Healthcare Fraud: Auditing and Detection Guide, 2nd Edition

Narrative Discourse Analysis

Narrative discourse analysis is a methodology that analyzes a set or series of narrative communications. The process incrementally breaks down the communication of thoughts buried within words. It is a breakdown of speech and patterns. These patterns demonstrate trends of generic statements. Generic statements tend to be associated with untruthful statements or thoughts that are inhibited, whether by a conscious or unconscious choice. Specific statements tend to be associated with facts and thus tend to be truthful in nature. This section provides just an introduction to the concept and body of science. Imagine the classic example of “Do I look fat?” Any man who is asked this by his significant other will typically demonstrate patterns of generality that are not associated with specific description or communication. Exhibit 21.18 provides an overview of considerations to be applied.

Exhibit 21.18 Narrative Discourse Methodology

1. Ideal sample is a sample size of 3,000 words. How many words does the writing specimen have? 2. Count the number of sentences. 3. Dissect each sentence. 4. Find and identify all noun phrases in the text as to type of noun (singular, plural, uncountable, proper, and gerund). 5. Identify prominent grammatical features. 6. Identify the general use of verbs (past time, present time, general truth, etc.). 7. Identify the general format of the text (graphics, italics, layout). 8. Identify how definitions are expressed ...