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School of Psychological Sciences

Dr Susan Speer BA (Hons), MSc (Econ), PhD., C.Psychol, FHEA

Photograph of Susan Speer

Senior Lecturer

Room 1.22
Coupland  Building 1
School of Psychological Sciences (Psychology Division)
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
 

 

Role

Director of Postgraduate Taught Courses for the School of Psychological Sciences
External Examiner for the UG Psychology degree, Coventry University
Editorial Board Member, Gender and Language
Editorial Board Member, Journal of Language and Sexuality
 

 

Memberships of Committees and Professional Bodies

British Psychological Society (Chartered Psychologist)
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Affiliate, York University Feminist Conversation Analysis Unit
 

Research

I am a qualitative psychologist conducting research at the intersection of health psychology and social psychology. My research applies qualitative methods of data collection (e.g., interviews, focus groups, ‘naturally occurring’ recordings of real life interactions) and a range of analytic techniques (thematic analysis, discursive psychology, conversation analysis) to three overlapping areas:

(1) Clinical communication
In the health psychology strand of my work I examine how clinicians from a range of specialties (most recently psychiatry and urology) communicate with patients. In particular, I am interested in exploring clinical communication about delicate topics (sex and sexuality, weight, health behaviour change). The aim of this research is to identify patterns in communication practices that work well/less well, with a view to making recommendations that can inform clinical practice and the training and education of practitioners. I continue to work on data of psychiatric and surgical assessments from the ESRC programme grant on which I was PI: Transsexual identities: Constructions of gender in an NHS Gender Identity Clinic (part of the Identities and Social Action Research Programme). I am currently developing a related project (with Sarah Peters, School of Psychological Sciences) that explores the way urological surgeons and nurses communicate with prostate cancer patients about sexual issues.

(2) Identity, gender and inequality
In the related, social psychology strand of my work, I explore how we ‘do’ and ‘display’ our identities and relationships in interaction. To date, the majority of my work on this topic has focussed on the construction of gender and sexual identities across a range of institutional and ordinary settings (e.g., I explore ‘what counts’ as gender in an interaction, and how transsexual patients pass as male/female in psychiatric, gatekeeping settings), and how inequality and prejudice (heterosexism, hate speech) are evidenced in communication. My first book, Gender Talk: Feminism, Discourse and Conversation Analysis was published by Routledge in 2005, and I recently completed the edited collection Conversation and Gender (2011) for Cambridge University Press (with Elizabeth Stokoe, Loughborough University). In my current work, I am exploring how we use self-praise and self-deprecations to manage our identities as certain sorts of people, and how social actions typically thought of as ambiguous and subject to multiple possible interpretations (like 'flirting'), might be pinned down and analysed empirically. Much of this work challenges assumptions that underlie mainstream social psychological approaches and concepts.

(3) Research methodology in action
Drawing on ideas from the sociology of scientific knowledge, constructionism and ethnomethodology, I am interested in the ‘doing’ of research methodology as a topic in its own right. For example, I examine the relationship between the way research is supposed to work ‘in theory’ - as set out in methods textbooks, and how research actually plays out ‘in practice’ in real life settings. I have published on ‘ethics in action’, identifying how researchers gain informed consent from participants, the 'reactivity' of participants to the presence of data recording devices, and what 'reflexive' methodologies look like in practice. Finally, I have contributed to methodological debates about the relationship between natural and contrived data, realism and relativism and feminist methodology.

I supervise PhD and DClinPsy research on these topics, and welcome enquiries.
 

 

Methodological Knowledge

Qualitative
Interviews
Focus groups
Qualitative questionnaires
Online/media data
Thematic analysis
Discourse analysis and discursive psychology
Conversation analysis of naturally occurring ordinary and institutional data
Analysis of gesture
Ethics of research using interactional data
 

Quantitative
Questionnaire design
 

 

Teaching


Research Methods and Statistics [Year 1]
Qualitative Research Methods in Applied Contexts [Year 3 elective]
Qualitative Research Methods [MRes]

Doctoral students
Rebecca McPhillips (2009-) Delicate topics in psychiatrist-patient communication in the Gender Identity Clinic (ESRC funded).

