Berns Prelim 1

An Analysis of Aviation Communications,

Aviation English,
and Methodology

Kitty Campbell Laird
Purdue University
Berns Prelim 2
What research methods have been used in analyzing aviation
communications and phraseologies? What approaches to text/discourse
analysis do they represent? In their analysis, which coding schemes are
used? Review these schemes, and then assess which, if any, would be
appropriate and why for the proect you propose to underta!e for your
thesis study"
Introduction
This paper will address the research methodologies which have been used in
analyzing aviation English and communications. I will address the relevant taxonomies
and coding schemes implemented and propose possible applications or my research.
Research in Aviation Communications
The ma!ority o research conducted regarding aviation communications utilized
one o several methodologies. "arieties o discourse analysis have been used to analyze
corpora o pilot and #ir Traic $ontrol recordings and codiy the phraseology and
structure o aviation English% survey data has been collected by sel report mechanisms
such as &#'#(s #viation 'aety )eporting 'ystem *#')'+ orms detailed below% and
ield studies and experimental simulations have attempted to study phenomena o
aviation communications. ,hile nearly ten years old% the ollowing meta analysis
provides a good introduction to the types o studies commonly occurring in the ield o
aviation.
Berns Prelim -
Prinzo & Britton (1993)
This study analyzed .- reports regarding the literature to date or pilot and
controller communications. The ma/e up o the reports was .01 survey data% .11 ield
studies% and 1.1 laboratory studies. The review addressed three ma!or 2uestions3 1+ ,hat
is /nown about #T$4pilot voice communications and the issues pertaining to
miscommunications5 2+ ,hat approaches have been used to study miscommunications5
and -+ ,hat research needs to be perormed so that real solutions can be oered to the
aviation community5 The emergent hypothesis was that miscommunications occur more
oten when air traic controllers experienced overload due to heavy traic% re2uency
congestion% and lengthy messages. 6ata in the studies presented was collected rom
&#'# #viation 'aety )eporting 'ystem *#')'+ orms% audiotape analysis% and
laboratory studies. The meta analysis compared and contrasted various taxonomies
including 7an/i 8 9oushee(s speech act coding scheme% :orrow% )odvold% 8 ;ee(s
taxonomy o routine vs. non<routine transactions% and $ardosi 8 Boole(s time
components in #T$4pilot verbal communications. The analysis concluded that audio
taped communications data bases could be helpul in post<communication analysis and a
globally implemented taxonomy or aviation speech acts should be established to report
indings in a uniorm and systematic way or better comparison between studies.
Prinzo and Britton collaborated on the report= however% their analysis and
synthesis methods were not described. The study was descriptive in nature and did not
contribute any original research% as it only provided a synthesis o existing literature. It
did give an accurate picture o the research that had been conducted previous to the date
o publication regarding pilot4controller voice communications. &o previous study had
Berns Prelim .
oered such a comprehensive cross<study analysis.
Philips (1991)
Philips explored how oicial phraseology o air traic communications diered
rom natural English. >e studied the oicial phraseology o the $ivil #viation #uthority
)adiotelephony manual in addition to research rom the Ecole &ationale de l(#viation
$ivile% Toulouse% 9rance. The emergent hypothesis o the study was the International
$ivil #viation ?rganization *I$#?+ phraseology has a special purpose sub<grammar. The
corpus consisted o 0.1 phraseological utterances and -@ structural modiications. Philips
taxonomized and coded the phraseology and compared the sub<grammar to natural
English. >e determined that aviation phraseology has two sub systems3 1+ English as a
sub<grammar and 2+ a context and domain dependent speech community.
The corpus samples were limited to European standards and thus do not
generalize to air traic communications conducted in the Anited 'tates. #lthough I$#?
proposes to be an international light organization% it does not have any regulatory power
as an arm o the Anited &ations= thereore% international communications standards are
only advisory in nature. 'tandardization and usage o oicial phraseology was
determined via regulatory aeronautical manuals. #ctual practical usage was not evaluated
and as such the applications or real<world communications were not addressed. The
study did highlight the need or a global topography or taxonomy o aviation phraseology
in order to better understand light communications.
