Part of
Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond multitaskingEdited by Pentti Haddington, Tiina Keisanen, Lorenza Mondada and Maurice Nevile
[Not in series 187] 2014
► pp. 33–76
Edited by Pentti Haddington, Tiina Keisanen, Lorenza Mondada and Maurice Nevile
[Not in series 187] 2014
► pp. 33–76
The temporal orders of multiactivity
Operating and demonstrating in the surgical theatre
This chapter deals with multiactivity as the participants’ coordination of concurrent activities in which they are involved at the same time. Drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, and considering time as both a crucial dimension for defining the phenomenon and an important source of variation within it, the chapter focuses on different temporal orders characterising multiactivity and offers a systematic account of their organisation. Although this conceptualisation of time is based on a careful examination of how surgeons manage multiactivity in the operating room, the temporal orders identified in this way address general issues concerning the temporal and sequential organisation of concurrent courses of actions.
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