2017 Alexa Bolaños-Carpio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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© 2017 Alexa Bolaños-Carpio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERACTIONS IN CALLS TO THE 9-1-1 EMERGENCY SYSTEM IN COSTA RICA by ALEXA BOLAÑOS-CARPIO A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Communication, Information, and Library Studies Written under the direction of Dr. Galina Bolden And approved by _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey May, 2017 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Interactions in calls to the 9-1-1 Emergency System in Costa Rica By ALEXA BOLAÑOS-CARPIO Dissertation Director: Dr. Galina Bolden This dissertation examines interactions in calls to the 9-1-1 Emergency System in Costa Rica, and particularly focuses on the analysis of the overall structural organization of calls, and interactional activities of requesting help and formulating place. The dissertation uses the methodology of Conversation Analysis to examine recordings of naturally occurring interactions on the 9-1-1 telephone line, supplemented by non- participant observations in the call room and interviews with 9-1-1 officials. I analyze 215 calls of actual incidents. My findings show that, in the overall structural organization of the call, callers proffer (and sometimes engage in) greetings during the opening of the call. In the interrogative series phase, besides formulating the location of the incident and the problem, call-takers verify the caller’s contact information (i.e., name and telephone number). In the response of assistance phase, call-takers do not promise the assistance, but suggest it by using a combination of informings (i.e., the information was sent, the ii dispatch center is in charge of dispatching assistance, be alert on the assistance). Regarding requesting help, my analysis shows that by using particular turn designs callers may display an orientation to their low entitlement to the request and to high contingencies in getting the assistance (e.g., “para ver si”, “do me a favor” construction, “be kind” construction), or, alternatively, to low contingencies in getting the assistance and high entitlement to the request (e.g., description of self-evident incidents). Regarding formulating place, findings show that callers use three practices: geographical formulations, landmark formulations, and “other signs” formulations. The landmark formulation is comprised of a landmark, a distance from the landmark, and the direction of the movement. A place formulation is institutionally sufficient by call-takers when it includes both geographical and landmark formulations. These findings inform us about different practices that different communities use when calling to 9-1-1 services. By examining the overall structural organization of calls, and interactional activities of requesting help and formulating place, and analyzing possible interactional problems that participants might experience when calling for help, this dissertation has a potential to inform and possibly improve the 9-1-1 service in Costa Rica. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I want to thank the Universidad de Costa Rica, the Fulbright-Laspau program, the Rutgers Graduate School-New Brunswick, the SC&I Ph.D. program, and the Sistema de Emergencias 9-1-1 Costa Rica for the support provided while pursuing my doctoral degree. I also want to thank my advisor Galina Bolden for her unconditional support during the process, for her constant feedback, and for always being available. I want to thank the committee members of this dissertation: Jenny Mandelbaum, Alexa Hepburn, and Chase Raymond for their feedback and for challenging my analysis. Thanks to all of the RUCAL folks, but special thanks to Lisa Mikesell, Jeff Robinson, Anita Pomerantz, and Jonathan Potter for their sharp feedback every time I showed my data. Thank you Darcy Ritt for your help editing and translating. I want to thank my Fulbright mates for making me part of their lives and teaching me that everybody speaks the language of love: Andrea Ruótolo, Yadira Peralta, Haifa Fersi, Paloma Baytelman, Olga Lazistki, Toon Sitiphone Thapesuphanh, Hasan Kayar, Yuu Nishimura, Eijiro Hazama, Naoto Kojima, Charles Norton, Khongorzul Bat-Ireedui, Wendratama Wendra, Indrani Kopal, and Kagiso Molefhe. I want to thank my Rutgers mates across disciplines. Thanks Isabel Espinoza, Roque Montero, Manuel Larenas, and Walter Bazán for making my life more enjoyable in New Brunswick y porque entre internacionales y latinos nos entendemos mejor. Thanks also to SC&I people for joining me in this journey and for being around: SongHee Park, Marie Haverfield, Jack Harris, Sarah Barriage, Joy Cox, Steph Mikitish, Debanjan Gosh, Ralph Gigliotti, Weixu Lu, Inyoung Shin, and Katie Kang. Thanks to iv Frank Bridges, Aaron Trammell and Neyd Campos for helping me to move out/in to many of the apartments I have lived in. Thanks to my beloved friends: Surabhi Sahay and Ratul Guha, Wan Wei and Erick Sun, Xiaofeng Li and Dan Kuhn, Fanny Ramírez and Nick Earwood, and Darcey Searles and Simon DeSouza. Thanks for walking with me, for being there, for cheering me up, for listening to me, for supporting me. I love you! Gracias a Mónica Hernández por ser mi hermana del alma en esta aventura…¡para eso estamos! Gracias a César Sequeira por recibirme por primera vez en New Brunswick, por el apoyo durante esta travesia y por las múltiple cocinadas y comederas que nos pegamos. Thanks to Luis Manuel Olguín Valencia, Verónica González Temer and Ana Cristina Ostermann for showing up in my life at the right time. Gracias porque me hicieron creer que una comunidad latinoamerica de analistas de la conversación sí es posible. Obrigada! #ACLatino Thanks to Hannia Watson, Lolita Camacho, Bernardo Bolaños, Pablo Jiménez, Irene Gil and Eugenia Gutiérrez for their support despite the distance. Thanks to Yalmar Sánchez for constantly helping me out with my questions about geography and maps. Thanks to Verónica Ríos and Lepolt Linkimer for their amazing doctoral coaching. Thanks to Marianela Muñoz, Larissa Castillo, and Natalia Rodríguez for holding my hand, and for loving me. I love you! Gracias a Ana Cecilia Carpio Vásquez y Adriana Bolaños Carpio. Gracias a mi mamá y mi hermana por confiar en mí, por apoyarme cada día, por su apoyo espiritual y por su apoyo material (léase, por la breteada que se echaron en diciembre). Gracias porque sin ustedes nada hubiera sido posible. Les agradezco los sacrificios hechos v durante cuatro años y medio. Gracias por no dejarme caer y por sostenerme. ¡Las quiero mucho! Gracias a Arturo, Nora, Jonás, Elías y Ana Cecilia porque estuvieron acompañándome en la distancia y creyeron en mí. Finally, I am sure that my mom told everybody in my hometown to pray for me every day during the last four and a half years. I don’t know who you are, but I want to thank you for considering me in your prayers. I felt everybody’s support every single day of this journey. Gracias a quien me sostuvo cada día. vi DEDICATION To my father, who could not see this dissertation complete vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iv Dedication ...................................................................................................................... vii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ………………………………………...…………………………...... xii Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 Overview of the dissertation ........................................................................................ 3 Chapter 2 Literature review ............................................................................................ 6 Conversation analytic approach to institutional interaction .................................... 6 Conversation analytic research on emergency calls .................................................. 9 Research on gatekeeping considerations ............................................................. 11 Research on managing emotions in emergency calls .......................................... 14 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 3 Methodology and Data ................................................................................. 18 Methodological backgrounds .................................................................................... 18 Data .............................................................................................................................. 20 Data collection ..................................................................................................... 20 Data transcription ................................................................................................ 22 Data analysis ........................................................................................................ 25 viii Background information about 9-1-1 Costa Rica ..................................................