and carry out those assignments. Using a system of networked computers where actors communicate with each other over terminals and simultaneously talk aloud their thoughts, researchers can gain insight into people's cognitions during conversations. Participants converse over a computer-mediated channel, while simultaneously providing verbal protocols about their thoughts. It takes participants at least two conversational sessions before they begin to feel comfortable using and interacting on a mediated system. Examples from protocol data and past research illustrate how plans, evaluation, attributions, and shared experiences are activated during conversations. Advantages of the design are: it offers a new sort of data; data collection is easy once conversationalists are acquainted with the system; and there is much potential for investigating questions about cognition and/or interaction. Limitations include: the extent to which verbal protocols reflect cognition specific to the conversation; the sheer amount of time and effort to transcribe the videotapes; and questions regarding participants' varying ability to provide oral protocols. Analysis of protocol concurrent to conversation through a computer-mediated channel offers a unique opportunity to map cognition during interaction. (Contains 11 references.) (RS)

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