Berns Prelim 0
Morro! Rodvold & "ee (199#)
The study used $lar/ 8 'chaeer(s collaborative scheme *1BCD+ as a ramewor/ to
organize what they termed EroutineE and Enon<routineE communications. The context and
participants consisted o a corpus o recordings o pilot and controller communications
gathered Three regions o the Anited 'tates. $ommunication transactions were gathered
rom ,est $oast% :idwest% and 'outheast% level 0 Terminal )adar $ontrol *T)#$?&+
centers. The emergent hypotheses was that non<routine transactions oten lead to
miscommunications. ,hile .2 hours o data were collected% only 12 hours were
Erandomly selectedE or analysis. ? this 12 hours% six were rom approach re2uencies
and six were rom departure re2uencies. # taxonomy based on the collaborative scheme
was used to code the transmissions. #nalysis ound 1@- non<routine transactions with
understanding problems and 12F with inormation problems. It was concluded that non<
routine transactions decreased eiciency by ocusing on resolving problems rather than
allowing or the presentation o new inormation.
The scope o the study was limited. ,hile three regions o the country were
represented% the East $oast was not. I 2uestion why the 'outheast was selected over the
East. The East has some o the busiest air space in the nation including &ew Gor/ $ity
and ,ashington% 6.$. ,ithout representation rom this region% the study is not
generalizable to the entire A.'. Inter<rater reliability was accounted or by gaining
agreement *DD1 < B11+ on 10 transactions containing 1.B speech acts= however% only two
raters coded the data. I would have preerred at least three raters i not more. The study
did demonstrate the applicability o the collaborative scheme or analysis o #ir Traic
$ontrol communications.
Berns Prelim @
Prinzo (199$)
Prinzo analyzed voice communications in a simulated approach control
environment to determine i wor/load eected the perormance o air traic controllers.
The study involved 2. ull perormance level controllers rom two terminal radar
approach control *T)#$?&+ acilities. >er emergent hypothesis was that controllers
under high stress or wor/load display higher vocal pitch% louder voice volume% and
increased rate o speech. 6ata was collected rom both simulations and the ield. The
simulation environment produced 1-%BFF transmission consisting o --%FFF
communication elements. 9ield recordings consisted o 1BFF transactions and 0%--@
communication elements. "E)BEH voice recognition sotware was used or initial
transcription o the recordings. The #viation Topics 'peech #cts Taxonomy *#T'#T+
was utilized to analyze communication elements. The study ound similarities in
communication style between simulation and ield recordings.
Participants in the study were primarily male with a male3emale ratio o B31 at
T)#$?& 1 and 1F32 at T)#$?& 2. 'ex o the controllers was not considered as a
covariate. There were limitations in the "E)BEH voice recognition sotware% as the
system was unable to accommodate non<standard language beyond the restricted
phraseology o air traic control. &atural language was thereore% not accounted or in the
study. The study did demonstrate that simulations can provide relatively e2uivalent
environments to real lie T)#$?& situations. 'imulators could be utilized or uture
experimentation and training.
Berns Prelim D
Morro & Prinzo (1999)
)esearchers hoped to gain insight into the presentation o inormation% speciically
loo/ing at the eect o grouping or chun/ing inormation on memory capacity. The study
hypothesized that EgroupedE inormation would reduce memory load o pilots. EPaid
volunteersE consisting o 21 males and - emales were randomly assigned to EgroupingE
or EcontrolE groups. ?ther variables included instructional type and mission se2uence or
simulation lights. Two days were devoted to the experiment with the irst day including
pretesting and amiliarization training. Pretesting consisted o a demographic
2uestionnaire and the administration o the ,eschler #dult Intelligence 'cales<)evised
sections including 9orward 6igit 'pan score and Bac/ward 6igit 'pan score. ?n the
second day% the missions were lown in a simulator which served as the post<test. 6uring
these EmissionsE pilot and controller communications were recorded on audiotape. "oice
communications were analyzed by a primary coder who held a private pilot certiicate.
