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Hi, Something I forgot to say about this was that I had assumed that professional transcribers would prefer 'proper' dictation machine cassettes - the mini ones. the person I got in touch with said they had proper machines for both mini cassettes and standard cassettes. The standard cassettes should give better sound quality - all other things being equal. My sony handheld unit is adaquate quality, and I can use it to play back - it has a pause button. If I wanted (& I could afford it) I could get the transcriptions done professionally using my existing tapes. I find that transcription by via-voice of a 1 hour tape takes about 3 hours. Neil -----Original Message----- From: E.S.Housby [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 28 April 2003 14:30 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: to transcribe or not to transcribe? Many thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts on the best ways of recording interviews and whether or not full transcription is worth it. I have considered all these responses carefully and found them very helpful. I was interested to hear Neil say you can get a good recorder cheap from Argos. I have actually worked as a transcriber (both for a media monitoring company and privately doing research interviews) and I would not feel comfortable doing it any other way than with a proper foot-operated audio transcription machine. I am in this respect a dinosaur who is not interested in voice recognition software. Whether I can manage to get hold of one on expenses is another matter. We used to reckon that a thirty minute tape took four hours and an hour took a full day, and that's the rule of thumb I am using in calculating whether I've got time for full transcription. But if you have to do it by stopping and starting a walkman with your hand, it takes much longer. It was interesting to see what a state some of the academics who were paying us to transcribe their interviews got into over the dreaded question of "do you want every Um and Er transcribed". We of course charged by the word so they were torn between wanting fewer words and wanting a nuanced record. It drove us mad! With regard to Matthew's comments on the perils of getting subject approval: I am very conscious of the dangers of these but also conscious of the difficulties in gaining the confidence of Muslim subjects who have a well-founded fear of misrepresentation. I have decided that on the whole Matthew is right to say that the problems of getting approval outweigh the advantages in terms of access and ethics, but I have a horror of doing "extractive" research which treats subjects as merely stepping-stones on my own academic career. Luckily I am now finding that the increased access and credibility I am acquiring through the Muslims in Britain network (anyone out there interested, I can put you in touch) may eventually make these issues less important. Elaine SOCREL-PG is the Postgraduate e-mail list of the BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group. To join SOCREL-PG, send the following one-line message: join socrel-pg YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME to: <[log in to unmask]> Send contributions to the list by sending messages to: [log in to unmask] To leave SOCREL-PG, send the following one-line message: leave socrel-pg YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME to: <[log in to unmask]> SOCREL-PG is the Postgraduate e-mail list of the BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group. To join SOCREL-PG, send the following one-line message: join socrel-pg YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME to: <[log in to unmask]> Send contributions to the list by sending messages to: [log in to unmask] To leave SOCREL-PG, send the following one-line message: leave socrel-pg YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME to: <[log in to unmask]>