title: Analyzing medical dialogues: strength and weakness of Roter's interaction analysis system (RIAS).
abstract: Roter's interaction analysis system (RIAS) is analyzed in this article. Ground rules of linguistic interaction analysis, emphasizing meaning as a product of interaction and turn taking as a basic principle for the understanding of interaction are briefly introduced. Specific aspects of the application of RIAS are discussed and a number of adjustments and/or specifications suggested: (1) utterances should be defined in terms of content and turn taking criteria; (2) the recording system should allow for registering interruptions; (3) pauses or silences should be scored on the basis of functional criteria and not as demarcation in the communication; (4) clear distinctions should be made between the categories of "backchannel" and "agree"; (5) questions should be coded according to function rather than linguistic form; (6) some of the socioemotional categories may appear too narrow, others too wide; (7) crying should be included in the coding scheme as a separate category.
authors.affiliation: Department of Education, Early Childhood Education, Oslo University College, Pilestredet 52, 0167 Oslo, Norway. margareth.sandvik@lu.hio.no
authors.forename: Margareth
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sandvik
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eide
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lind
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Graugaard
authors.forename: Jorun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torper
authors.forename: Arnstein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finset
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations