This volume of Tromsø Studies in Linguistics deals with theoretical and practical aspects of doctor-patient communication analysis. Two different and much used approaches to the analysis of doctor-patient communication are compared and contrasted, one social psychological (Bales’ Interaction Process Analysis/Byrne and Long’s method), the other sociolinguistic (Conversation Analysis). The discussion emphasises central themes in doctor-patient communication research, such as power relations and outcomebased research. In addition, various approaches to the collecting, coding and analysing of data are discussed. Rolf Wynn (born 1968) is now finishing medical school. He has previously (1993) obtained a cand. philol. degree in English (linguistics) and has now received a grant to do a PhD thesis within the field of doctor-patient communication analysis. Tromsø Studies in Linguistics 14.