Using discursive approaches to examine the utility and functions of language in public health and health promotion: highlighting social constructions of e-cigarettes

Wilson, GL ORCID: 0000-0002-0518-2240, Keenan, J, Porcellato, L ORCID: 0000-0002-8656-299X, Gee, I ORCID: 0000-0001-7684-3563, Gough, B and Grogan, S (2023) Using discursive approaches to examine the utility and functions of language in public health and health promotion: highlighting social constructions of e-cigarettes. Critical Public Health. ISSN 0958-1596

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Abstract

This article uses discursive approaches to examine the utility and functions of language in public health, focusing on social constructions of e-cigarettes. Due to the ambiguity surrounding the use of e-cigarettes, understanding may be negotiated collaboratively through co-construction in talk. Ten participants, three men and seven women aged 26–47 years, took part in two focus groups in Manchester, UK, where they discussed e-cigarettes. Data were analysed using blended discourse analysis, with a view to identifying dominant repertoires used by speakers. Participants drew from two discursive frameworks to communicate perceptions of e-cigarettes: (1) uncertainty and risk and (2) the social acceptability and stigma spectrum. The ambiguity surrounding e-cigarettes was reflected in the linguistic devices used in talk. This article demonstrates the value of drawing on discourse analysis to better understand the impact of health-related communication by providing insight into how existing messages are interpreted, co-constructed, and assigned meaning through shared interactions.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1117 Public Health and Health Services; 1608 Sociology; Public Health
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions:	Public and Allied Health
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Date of acceptance:	30 March 2023
Date of first compliant Open Access:	5 June 2023
Date Deposited:	05 Jun 2023 12:33
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2025 18:30
DOI or ID number:	10.1080/09581596.2023.2201658
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/19622

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