?ne o the principal investigators served as a secondary coder. #n analysis o variance
led to only two signiicant indings3 1+ EgroupedE inormation tended to be read bac/
se2uentially3 9 *1%.2+ I ..-% p J F.0% and 2+ EgroupingE condition made ewer re2uests or
clariication3 9 *1%.2+ I ..1% pJF.0. It was determined that the hypothesis was generally
not supported.
,hile the pretest may not have contributed to any practice eect% the
amiliarization training may have done so. The irst day(s training included 2F<20 minutes
o listening to air traic control communications consisting o DF multi<instruction
messages. This in combination with the training mission in the Basic Keneral #viation
)esearch 'imulator *BK#)'+ may have predisposed participants to the types o
Berns Prelim C
responses and simulator actions expected. Extraneous variables% such as age o the pilot
participants could have greatly impacted memory. 9urther studies could explore i longer
air traic control messages overload pilot memory and i so% experiments could be done
with dierent message simpliication schemes in a more controlled and systematic
environment. ,hile not the intent o the study% it was demonstrated that training o pilots
in simulator situations may improve Keneral #viation pilot communications.
Morro and Rodvold (199$)
)esearchers provided an exceptionally detailed account o the current status o
communication in #T$ operations. )esearch data in the literature involved &#'#
#viation 'aety )eporting 'ystem *#')'+ orms% direct observation o routine operations
o randomly sampled #T$ communications% ull<mission simulation studies% and
modeling communication processes. The &#'# orms were highlighted as a way or
pilots to anonymously report about potential problems in the air traic system. These
orms also provide a way or pilots to coness system deviations and avoid reprimand%
unless the pilot /nowingly violated 9ederal #viation )egulations. 9actors in #T$
communications were categorized as perceptual% linguistic% and collaborative. #T$
acility communications were compared and contrasted to controller<to<pilot interactions.
:essages could be misinterpreted due to the expectations% level o atigue% experience%
and age o the receiver.
Possi%le &amplin' (echni)ues
,hen choosing participants or my study% it will be important to get a
representative sample o the speech community o aviation English users. There are
several ways in which I could approach this endeavor.
Berns Prelim B
I could choose critical case samplin' which Patton *1BBF% p. 1C2+ describes as a
method which LPermits logical generalization and maximum application o inormation
to other cases because i it(s true o this one case it(s li/ely to be true o all other cases.M
#nother option is ma*imum variation samplin' which L6ocuments diverse
variations and identiies important common patterns.M# similar but bolder alternative is
e*treme or deviant case samplin' characterized as L;earning rom highly unusual
maniestations o the phenomenon o interestM *:arshall and )ossman% 1BBB% p. DC+.
9ollowing are example o possible applications or these sampling techni2ues in
an aviation communications setting. In using critical case samplin' I could ocus on
communications rom airports which have busy international traic with a high volume
o non<native English spea/ing pilots. The large volume o international traic would
ma/e miscommunications due to language constraints or lac/ o English proiciency
more probable than in airport acilities where international traic is limited.
Ma*imum variation samplin' would ta/e a broader approach such as utilized in
the study by 6ouglas and :yers detailed later in this paper. In loo/ing at English
proiciency levels% spea/ers at low% medium% and high perormance categories could be
compared to ind emergent patterns across levels.
+*treme or deviant case samplin' could be employed to loo/ at a speciic
phenomenon or anomaly in aviation communications. &oble *1BBD+ chose to use this
approach when studying Napanese student pilots in uncontrolled airspace in $aliornia(s
uncontrolled airspace. ,ith this sampling techni2ue% a study is not generalizable beyond
the speciic circumstances% in this instance region or ethnic group= however% important
trends may appear or urther study in a broader context.
Berns Prelim 1F
Possi%le Methods o, -ata Anal.sis
The collaborative scheme *$lar/ 8 'chaeer% 1BCD+ could be used to determine
understanding between participants. *In my study the participants would consist o pilots
and controllers. ;i/e the 6irectory #ssistance En2uiries telephone study% I would code
transactions by content with the presentation phase and acceptance phase.
