Language Variations: Zimmerman and West Flashcards
When did Zimmerman and West do their study?
1975
What did Zimmerman and West look at in their study?
The dynamics of turn-taking in mixed sex and same sex conversations
How many conversations did Zimmerman and West record?
31
What did Zimmerman and West find with male same-sex conversations?
They barely interrupted each other
What did Zimmerman and West find with mixed sex conversations between men and women?
Men would interrupt women more and women barely interrupted men
What did Zimmerman and West conclude?
Men used interruptions as a way of dominating women in mixed sex conversations.
What was the social class of all of the people in Zimmerman and West’s study?
Middle class
What was the ethnicity of all of the people in Zimmerman and West’s study?
Caucasian
What was the age of all of the people in Zimmerman and West’s study?
They were all under 35 years old.
Where were all of the conversations recorded?
A university or a coffee shop
What approach does Zimmerman and West’s study fall under?
Dominance Model
Name a study very similar to Zimmerman and Wests study in terms of resulting in generalisations and done in the same year (1975)
Thorne and Henleys study with only white middle class men and women
What is a criticism of Zimmerman and West’s study in terms of the amount of conversations they recorded?
They only recorded 31 conversations which was very little data
What is a criticism of Zimmerman and West’s study in terms of the people who they got the data from?
They only got data from white middle class individuals, meaning that there was no variety in their study so they would likely mostly just find the same thing
What is a criticism of Zimmerman and West’s study in terms of its impact on society?
The study was only accepted because it resonated with a way that men felt at the time in society - to be dominant over women.
