This session was part of the SWDTP Data Analysis webinar series.
Held Online, Thursday 14/05/26 11am – 12pm
Dr Anna Havinga, Senior Lecturer in Sociolinguistics at the University of Bristol
Dr James Hawkey, Associate Professor in Linguistics and Catalan Studies at the University of Bristol
The study of language is a key component of social science research. Studies range from critical analyses of media discourse to historical approaches that uncover how language changes over time, from micro-level analyses of pronunciation to macro-level examinations of the consequences of governmental policy. Language can tell us a great deal about society, and society can tell us a great deal about language. Research in linguistics, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and the sociology of language is methodologically and epistemologically rich. This session will introduce you to an approach that is both widespread and extremely useful beyond linguistics: critical discourse analysis (CDA). We will cover central aspects of CDA and explain how this method can be used on a variety of data.