In the acceptance phase there would be three conditions3 presupposing ull
understanding% asserting ull understanding% and re2uesting inormation needed or ull
understanding.
I could also utilize Clar/ & &chae,er0s contri%ution hierarchies1
Every unit a spea/er utters belongs to the presentation phase o some attempted
contribution.
Every mutually accepted alternation in spea/ers initiates a new contribution.
In many contributions% the acceptance phase is accomplished simply by the
same or next spea/er continuing on.
Every acceptance phase must end with a spea/er presupposing acceptance by
continuing on.
I could create a taxonomy and coding system or cataloging and analyzing the
corpus based on prior aviation communication literature *Prinzo 8 Britton% 1BB-+. I
would implement similar categories to those o 7an/i 8 9oushee(s *1BCB+ speech act
coding scheme. These categories were speciically designed or aviation communications
and are included in the ollowing example. ;i/e 7an/i 8 9oushee% I would create
deinitions to correspond with each category. To more clearly illustrate such a taxonomy%
their coding scheme and deinitions are listed below3
Berns Prelim 11
Command1 # speciic assignment o responsibility by one group member to
another
2%servation1 )ecognizing and4or noting a act or occurrence relating to the tas/
&u''estion1 )ecommendation or a speciic course o action
&tatement o, Intent1 #nnouncement o an intended action by spea/er= includes
statements reerring to present and uture actions but not to previous actions
In)uir.1 )e2uest or actual% tas/<related inormation= not a re2uest or action
A'reement1 # response in concurrence with a previous speech act= a positive
evaluation o a prior speech act
-isa'reement1 # response not in concurrence with a previous speech act= a
negative evaluation o a speech act
Ac/noled'ment1 a+ :a/es /nown that a prior speech act was heard= b+ does not
supply additional inormation= c+ does not evaluate a previous speech act
Anser1 'peech act supplying inormation beyond mere agreement%
disagreement% or ac/nowledgement
Response 3ncertaint.1 'tatement indicating uncertainty or lac/ o inormation
with which to respond to a speech act
(ension Release1 ;aughter or humorous remar/
4rustration5An'er5-erisive Comment1 'tatement o displeasure with sel% other
persons% or some aspect o the tas/= or a ridiculing remar/
+m%arrassment1 #ny comment apologizing or an incorrect response
Repeat1 )estatement o a previous speech act without prompting
Chec/list1 Prompts and replies to items on a chec/list
Berns Prelim 12
6on7tas/ Related1 #ny speech act reerring to something other than the present
tas/
6on7coda%le1 'peech act which is unintelligible or unclassiiable with respect to
the present coding scheme
A(C1 9light<crew radio communication with #ir Traic $ontrol% dispatch% Ethe
company%E etc.
(otal Communication1 'um o all o the above
'ince 2ualitative studies are emergent% I may ind that my categories are not
mutually exclusive or suiciently encompassing. Because o this% I will need to
continually evaluate my data and be lexible with my coding scheme to ma/e sure that I
best describe the phenomenon.
-iscourse Anal.sis
6epending on the academic discipline and theoretical lens employed by the
researcher% discourse analysis can be interpreted in dierent ways. Brown and Gule
*1BC-+ oer a good deinition o the general process by summarizing% L...the discourse
analyst treats his data as the record *text+ o a dynamic process in which language was
used as an instrument o communication in a context by a spea/er 4 writer to express
meanings and achieve intentions *discourse+. ,or/ing rom this data% the analyst see/s to
describe regularities in the linguistic realizations used by people to communicate those
meanings and intentionsM *p.% 2@+.
Berns Prelim 1-
In regards to sociolinguistics% 'tubbs *1BC-+ noted that% Lsociolinguistics will have
to incorporate analyses o how conversation wor/s3 that is% how tal/ between people is
organized= what ma/es it coherent and understandable= how people introduce and change
topics= how they interrupt% as/ 2uestions% and give or evade answers= and% in general% how
the conversational low is maintained or disruptedM *p. D+.
