Published Research

Published studies

On this page, we’ve added a list of microanalysis publications (with links). If you scroll below the list, you’ll find subpages that provide a collection of coding manuals from published studies, a peek “behind the scenes” provided by authors, and some distilled “top tips” based on these studies to try implementing in your practice today! 

Reference list of published research studies

Here’s a (hopefully) updated list of studies of clinical interaction (e.g., health care, social work, therapy) using microanalysis as defined by Janet Bavelas and colleagues (*indicates open access):

  • *Menichetti J., Benth J.Š., Gerwing J., Lundkvist, C., Clayman, M. L., & Gulbrandsen, P. (2025) What influences how physicians frame information for patients? An explorative quantitative study on hospital interactions from different specialties. BMJ Open 2025;15:e097474. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-097474
  • *Edman, K. (2025). Conversational Democracy: Facilitating Children’s ‘Unprompted Talk ’in Social Work Dialogues. Child & Family Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.13318
  • *Frigaard, C., Menichetti, J., Schirmer, H., Wisløff, T., Bjørnstad, H., Simonsen, T.  & Gerwing, J. (2025). How do doctors address heart failure patients’ disclosures of medication adherence problems during hospital and primary care consultations? An exploratory interaction-based observational cohort study. BMJ open, 15(4), e098826. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-098826
  • *Larsen, B. H., Gerwing, J., Lundeby, T., Gulbrandsen, P., & Førde, R. (2025). More than an extra set of ears: A video-based analysis exploring the role of companions in routine oncology visits. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347332.2025.2457964
  • *Frigaard, C., Menichetti, J., Schirmer, H., Bjørnstad, H., Simonsen, T. B., Wisløff, T., … & Gerwing, J. (2024). What do patients with heart failure disclose about medication adherence at home to their hospital and primary care doctors? Exploratory interaction-based observational cohort study. BMJ open, 14(8), e086440. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-086440
  • Gerwing, J., White, A. E., & Henry, S. G. (2024). Communicative Practices Clinicians Use to Correct Patient Misconceptions in Primary Care Visits. Health Communication, 39(12), 2682-2697. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2283658
  • *Menichetti, J., Gulbrandsen, P., Landmark, A. M., Lie, H. C., & Gerwing, J. (2024). How do physicians frame medical information in talks with their patients? An inductive microanalysis. Qualitative Health Research, 34(1-2), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497323231205152
  • De Jong, P., Healing, S., & Jordan, S. S. (2024). How questioning functions in co-construction. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 43(1), 84-104. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2024.43.1.84
  • *Edman, K. (2024). Doing mutual understanding in child and family therapy sessions: How three interlocutors calibrate new information. Discourse Studies, 26(2), 199-217. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614456231207519
  • Østby, L., Gerwing, J., & Oterholm, I. Hvordan gir ansatte i barnevernet råd til foreldre? En analyse av rådgivning i hjelpetiltaket «råd og veiledning». Tidsskriftet Norges Barnevern, 100(4), 240-259. https://doi.org/10.18261/tnb.100.4.4
  • *Larsen, B. H., Lundeby, T., Gerwing, J., Gulbrandsen, P., & Førde, R. (2022). “Eh–What type of cells are these–flourishing in the liver?” Cancer patients’ disclosure of existential concerns in routine hospital consultations. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(7), 2019-2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.11.010
  • *Larsen, B. H., Lundeby, T., Gulbrandsen, P., Førde, R., & Gerwing, J. (2022). Physicians’ responses to advanced cancer patients’ existential concerns: A video-based analysis. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(10), 3062-3070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2022.06.007
  • *Edman, K., Gustafsson, A. W., & Cuadra, C. B. (2022). Recognising children’s involvement in child and family therapy sessions: A microanalysis of audiovisual recordings of actual practice. The British Journal of Social Work, 52(6), 3480-3500. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcab248
  • *Nordfalk, J. M., Menichetti, J., Thomas, O., Gulbrandsen, P., & Gerwing, J. (2022). Three strategies when physicians provide complex information in interactions with patients: how to recognize and measure them. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(6), 1552-1560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.10.013
  • *Menichetti, J., Gerwing, J., Borghi, L., Gulbrandsen, P., & Vegni, E. (2021). Saying “I don’t know”: a video-based study on physicians’ claims of no-knowledge in assisted reproductive technology consultations. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 611074. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.611074
  •  *Gerwing, J., Steen-Hansen, J. E., Mjaaland, T., Jensen, B. F., Eielsen, O., Thomas, O. M. T., & Gulbrandsen, P. (2021). Evaluating a training intervention for improving alignment between emergency medical telephone operators and callers: a pilot study of communication behaviours. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, 29(1), 107. DOI: 10.1186/s13049-021-00917-y
