Analyzing constructions of disability in everyday talk: Methodological applications of discursive psychology

ABSTRACT

In this methodological paper, we respond to the call to advance a disability justice agenda within social science research. To do so, we invite readers to engage with the intersections of discursive psychology and disability theories. Specifically, we forward new possibilities for methodologically and theoretically leveraging discursive psychology to study disability, ableism, and anti-ableism as they unfold in everyday life. To do so, we offer a general overview of core concepts from some disability studies perspectives and point to the possibilities of discursive psychology engaging at the level of theory and methodology with these perspectives.

KEYWORDS:

• Ableism
• crip theory
• disability
• disability theory
• discursive psychology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Margaret Price (Price, 2017) introduced the concept of disabled bodyminds, pointing to how the body and mind are inextricably linked.

² In conducting social science research, it is crucial for researchers to examine how their subjectivities shape the research process (Peshkin 1988). We thus offer a transparent sense of our own positionality as two non-disabled authors (Authors 1 and 2) and one disabled author (Author 3) and note that indeed our own personal and professional experiences influence and shape how we write and do research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica Nina Lester

Jessica Nina Lester, PhD (she/her) is a Professor of Qualitative Methodology in the School of Education at Indiana University, Bloomington. She is a qualitative methodologist and interdisciplinary researcher who publishes in areas related to qualitative method/ology, with a particular focus on discourse and conversation analysis methods, digital tools/spaces in qualitative research, and disability in critical qualitative inquiry. In much of her substantive research, she has sought to examine and illustrate how everyday and institutional language use makes visible what and who becomes positioned as normal and abnormal in relation to the oft taken-for-granted normality-abnormality binary. Most recently, she co-authored the book, Doing Qualitative Research in a Digital World (Sage, 2022), and co-edited the volume, Centering Diverse Bodyminds in Critical Qualitative Inquiry (Routledge, 2021). At Indiana University, she teaches qualitative method/ology courses and mentors graduate students in qualitative inquiry from a range of disciplines.

Michelle O’Reilly

Michelle O’Reilly (BSc [hons], MSc, MA, PhD, PGCAPHE, SFHEA) is an Associate Professor of Communication in Mental Health at the University of Leicester and a Research Consultant and Quality Improvement Advisor for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. Michelle is also a Chartered Psychologist in Health. Michelle has research interests in mental health and social media, self-harm and suicidal behaviour, neurodevelopmental conditions, and child mental health services, such as mental health assessments and family therapy. Michelle has expertise in qualitative methodologies and specialises in discursive psychology and conversation analysis.

Darcy E. Furlong

Darcy E. Furlong (she/her) is a doctoral candidate in the Qualitative & Quantitative Methodology program in the School of Education at Indiana University, Bloomington. She draws upon intersectional perspectives and theoretical orientations to inform methodological and substantive research questions. In her substantive work, she draws upon discourse methods, such as discursive psychology and conversation analysis to expose, resist, and (re)imagine the ableist assumptions that permeate through mundane and institutional contexts.