Something Old and Something New

Abstract

In recent years there has been a significant increase in studies of social interaction and language use which involve the collection and analysis of audiovisual (AV) data. This article reviews a number of methodological issues in research involving AV recording and proposes strategies for improving the reliability and validity of AV data. The article maintains that AV recording should be part of conventional ethnography and that specific features of traditional ethnography must be preserved to cope with the methodological problems of this new technology.