Simon Goodman (2003-7) The discursive construction of asylum seeking (ESRC funded)

Bryony Hoskins (1997-2001*) Tales of the intimate: Exploring young people’s accounts of sexual practice (ESRC funded, Brunel University. *I co-supervised Bryony during her final year).

 

Biography

After a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Social Policy (Durham), an MSc in Sociology (LSE) and a PhD in Psychology in the Social Sciences Department at Loughborough University, I spent a short time as a research assistant analysing the talk of prisoners in a sex offender treatment programme (Plymouth) before taking up my first Lectureship in Sociology and Communication in the Department of Human Sciences (now School of Social Sciences) at Brunel University in 2000. In 2004 I moved to the University of Manchester School of Psychological Sciences where I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the Clinical and Health Psychology Research Group. I spent the 2005-2006 academic year as a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Sociology at The University of California at Los Angeles (funded by an ESRC-SSRC Collaborative Visiting Fellowship) where I received extensive training in Conversation Analysis. From Dec 2010-Feb 2011 I returned to UCLA as a Visiting Scholar in the Center for Language Interaction and Culture (CLIC).

 

Qualifications

(1994) BA (Hons) Sociology and Social Policy, First Class Honours, University of Durham
(1996) MSc (Econ) Sociology, with Distinction (ESRC funded), London School of Economics and Political Science
(2000) PhD Psychology (ESRC funded) Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University
(2002) PGCert Learning and Teaching in Higher Eduation, Brunel University
 

 

Collaborators and affiliated staff

Internal
Dr Sarah Peters, School of Psychological Sciences
Dr Trish Gooding, School of Psychological Sciences

External
Prof Elizabeth Stokoe, Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University
 

 

Selected publications

Frth

  • McPhillips, R., and Speer, S. A. (Frth). ‘It does you good as well, to have a bad appointment’: Patients’ perspectives on communication with psychiatrists in the Gender Identity Clinic (in preparation). eScholarID:158611
  • Speer, S. A. (Frth). Reflecting on the ethics and politics of interaction research (Invited commentary, Special Issue, Ethical issues in collecting interactional data, Ed. Isabella Paoletti (in preparation). Human Studies, eScholarID:158226
  • Speer, S. A. (Frth). Talking about sex with patients: Evidence from the Gender Identity Clinic and implications for patient centred care (revisions submitted). eScholarID:123060
  • Speer, S. A. and Stokoe, E. (Frth). Ethics in action: Consent-gaining interactions and implications for research practice (under review). eScholarID:129750
  • Speer, S. A. and Stokoe, E. (Frth). Flirting: Designedly ambiguous actions in interpersonal attraction (in preparation). eScholarID:129751

2013

  • Ranjbar, V. and Speer, S. A. (2013). Revictimisation and recovery from sexual assault: Implications for health professionals (in press). Violence and Victims, 28(2), eScholarID:109617

2012

  • Speer, S. A. & Parsons, C. (2012). ‘Suppose it wasn't possible for you to go any further with treatment, what would you do?’ Hypothetical questions in interactions between psychiatrists and transsexual patients (in press). In Sibel Arkonaç and Goklem Tekdemir-Yurtdas (Eds.) Soylem Okumalari. Ankara: Nobel Yayinevi [Reprinted and translated into Turkish from A. Hepburn & S. Wiggins (eds.) Discursive Research in Practice: New Approaches to Psychology and Interaction. pp.182-99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.]. eScholarID:158753
  • Speer, S. A. (2012). 'Feminist' conversation analysis: Who needs it? (Invited commentary, in press). Qualitative Research In Psychology, eScholarID:122338
  • Speer, S. A. (2012). Hypothetical questions: A comparative analysis and implications for 'applied' versus 'basic' conversation analysis (in press). Research on Language and Social Interaction, 45(4), eScholarID:122336
  • Speer, S. A. (2012). The Interactional Organization of Self-Praise: Epistemics, Preference Organisation and Implications for Identity Research. Social Psychology Quarterly, 75(1), 52-79. eScholarID:109615 | DOI:DOI: 10.1177/0190272511432939

