Investigative Discourse Analysis

Rating:
Summary: A Clear, Focused Introduction
Review: Mr. Rabon's book provides an excellent overview of the basic premises and practices of statement analysis, leading the reader through information and examples, including practice statements where readers can apply the information they have learned. For anyone wanting to know more about this field, this book would be an excellent beginning. Clear, well-organized, and user-friendly throughout. Ted Kennedy's statement about the Chappaquiddick incident is included, as well as the statement of Dr. Jeffrey McDonald regarding the murder of his wife and two children. Fascinating and revealing analysis of both statements gives this book an added zing.

Rating:
Summary: Good information by a nationally recognized authority
Review: What is "statement analysis"? An investigator primarily uses statement analysis to study a person's choice and organization of words to gain the most information from that person's statement. Statement analysis represents a powerful tool because it goes beyond assessing the statement's content and the interviewee's non-verbal behavior.

Don Rabon is a nationally recognized authority on statement analysis. This book provides some excellent information about statement analysis, as well as excerpts from statements that you can analyze to help understand and develop these skills. The appendix provides answers to the exercises that appear throughout the book.

I highly recommend that anyone interested in statement analysis, however, begin with the book "In Search of Truth," by Daniel T. Marsano. It has these advantages over Mr. Rabon's book: It

1. presents the concepts and tools in a way that you can understand and work with much more easily;
2. explains why people unconsciously change their language patterns in ways that provide you additional information;
3. teaches you how to use statement analysis in oral interviews, rather than just how to use written or transcribed statements; and
4. shows you how to structure an interview to gain the most information.

The only disadvantage to "In Search of Truth" is that you'll need to order it through your book store. If, after reading Mr. Marsano's book, you want to pursue statement analysis further, Mr. Rabon's is one you'll probably want to pick up.