| This thesis seeks to provide a link between Investigative Discourse Analysis (IDA), Content-Based Criteria Analysis (CBCA) and linguistic theory. Both of these theories are used to analyze written and oral narratives for potential deception. Each theory focuses mainly on the style of subject narratives, though content is important to both. Yet neither of these theories have shown any validity for their variables and criteria in linguistic theory. Furthermore, neither of these theories have established procedures which produce quantitative results. Using experimental data, natural language data, and witness, victim, and suspect narrative data, I studied the validity of the major variables proposed by IDA and CBCA, mainly verb tense shifts, use of passives, subject deletion, generic second person referencing, balance of the narratives, and various discourse mechanisms. Results indicated some support for CBCA variables, but almost none for variables associated with IDA. Further research should continue to study the validity of other variables associated with IDA and CBCA, while also establishing clear procedures to produce quantitative results instead of anecdotal speculations. |