'chirin *1BB.+ described discourse in three ways3 1+ the ormalist view o
discourse as a unit o language above the sentence% 2+ the unctionalist view o discourse
as language in use% and -+ discourse as utterances or a collection o inherently
contextualized units o language use.
&chi,,rin summarized theoretical ,rameor/s and approaches to discourse1
&peech Act (heor.
,hat people do with language.
*'earle and #ustin+
Interactional &ociolin'uistics
$oncerned with culture% society% and language.
*Kumperz% Koman% and Tannen+
+thno'raph. o, Communications
Ase o language in speech situations% events% and acts. 'peech acts within speech
events.
*>ymes+
Pra'matics
$oncerned with $ooperative Principal *$P+ and spea/er meaning.
*Krice+
Berns Prelim 1.
Conversation Anal.sis
6erived rom ethnomethodology. #nalyzes the se2uential progression o tal/.
*Karin/el% Koodwin% 'cheglo% and 'chultz+
8ariation Anal.sis
'ystematic investigation o a speech community which attempts to discover
linguistic change and variation.
*;abov+
#s recommended by 'chirin% I would use an interdisciplinary approach
combining the strengths best suited to describing my study rom the aorementioned
theoretical ramewor/s rather than limit my scope to only one disciplinary lens.
Possi%le (heoretical 4rameor/s
4unctionalism
#viation communications occur via an interconnected group o systems. 'ystems
within the aviation industry include but are not limited to3 light crew% air traic
management acilities% weather reporting acilities% airline dispatch units% and terminal
airport acilities. The structure and interrelated nature o these entities operated within a
unctionalist paradigm. :esthrie *2FFF+ highlighted concepts o unctionalism as
culture% socialization% norms and values% and status and role *pp. 2B<-F+.
This order and stability is even relected in the prescriptivist nature o the register
o aviation English. &ot only is phraseology prescribed% but protocol or transactions
between pilots and air traic controllers is rigid and interdependent on the cooperation o
others operating on the same radio re2uency. 'ince communications can occur only one
way at a time% cooperation within the system is necessary or the eicient operation o
Berns Prelim 10
the larger structure as a whole. The ability to hear transmissions o other aircrat in the
area also promotes a greater understanding o situational awareness allowing pilots to
visualize the movements o local traic.
Pra'matics
In terms o discourse analysis the researcher is less interested with the inter<
relationship o text than the relationship between spea/er and utterance in the context o
use% in other words% what spea/ers and hearings are doing. This involves reerence%
presupposition% implicature% and inerence. These pragmatic concepts% along with context%
all well within the unctionalist paradigm as they all imply a common understanding%
conventional meaning% and presupposed expectations that are present in a interrelated
system.
>ymes *1B@.+ stressed context has speciic eatures which he termed addressor%
addressee% audience% topic% setting% channel% code% message<orm% event% /ey% and
purpose. 9or example i the hearer has a prior /nowledge o these elements% especially
addressor% audience% topic% and setting he will have expectations or the speech based on
previous experience. The more /nowledge the hearer has% the more constrained these
expectations will be. The terms are intuitive except or L/eyM which >ymes used to reer
to something which entails evaluation *Brown 8 Gule% 1BC-% pp. 2D<-B+.
Perspectivation
Perspectivation ta/es the idea o context more indepth by Lcontextualizing actual
events in the ramewor/ o relevant bac/grounds and conditions.M ,hile grounded in the
discipline o psychology and originating with the model o visual perception% the concept
o perceptivity was expanded to include cognitive unctions as well. In linguistic study%
Berns Prelim 1@
perspectivization includes the ideas o Lhaving a perspectiveM or personal point o view%
Lta/ing a perspectiveM or empathizing with another spea/er% and Ltal/ing about or rom a
perspectiveM in other words dierentiating between ones own point o view and anothers
*7allmyer% 2FF2% pp.11.<D+.
