Coding miscommunication: A method for capturing the vagaries of language

Indian Call Centers have of problem. Despite doing a better job repairing computers than their American counterparts, customers report lower satisfaction with their work. Part of the customer dissatisfaction may stem from communication problems that customers experience while communicating with Indian call center workers. This paper reports on one method for capturing and analyzing these communication errors. Using a quantitative content analysis, this researcher identifies miscommunication in 20 telephone calls between the American customers of a large computer manufacturer and the Indian call center workers who seek to repair their equipment. This paper describes the coding system the researcher used, how she developed it, and her findings. Not only should the findings serve to improve call center communication, but the method could also uncover miscommunication in other intercultural communication genres or genres in which experts communicate with lay people.