Part 1 Conversation Analysis and Social Institutions 5

2 Conversation Analysis: Some Theoretical Background 7

3 Talking Social Institutions into Being 20

4 Dimensions of Institutional Talk 34

Part 2 Calls for Emergency Service 51

5 Emergency Calls as Institutional Talk 53

6 Gatekeeping and Entitlement to Emergency Service 69

7 Emergency Calls under Stress 87

Part 3 Doctor–Patient Interaction 101

8 Patients’ Presentations of Medical Issues: The Doctor’s Problem 103

9 Patients’ Presentations of Medical Issues: The Patient’s Problem 119

10 History Taking in Medicine: Questions and Answers 135

11 Diagnosis and Treatment: Medical Authority and Its Limits 154

Part 4 Trials, Juries, and Dispute Resolution 171

12 Trial Examinations 173

13 Jury Deliberations 186

14 Informal Modes of Dispute Resolution 200

Part 5 News and Political Communication 213

15 News Interview Turn Taking 215

16 Question Design in the News Interview and Beyond 227

17 Answers and Evasions 245

18 Interaction en Masse: Audiences and Speeches 263

19 Conclusion 280

Transcript Symbols 283

References 288

Index of Names 304

Index of Subjects 309