  • *Siddiqui, T. G., Cheng, S., Mellingsæter, M., Grambaite, R., Gulbrandsen, P., Lundqvist, C., & Gerwing, J. (2020). “What should I do when I get home?” treatment plan discussion at discharge between specialist physicians and older in-patients: mixed method study. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 1002. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05860-9   
  • *Díaz, A. Z. (2020). El análisis del lenguaje en psicoterapia: diferencias entre expertos y novatos (Doctoral dissertation, Universidad de Málaga). https://hdl.handle.net/10630/19469 NOTE: Dissertation is in English, with an extended Spanish abstract. Title: Language analysis in psychotherapy: Differences between experts and novices
  • De Jong, P., Jordan, S. S., Healing, S., & Gerwing, J. (2020). Building miracles in dialogue: Observing co-construction through a microanalysis of calibrating sequences. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 39(2), 84-108. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2020.39.2.84
  • Svennevig, J., Gerwing, J., Jensen, B. U., & Allison, M. (2019). Pre-empting understanding problems in L1/L2 conversations: Evidence of effectiveness from simulated emergency calls. Applied linguistics, 40(2), 205-227. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx021
  • Gerwing, J., & Li, S. (2019). Body-oriented gestures as a practitioner’s window into interpreted communication. Social Science & Medicine, 233, 171-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.05.040
  • Gerwing, J., & Gulbrandsen, P. (2017). The perils of information giving: What an accidental incident taught us about messages and roles. Patient Education and Counseling, 100(11), 2109-2115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2017.05.009
  • Gerwing, J., Indseth, T., & Gulbrandsen, P. (2016). A microanalysis of the clarity of information in physicians’ and patients’ discussions of treatment plans with and without language barriers. Patient education and counseling, 99(4), 522-529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2015.10.012
  • Gerwing, J., & Indseth, T. (2016). Enhancing caller comprehensibility in emergency calls with a language barrier: operators in the role of addressee. International Journal of Listening, 30(3), 163-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2015.1056878
  • Taylor, L., & Simon, J. (2014). Opportunities: Organizing the solution-focused interview. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 33(4), 62-78. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2014.33.4.62
  • Gerwing, J., & Dalby, A. M. L. (2014). Gestures convey content: An exploration of the semantic functions of physicians’ gestures. Patient education and counseling, 96(3), 308-314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2014.07.014
  • Korman, H., Bavelas, J. B., & De Jong, P. (2013). Microanalysis of formulations in solution-focused brief therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and motivational interviewing. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 32(3), 31-45. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2013.32.3.31
  • *Healing, S. (2013). Development of a method of analysis for identifying an individual patient’s perspective in video-recorded oncology consultations (Masters thesis). http://hdl.handle.net/1828/4835
  • Froerer, A. S., & Jordan, S. S. (2013). Identifying solution-building formulations through microanalysis. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 32(3), 60-73. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2013.32.3.60
  • Jordan, S. S., Froerer, A. S., & Bavelas, J. B. (2013). Microanalysis of positive and negative content in solution-focused brief therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy expert sessions. Journal of systemic Therapies, 32(3), 46-59. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2013.32.3.46
  • Del Vento, A., Bavelas, J., Healing, S., MacLean, G., & Kirk, P. (2009). An experimental investigation of the dilemma of delivering bad news. Patient Education and Counseling, 77(3), 443-449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2009.09.014
  • Gerwing, J. (2008). Quantifying infant social responsiveness: Microanalysis of home videos of a set of triplets for early indications of autism (Doctoral dissertation). http://hdl.handle.net/1828/1226
  • Tomori, C., & Bavelas, J. B. (2007). Using microanalysis of communication to compare solution-focused and client-centered therapies. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 18(3), 25-43. https://doi.org/10.1300/J085v18n03_03
  • McGee, D., Vento, A. D., & Bavelas, J. B. (2005). An Interactional Model of Questions as Therapeutic Interventions1. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 31(4), 371-384. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2005.tb01577.x

Coding Manuals

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Empirical Studies

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Behind the scenes

Published studies are interesting documents: They are a version of a research story, a version that usually fits within the IMRAD (Intro, Method, Results, Discussion) format. One that is the...

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Top Tips

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