2011

  • Speer SA, Stokoe E. (2011). Conversation and Gender (Eds. - Susan A. Speer and Elizabeth Stokoe). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. eScholarID:4d118
  • Speer SA, Stokoe E. (2011). An introduction to conversation and gender. In S. A. Speer and E. Stokoe (eds.) Conversation and Gender. (pp. 1-27). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. eScholarID:3d1062
  • Speer SA. (2011). On the role of reported, third party compliments in passing as a 'real' woman. In Speer, S. A. and Stokoe, E. (Eds.) Conversation and Gender. (pp. 155-182). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. eScholarID:3d657

2010

  • Speer SA. (2010). Pursuing views and testing commitments: Hypothetical questions in the psychiatric assessment of transsexual patients. In A. Freed and S. Ehrlich (eds.) Why do you ask? The function of questions in institutional discourse. (pp. 133-158). Oxford University Press. eScholarID:3d579
  • Speer, S. A. (2010). Key Researcher: Susan Speer on why I study trans. In Clarke, V., Ellis, S. J., Peel, E., and Riggs, D. W (Ed.), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Queer Psychology: An Introduction. (pp. 89-90). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. eScholarID:122339

2009

  • Speer SA, Hutchby Ian. (2009). From ethics to analytics: Aspects of participants orientations to the presence and relevance of recording devices. In Fielding, N. (Ed.) Interviewing II. SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods [With a response by Martyn Hammersley: 'Analytics' are no substitute for methodology: A response to Speer and Hutchby] [Reprinted from Sociology 37(2)]. London: Sage. eScholarID:3d907
  • Speer SA. (2009). Passing as a transsexual woman in the gender identity clinic. In M. Wetherell (ed.) Theorizing Identities and Social Action. (pp. 116-138). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. eScholarID:3d283

2008

  • Speer SA, Hutchby Ian. (2008). From ethics to analytics: Aspects of participants orientations to the presence and relevance of recording devices. In Hutchby, I. (Ed.) Methods in Language and Social Interaction Vol. 4, Embodiment, Modality and Mediation. SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods [Reprinted from Sociology 37(2)]. London: Sage. eScholarID:3d661
  • Speer SA. (2008). Natural and contrived data. In P. Alasuutari, J. Brannen and L. Bickman (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Social Research Methods. (pp. 290-312). London: Sage. eScholarID:3d498

2007

  • Speer SA, Parsons C. (2007). 'Suppose it wasn't possible for you to go any further with treatment, what would you do?' Hypothetical questions in interactions between psychiatrists and transsexual patients. In A. Hepburn and S. Wiggins (eds.) Discursive Research in Practice: New Approaches to Psychology and Interaction. (pp. 182-199). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. eScholarID:3d740
  • Speer, S. A. and Green, R. (2007). On passing: The interactional organization of appearance attributions in the psychiatric assessment of transsexual patients. In V. Clarke and E. Peel (Ed.), Out in Psychology: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer Perspectives. (pp. 335-368). Chichester: Wiley. eScholarID:75705
  • Speer, S. A. and Potter, J. (2007). The management of heterosexist talk: Conversational resources and prejudiced claims. In J. Potter (Ed.), Discourse and Psychology. SAGE Benchmarks in Psychology Series. Volume 2, Discourse and Social Psychology [Reprinted from Discourse & Society 11(4)]. London: Sage. eScholarID:117722
  • Goodman S, Speer SA. (2007). Category Use in the Construction of Asylum Seekers. Critical Discourse Studies, 4(2), 165-185. eScholarID:1d10557
  • Speer SA. (2007). On recruiting conversation analysis for critical realist purposes (Invited commentary). Theory and Psychology, 17(1), 125-135. eScholarID:1d13399

