As a Conversation Analyst, I use audio and video recordings to study various types of interactional activities that occur in different kinds of contexts.

I started my career by studying the ways in which people agree and disagree with each other and respond to compliments and self-deprecations. Since then I've become very interested in exploring information seeking practices used in both social and institutional contexts, and on the methods people use to negotiate responsibility for blameworthy and praiseworthy deeds.

In the health delivery context, I have studied how doctors and patients enact different roles, the practices patients use for actualizing their own agendas, and teaching practices that supervisng physicians use with residents. I'm interested in exploring further how health literacy can be encouraged during the medical visit.

I have served as Chair of the Language and Social Interaction Division of the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association. Currently I serve on a number of editorial boards of journals that publish in the area of language and social interaction.