Ensin/ and 'auer *2FF-+ get more speciic and also add the concepts o LrameM
and LootingM to the idea o perspecitivisation. 9rame can be used to structure time%
cognitive space% and /nowledge. The deinition o rame varies slightly between
disciplines and in reerence to cognitive psychology the terms schema% demon% or script
may be used to reer to /nowledge rames and the processes used or storage% retrieval%
perception% and comprehension. In discourse analysis% these /nowledge rames are used to
contextualize perceived meaning. # person(s bac/ground /nowledge can inluence that
person(s expectations or a given situation.,hile some researchers consider LootingM !ust
another instance o LramingM the dierence between the two is that L(ooting( roughly
reers to the way in which the communicative participant *spea/er or hear+ is involved in
the situation and the ground or this wayM *p. C+.
Interactional &ociolin'uistics
Noan $utting *2FFF+ used an interdisciplinary approach to her longitudinal
research on in<group communications. >er study was primarily concerned with
interactional sociolinguistics *Koman% 1B@-= Kumperz% 1BC2= Tannen% 1BCB+ by
observing the language characteristics o static social group and examining the identities
and relationships o group members. >owever% she also incorporated theories rom
philosophy in utilizing a ramewor/ o pragmatics *Krice% 1BD0= ;eech% 1BC-= ;evinson%
1BC-+% ethnomethodological principles o conversation analysis *Karin/el% 1B@D=
Berns Prelim 1D
Neerson% 1BDC= 'ac/s% 1BD2= 'cheglo% 1B@C+% and structural approach o variation
analysis *;abov% 1BD2+. In utilizing the theoretical ramewor/s best suited to study the
phenomenon in an interdisciplinary manner% $utting(s study was not orced to be
evaluated by one less suitable disciplinary lens.
+thnomethodolo'. and Conversation Anal.sis
LEthnomethodology gets at the norms% understandings% and assumptions that are
ta/en or granted by people in a setting because they are so deeply understood that people
don(t even thin/ about why they do what they doM *Patton% 1BBF% p. D.+.
The protocol and routinization o aviation English amongst pilots and controllers
could deinitely be viewed with the theoretical lens o ethnomethodology. I a corpora o
naturally occurring aviation communications is obtained or my study% this underlying
ramewor/ would be highly suitable to observe the almost relex li/e transactions.
Ethnomethodology has also been characterized as assuming meaning and order in
everyday activity. In sociology and linguistics% conversation analysis shares this meaning
and order with basic assumptions according to Person *1BBB+3 L1+ conversation is
meaningully organized= 2+ there is (order at all points( in any conversational interaction=
-+conversational utterances are both context<shaped and context renewing= and .+
everyday conversation is undamental% so that the structure and organization o
conversation in institutional contexts are adapted rom the structure and organization o
everyday conversationM *p. 2+.
I believe adding the perspective o conversation analysis could enhance a study o
naturally occurring transactions between pilots and controllers beyond rote categorization
o speech acts and unctions to incorporate negotiated meaning and context.
Berns Prelim 1C
Collection and Anal.sis o, -ata
6epending on the nature o my study% I can collect data in varying manners. I
actual pilot and controller transactions are desired% I could re2uest copies o #T$ tapes
or transcription. I a simulation is involved% audio% and ideally video% recordings o
sub!ects perormance would need to be analyzed. I a study similar to 6ouglas and :yer
*2FFF+ is conducted% ollow up interview sessions with sub!ect matter experts evaluating
participants perormance would need to be recorded% transcribed% and analyzed.
,hile occurring in the ield o veterinary medicine% the methodology o the
aorementioned study could be transerred to examine proessional discourse in aviation.
#ccording to 6ouglas and :yers *2FFF+
L...proessional development is !ust a specialized orm o socialization% a
general process long recognized as the vehicle through which culturally speciic
language% discourse% cognition% and s/ills are transmitted and developed through
social interaction. $ompetent proessionals are able to articulate assessments o
language perormances to colleagues and to the persons being assessed% the
criteria employed% and ways in which a perormance might be improved. The
criteria are accessible to researchers primarily by means o an analysis o the
discourse in which they are displayed% and thereore the researchers will need to
engage in very careul study o the assessment interaction and discourse in the
target language use situation% with help rom discourse analysts and rom
specialists in the target ieldM *p. @1+.
