Analysis of conversational organization in Indonesian doctor–patient diagnostic talks

Abstract

Conversation analysis is considered a rare inquiry in Indonesia, specifically in medical talk. A conversation between doctors and patients in Indonesia usually involves not only two people, but three or more parties. This means the doctor and the patient are not the only participants in the conversation. Therefore, the conversational organization may be different from the usual doctor–patient talk which only involves two people. This study aims to explain the conversational organization of doctor–patient talk in establishing diagnosis using conversational analysis approach. A total of 10 chosen recordings of doctor–patient interaction have been analyzed to elaborate the conversational organization and to explain the four aspects of conversational organization: opening– closing, turn-taking, pauses, and overlaps. The result of conversational organization determines the establishing diagnosis during the whole conversation. While the investigated data are in the Indonesian language, the organizational patterns would have implications for other interactions as well.

Keywords:

• Doctor–patient communication
• conversation analysis
• conversational organization
• opening–closing
• turn-taking
• pauses
• overlaps
• establishing diagnosis