Sigrid Norris’s scientific contributions

Multimodal interaction analysis is a holistic methodological framework that allows the analyst to integrate the verbal with the nonverbal, and to integrate these with material objects and the environment as they are being used by individuals acting and interacting in the world. In short, multimodal interaction analysis allows a researcher to study real people interacting with others, with technology, and with the environment. The point of view taken in multimodal interaction analysis is that all actions in fact are interactions and that all of these (inter)actions are linked to people (referred to as “social actors” in multimodal interaction analysis)—no matter whether you are investigating the real or the virtual world, someone buying ice cream, or using a software program. Multimodal interaction analysis is carried out through a series of analytical phases and steps. Researchers utilize multimodal transcription conventions and analytical tools, which are theoretically founded, allowing for replicability of analyses and reliability of findings. Multimodal interaction analysis allows the integration of all communicative modes, where communicative modes are defined as systems of mediated actions. In this view, all modes of communication together build one system of communication, which comes about through actions and interactions that people produce. This coherent framework and process of analysis can be taught and learned and is proving useful for research examining what people do, how they communicate, and how they interact.