2006

  • Speer SA, Parsons C. (2006). Gatekeeping Gender: Some Features of the Use of Hypothetical Questions in the Psychiatric Assessment of Transsexual Patients. Discourse and Society, 17(6), 785-812. eScholarID:1d12671 | DOI:10.1177/0957926506068433

2005

  • Speer SA. (2005). Gender Talk: Feminism, Discourse and Conversation Analysis. London: Routledge. eScholarID:4d176
  • Speer SA. (2005). The interactional organization of the gender attribution process. Sociology, 39(1), 67-87. eScholarID:1d9906 | DOI:10.1177/0038038505049002

2003

  • Speer SA, Hutchby I. (2003). From ethics to analytics: Aspects of participants orientations to the presence and relevance of recording devices. Sociology, 37(2), 315-337. eScholarID:1d9905 | DOI:10.1177/0038038503037002006
  • Speer SA, Hutchby I. (2003). Methodology Needs Analytics: A Rejoinder to Martyn Hammersley. Sociology, 37(2), 353-359. eScholarID:1d10272

2002

  • Speer SA, Potter J. (2002). From Performatives to Practices: Judith Butler, Discursive Psychology, and the Management of Heterosexist Talk. Talking Gender and Sexuality (Ed. P. McIlvenny). (pp. 151-180). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. eScholarID:3d564
  • Speer SA. (2002). Natural and contrived data: A sustainable distinction? [With responses by Mike Lynch: From naturally occurring data to naturally organized ordinary activities: Comment on Speer. Pp. 531-37; Jonathan Potter: Two kinds of natural. Pp. 539-542; and Paul ten Have: Ontology or methodology?: Comments on 'Natural' and 'contrived' data: A sustainable distinction?, by Susan Speer. Pp. 527-530.]. Discourse Studies, 4(4), 511-525. eScholarID:1d9904
  • Speer SA. (2002). Sexist talk: Gender categories, participants orientation and irony. The Journal of Sociolinguistics, 6(3), 347-377. eScholarID:1d9902
  • Speer SA. (2002). Transcending the Natural/Contrived Distinction: A Rejoinder to ten Have, Lynch and Potter. Discourse Studies, 4(4), 543-548. eScholarID:1d10271
  • Speer SA. (2002). What can conversation analysis contribute to feminist methodology? Putting reflexivity into practice. Discourse and Society, 13(6), 801-821. eScholarID:1d9903 | DOI:10.1177/0957926502013006757

2001

  • Speer SA. (2001). Participants Orientations, Ideology, and the Ontological Status of Hegemonic Masculinity: A Rejoinder to Nigel Edley. Feminism and Psychology, 11(1), 141-144. eScholarID:1d10352
  • Speer SA. (2001). Reconsidering the concept of hegemonic masculinity: Discursive psychology, conversation analysis and participants orientations [With a response by Nigel Edley: Conversation analysis, discursive psychology and the study of ideology: A response to Susan Speer, pp. 136-140]. Feminism and Psychology, 11(1), 107-135. eScholarID:1d9901
  • Speer SA. (2001). Review article of Goddard and Patterson, Language and Gender; Bucholtz, Liang and Sutton (eds) Reinventing Identities: The Gendered Self in Discourse, and Pauwels, Women Changing Language. Discourse and Society, 12(3), 393-397. eScholarID:1d10270
  • Speer SA. (2001). Sports Media and Gender Inequality. Body and Society, 7(1), 109-114. eScholarID:1d10269

2000

  • Speer SA, Potter J. (2000). The Management of Heterosexist Talk: Conversational Resources and Prejudiced Claims. Discourse and Society, 11(4), 543-572. eScholarID:1d10268
  • Speer SA. (2000). Lets Get Real? Feminism, Constructionism, and the Realism/Relativism Debate. Feminism and Psychology, 10(4), 539-550. eScholarID:1d10267

1999

  • Speer SA. (1999). Feminism and Conversation Analysis: An Oxymoron? Feminism and Psychology, 9(4), 471-478. eScholarID:1d10266

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