Although the sound quality doesn's survive wholly in tact during a mini disc
to audio transfer, the mini disc still serves as a superb record of the
interview. Rarely do I have more than 1 word of an interview which is
inaudible using a minidisc, and most of my interviews are between one and
two hours in length. Many of these interviews have been undertaken in cafes,
pubs and restaurants. I could never have captured a conversation using audio
under these interview conditions. For the transcriptions, I've transferred
the interview to audio, always knowing that I can double check an exchange
on the minidisc should it be indistinct on audio.
Kerry
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hopkin, Rachel2 [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 05 January 2001 09:32
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: mini disc use
>
> Dear Liz,
> I have attempted to record a focus group using a mini disk
> and you are right the sound quality is much better, however
> I had a little problem due to the fact that I am not all
> that hot with things which are technical! After stopping
> the recording I managed to wipe all the data from the disk
> and begin re-recording everyones chats as they left the
> group. Luckily for me the group was "practice run" for
> facilitation and therefore the data was not all that
> important for my study. Since then I have returned to using
> the good old tape recorder which had served me well and
> allowed me to enjoy the groups I facilitate rather than
> worrying about the recording.
> After saying all that though, I do have colleagues who have
> used the mini disk and found it to be a great asset. If
> nothing else it is less imposing than the tape recorder
> I have to use due to the sheer difference in sizes!
> One last thing to consider is the method by which you are
> transcribing the data from the interviews or groups. Should
> I have used the mini disk, I would have needed to transport
> the data from the disk to tape to transcribe. Perhaps this
> is because there are no other alternatives or maybe just
> because the hardware is not available to me. Whatever the
> reason I wonder if in doing this the advantage of better
> sound quality on recordings is lost?
> Hope that I can have been of a little assistance and have
> fun in collecting the data, however you record it!
> Rach.
> Phd student.
>
> On Thu, 4 Jan 2001 16:07:01 +0000 Liz O'Brien
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Has anyone used mini disc recorders for recording interviews and focus
> group
> > discussions. If so is it worth the extra money to have the ability to
> edit
> > data and is the sound quality any better than using a dictaphone.
> >
> > Thanks for you help
> >
> > Liz O'Brien
>
> ----------------------------------------
> Hopkin, Rachel2
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> "University of the West of England"
|