Deborah Turner

Conceptualizing Oral Documents

By Deborah A. Turner
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Washington, 2009

This dissertation proposes and explicates the concept of an oral document as a way to ground an exploratory discussion on orality and information behavior. This study isolates and focuses on information conveyed orally. A review of information behavior and allied literatures is used to explain what orality is and why it is important to information science. The meta-theory of social constructionism is used as a framework for defining and exploring the concept of an oral document. The concept of context additionally informs this effort. A field study methodology is used to gather observational data that demonstrate how utterances fit the definition for a document and incorporate properties of a document. Data analysis results in expanding the initial description of the concept under investigation. Results determine that the conceptualization of an oral document introduced is consistent with the concept of document and provides information researchers with extended capabilities for the study and analysis of information and knowledge that is created and conveyed orally. The dissertation provides recommendations for theory, practice, and future research.