Berns Prelim 1B
Transerring this concept to observations o aviation phraseology perormance o
student pilots in crew resource management *$):+ simulations could provide a new
contribution to the aviation education% communications% and light training literature.
,hether gathering data rom actual #T$ tapes% constructed transactions via
student perormance light simulation% or interviews with sub!ect matter ocus groups%
transcriptions will need to be made rom audio and4or video recordings. There are many
dierent conventions or transcription o recordings o naturally occurring speech and
interview data. # good general guide is provided in the transcription desi'n principles
su''ested %. -uBois (1991)1
Cate'or. de,inition
6eine transcriptional categories which ma/e the necessary distinctions
among discourse phenomena.
6eine suiciently explicit categories.
6eine suiciently general categories.
$ontrast data types.
Accessi%ilit.
Ase amiliar notations.
Ase motivated notations.
Ase easily learned notations.
'egregate unamiliar notations.
Ase notations which maximize data access.
:aintain consistent appearance across modes o access
Berns Prelim 2F
Ro%ustness
Ase widely available characters.
#void invisible contrasts.
#void ragile contrasts.
+conom.
#void verbose notations.
Ase short notations or high re2uency phenomena.
Ase discriminable notations or word<internal phenomena.
:inimize word<internal notations.
Ase space meaningully.
Adapta%ilit.
#llow or seamless transition between degrees o delicacy.
#llow or seamless integration o user<deined transcription categories.
#llow or seamless integration o presentation ixtures.
#llow or seamless integration o indexing inormation.
#llow or seamless integration o user<deined coding inormation.
Intervie and &mall 9roup -iscussion (echni)ues
I my study ollows the methodology o 6ouglas and :yer *2FFF+ I would need to
conduct ollow up small group discussions with sub!ect matter experts. Kilbert *1BB-+
inds this techni2ue valuable or consensus ormation. This could be extremely helpul
when interviewing proessionals with similar bac/grounds as the group dynamics would
contribute to a more indepth understanding o phenomenon.
Berns Prelim 21
In recording the group discussions% it is important to consider microphone
placement in order to clearly capture o all participants dialogue. &otes about individual
participants utterances during the interview session may help later in coding o patterns
and themes. "ideo recordings can help to match spea/ers with utterances in the event that
several spea/ers have similar voices.
# ormal interview guide would not be necessary in a study modeled ater that o
6ouglas and :yer *2FFF+ as the viewing o student perormance videos would guide the
discussion. In order to limit interviewer bias% it would be best to limit interaction with
sub!ect matter experts% unless prodding and probing are necessary to illicit dialogue or the
group needs to regain ocus.
&urve. -ata
Instruments such as &#'#(s #')' orms are an example o existing survey data.
In the event that I choose to do an analysis o existing data% access would need to be
gained via the proper authorities. ;imitations occur in using existing data as the data
collected may not appropriately address my research 2uestion. In the instance o #')'
orms% data is de<identiied and chun/ed into categories deemed useul by &#'# or
analysis. I I need to gather data more speciic to my own area o study% a survey
instrument may need to be created.
#ry% Nacobs% and )azavieh *1BB@+ devoted an entire chapter to the best practices
or creation o survey instruments% modes o gathering data% selection o samples% and
appropriate statistical analysis. 6epending on the goals o the study% an appropriate
instrument% typically an interview guide or 2uestionnaire% would need to be developed
and pilot tested with a small group o sub!ect matter experts to insure the validity and
Berns Prelim 22
reliability o the survey. This method is most appropriate or gaining large scale
inormation that is highly generalizable to the target population.
Conclusion
The nature o my research 2uestion will determine the best means o in2uiry or
my dissertation. This paper has helped me to uncover dierent techni2ues which have
been employed in aviation research. I have also explored research methods and
theoretical ramewor/s rom other academic areas. I believe the best approach or my
study will ultimately entail a multidisciplinary approach to research such as that o
$utting *2FFF+ which sought to borrow ideology rom those ields which best addressed
her research agenda and provided the richest academic theoretical lens.
Berns Prelim 2-
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