1. Data in pragmatic research

Abstract

This introductory chapter gives a broad-brush overview of the various types of data in the field of empirical research in pragmatics. It starts with a discussion of the various types of analytical units in pragmatics, taking as its starting point single utterances, which are contrasted to smaller units, such as deictic elements, stance markers, discourse markers, hedges and the like, as well as to larger units, such as sequences of utterances and entire discourses. Data for pragmatic research comes in different modalities. Spoken language and written language are the most obvious modalities, but digital language with its own complexities, sign language and non-verbal behaviour have recently become increasingly important as data for pragmatic research. Moreover, research data can be categorised on the basis of their location on four scalar dimensions. The first dimension concerns the amount of constraints on the interactants and the allowable contributions. The second dimension scales the level of fictionality or factuality of the language under observation. The third dimension assesses the amount of research interference in the production of the data, and the fourth dimension, finally, situates data according to the researcher focus between the two poles of small amounts of highly contextualized data to big data searches of largely decontextualized phenomena.