6.1. H2H vs. H2M
Overview
What is a conversational analysis, and why is it important?
Conversational Analysis is the study of how people communicate in everyday interactions.
Communication is a fundamental part of human interaction, and studying it can help us better understand social dynamics and cultural norms.
It involves analyzing the structure of conversations, including turn-taking, topic initiation and maintenance, and repair strategies.
By examining these elements, researchers can gain insight into the social dynamics of a particular interaction and the underlying cultural norms that guide communication.
Can the study of Human-to-Human Conversational Analysis be applied to analyze Huaman-to-Machine conversations?
How to conduct a conversational analysis?
Record and transcribe the conversation -> It allows you to analyze the conversation in detail and identify patterns in the interaction.
-> It helps you understand the social context of the conversation.
-> It helps you understand the patterns of communication between speakers.
Look for topic initiation and maintenance -> It helps you understand how speakers introduce and develop discussion topics.
Analyze repair strategies -> It helps you understand how speakers handle communication breakdowns and errors.
Consider the cultural context -> It helps you understand how cultural norms, values, and beliefs influence communication.
Recording/Transcribing
If your conversations are based on an audio or video interface, recording and transcribing them enables you to go back and analyze the conversation to gain a deeper understanding.
There are several automatic transcribers available:
| Category | OpenAI Whisper | Microsoft Azure | Rev AI |
|---|---|---|---|
Website | |||
Pricing | Free | $1 / hour | $0.02 / minute |
Interface | Local Installation | Azure Platform | Web API |
Diarization | No | Yes | Yes |
Pros | Handles noisy environments well | High accuracy | East to use |
Cons | Requires a local GPU machine | Can be difficult to configure | Pricier than Azure for less accuracy |
Identifying Participants
When analyzing a conversation, it is important to consider the gender, age, social status, and other relevant characteristics of the speakers. These factors can influence communication and provide important context for understanding the conversation.
Diversity: Including a diverse range of participants can provide insights into how different groups communicate and interact. It can include age, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and cultural background.
Context: Conversations in different settings, such as workplaces or social gatherings, may involve different communication styles and norms.
Purpose: Conversations focused on a specific topic or goal may involve different communication strategies than casual conversations.
Power Dynamics: Conversations that involve power imbalances, such as a boss and an employee, may involve different communication patterns than conversations between peers.
Relationship: Conversations between strangers may involve different communication patterns than conversations between friends or family members.
Identify ideal participants for testing your chatbot and discuss your strategy to gather such participants for the final project.
Turn-taking
Turn-taking refers to the way that speakers take turns participating in the interaction. It includes both the decision to speak and the transition between speakers. Turn-taking can reveal:
Power imbalances between speakers, with some individuals dominating the conversation and others having less opportunity to speak.
How speakers collaborate and negotiate with each other to move the conversation forward.
Analysis aspects:
Message Length: The length of messages can indicate a speaker's intention to take a turn or signal that they have finished speaking.
Response Time: The time it takes for a speaker to respond to a message can indicate their intention to take a turn or signal that they are finished speaking.
Use of Markers: Speakers may use markers such as ellipses, dashes, or quotation marks to signal that they are taking a turn or indicate that they are listening to another speaker.
Emojis / Emoticons: The use of emojis or emoticons can indicate a speaker's attitude, emotion, or intention to take a turn.
Repetition: Speakers may repeat words or phrases to indicate their intention to take a turn or emphasize a point.
What are your strategies to balance the lengths between the chatbot and the users? Can you use any of the above cues to improve the overall quality of the conversations?
Topic Analysis
Topic initiation refers to how speakers introduce a new topic of conversation, while topic maintenance refers to how they keep the conversation focused on that topic. Through this analysis, we:
Gain insights into the participants' interests, goals, and social context.
Understand how speakers collaborate to build shared understanding and mutual goals.
Learn effective communication techniques for keeping conversations focused and productive.
Analysis aspects:
Topic Introduction: Speakers may introduce a new topic of discussion explicitly by using phrases such as "By the way," "Speaking of," or "Have you heard about". Such phrases indicate the speaker intends to change the topic or introduce something new.
Topic Development: Speakers may develop a topic by providing additional information or asking related questions. They may use open-ended, follow-up, or clarifying questions to maintain the topic.
Topic Shift: Speakers may shift the topic of discussion by changing the subject or introducing a new topic. Such shifts may be explicit or implicit and can be signaled by phrases such as "Anyway," "Moving on," or "So, as I was saying".
Topic Re-introduction: Speakers may re-introduce a topic discussed earlier by referring to it or bringing it up again. Such references can indicate that the speaker wants to continue discussing or bring attention to the topic.
Nonverbal Cues: Speakers may use punctuation or capitalization for emphasis or tone to indicate their intention to initiate or maintain a topic.
Does your chatbot allow users to introduce or switch topics? How does your chatbot proceed when users intend to do so?
Repair Strategies
Repair strategies refer to techniques used by speakers to correct misunderstandings, clarify meaning, or resolve problems in communication. It allows us to:
Identify areas where communication breakdowns are more likely to occur, such as when speakers have different cultural backgrounds, use different languages, or have varying knowledge about the discussed topic.
Identify communication patterns that may be hindering effective communication. For example, a speaker consistently interrupts others or fails to listen actively can lead to more frequent communication breakdowns.
Several aspects need to be analyzed to understand repair strategies:
Self-repair: Speakers may self-correct errors or repair communication breakdowns in real time by repeating or rephrasing their previous statement.
Other-repair: Speakers may ask their conversational partner to repeat or clarify what they said to repair communication breakdowns. They may also offer suggestions or provide information to help resolve the problem.
Repair Initiation: Speakers may initiate repair by indicating a problem or error in communication, such as saying, "I didn't understand what you said," or "Can you repeat that?".
Repair Resolution: Speakers may resolve the problem by clarifying, repeating, or rephrasing their previous statement or using other strategies to ensure successful communication.
Lexical Choice: The words speakers choose to use can impact the success of the repair. They may use more straightforward language to clarify their message or help their conversational partner understand.
Does your chatbot have any repair strategies? What are effective ways of catching them in STDM?
Cultural Analysis
Cultural context refers to the social norms, values, and beliefs that influence communication. They can vary between different cultures and can impact how people interact with each other:
In some cultures, interrupting someone may be seen as assertive and confident, while in others, it may be seen as rude or disrespectful.
Some cultures may place a high value on politeness and indirect communication, while others may value directness and assertiveness.
Culture shapes how individuals perceive and interpret the world around them. By analyzing the cultural context, we can:
Gain insights into how communication is influenced by cultural factors such as social status, gender roles, power dynamics, and language proficiency.
Recognize and address potential biases or assumptions we may bring to the interaction.
Avoid misunderstandings and communicate more respectfully and effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Analysis aspects:
Social Norms: Different cultures may have different social norms that dictate appropriate behavior in conversation, such as turn-taking, interruptions, and politeness strategies.
Language Use: Language use may vary based on cultural context, including vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. For example, some languages may have different words or expressions for the same concept, or different cultures may have different levels of formality in their language use.
Worldviews: Cultural differences can impact how people perceive and interpret events and actions. These differences can manifest in conversation through differences in humor, storytelling, and nonverbal communication.
Values and Beliefs: Different cultures may have different values and beliefs, influencing how people communicate and what topics they discuss. For example, some cultures may prioritize directness and honesty, while others prioritize harmony and social relationships.
Contextual Factors: Cultural context is also influenced by contextual factors such as the purpose of the conversation, the setting, and the relationship between speakers.
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