Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-192) and index.

Introduction to membership categorization analysis / William Housley and Richard Fitzgerald -- De-reifiying categories / Rod Watson -- Prospective and retrospective categorization: category proffers and inferences in social interaction and rolling news media / Elizabeth Stokoe and Frederick Attenborough -- Categorization work in the courtroom : the 'foundational' character of membership categorization analysis / Christian Licoppe -- Challenging normativity : re-appraising category, bound, tied and predicated features / Edward Reynolds and Richard Fitzgerald -- Omnirelevance in technologized interaction : couples coping with video calling distortions / Sean Rintel -- Membership categorization and methodological reasoning in research team interaction / William Housley and Robin James Smith -- Transcription key.

"This is an exciting addition to the dynamic, multidisciplinary field of membership categorization analysis. Bringing together the biggest names in MCA this landmark publication provides a contemporary analysis of the field and a platform for emerging researchers and students to build upon. The book sets out the current methodological developments of MCA highlighting its analytic strength -- particularly when examining social identity and social knowledge. It provides a sophisticated tool of qualitative analysis and draws from a wide range of empirical studies provided by global scholars. The culmination of years of international research this agenda-setting text will be essential reading for academics and advanced students using membership categorization across the social sciences; particularly in media and communication studies, sociology, psychology, education, political science and linguistics."--Back cover.