Kristen,
Voice recognition is just not there yet, especially for interview
applications. I use a software solution that is essentially free - the poor
graduate student's version of transcription equipment. I record interviews
on a mini-disc recorder (any type of recorder with an earphone/output jack
will do). I then use a standard audio cable with 1/4" jacks (from
Radioshack, Wal-Mart, etc.) to connect my recorder to the sound card on my
PC. Using mp3 recording software (I prefer MusicMatch, which is a mp3
player with recording capabilities and is available for free online), I
re-record the audio to a mp3 file. If you have a decent notebook computer
or you are conducting the interviews near your desktop PC, you could even
dispense with the recorder and capture the audio directly to mp3 by
connecting a microphone to your computer's sound card.
You can then use any mp3 player (Real Player, Windows Media Player, etc.) to
transcribe the interview, but it needs to be one with hot keys to start and
stop playing. Using the ALT and TAB keys in Windows, I toggle between the
mp3 player and a word processor (any will do, but I like MS-Word 2000 before
it checks spelling as I type). I like mp3 players that let me see the sound
wave - i.e. see how much sound I am about to encounter. It's a bit awkward
at first, but the ALT/TAB and hot keys quickly become a reflex, and this
works quite well.
There are several advantages to this approach - no moving parts to wear out,
mp3 files can be easily archived (burned to CD, etc.). The disadvantage is
that there are no reverse keys, but that has not caused problems for me.
You can purchase software programs for PC transcription (see link below) and
these have reverse keys, but I felt that their incremental advantage did not
justify their cost. However, the PC transcription software programs usually
can work with a foot pedal, which you can buy in a bundle. I summarized
this info on a webpage for a research methods class; below is the link.
Hope this helps.
http://www-management.wharton.upenn.edu/szulanski/Mgmt953/technologies.htm
Ben Powell
Ph.D. Student
Dept. of Mgmt.
Wharton/Univ. of PA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kristin Luker" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2001 1:06 AM
Subject: transcribers
> I know I have seen this addressed in previous posts, but I'm still not
> clear, and would love the benefit of the collective wisdom of the List.
Is
> there any way around spending a lot of time and money transcribing tapes
to
> make them ready for qualitative analysis on the computer? I know C-TANKS
> has been mentioned, but I can't quite figure out how it works (I ordered
> the demo.) How about voice recognition software? I suspect it can't work
> off a tape, but how about a person who has "trained" the software
repeating
> a tape into the voice recognition mike? How about digital recorders that
> have voice recognition built in? (I read in the New York Times about an
> Olympus digital tape recorder that has this.) And finally, if I have to
go
> the old-fashioned way (again!) can anyone recommend a good tape
> transcription machine, i.e. a tape recorder that you can slow down, speed
> up, and use with a foot pedal, etc. I know this is a pain for all of us,
> and I'd love to hear thoughts as well as name-brand recommendations.
>
> Kristin Luker
> UC Berkeley
> Kristin Luker
> Professor of Sociology and Professor in the Jurisprudence and Social
Policy
> Program,
> Boalt Hall School of Law
>
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