Suzanne,

For an overview of digital recording for qualitative research purposes see:
http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/SRU38.html.

With regard to sound quality, minidisc has two advantages over the voice
recorders (note that I haven't used any of the Olympus or Sony solid state
voice recorders so my opinion isn't based on practical experience with these
devices):

1. The sample rate and frequency sensitivity of minidisc are much higher. Of
course, for recording speech you don't need a sample rate of 44.1 kHz and a
frequency sensitivity of 20 Hz-20 kHz (i.e. CD quality audio) but the solid
state voice recorders even when set to highest quality mode provide for a
bare minimum for decent quality, e.g. the DS-330 has a top sample rate of 12
kHz and a frequency sensitivity of 300 to 5,000 Hz (i.e. a little better
than telephone quality audio). Olympus has new models that have much better
audio specifications (e.g. DS-10
http://www.olympus.co.jp/LineUp/VTREK/DS10/ds10E.html) but these are only
available in Japan with a Kanji display at present.

2. Stereo recording. This can be an advantage if you use a microphone setup
in which there is separation between the two microphones because: a). the
quality of the sound depends on how close the microphone is to the speaker
so having two microphones that can be placed in different locations will
help in a group situation where you may have for example 6-8 people sitting
round a large table.
b). recording in stereo, assuming that transcription is also done using
stereo, can aid in distinguishing speakers, overlapping conversation etc. as
different speakers will have a greater presence on one channel than another.
You can also adjust the balance to emphasize one channel over another as
needed.

The disadvantages of minidisc is lack of fast transfer to PC (as you noted)
and it needs to be used with a little care.

Another option for recording focus groups etc. is to use a laptop computer
(cheap if you already have own one). You'll need recording software (e.g.
CoolEdit 2000 - $69), microphones ($50-100), possibly a USB audio input
device (cheapest is the Griffin iMic, $35). If  you have lots of money to
spend there are other options as well. (NB Cheap equipment is a false
economy if the audio quality is inadequate: increases transcription time
(very expensive) and results in lost data).

Note on  Dragon Naturally Speaking Software. You will not be able to use
this to transcribe interviews or focus group recordings. Voice recognition
software only works when with it has been trained to recognize a particular
voice. It is also very dependent on the audio being produced in a consistent
manner that excludes background noise. This usually means that the speaker
has to be speaking into a microphone that is positioned within a couple of
inches of their mouth. The only way you'll be able to use DNS is to train it
to recognize your voice or the voice of transcriptionist. Then play back the
audio through headphones and repeat everything in your own voice to create
digital audio for that DNS will be able to recognize.

Alan.









----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin, Suzanne" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 4:39 AM
Subject: Digital recording and transcription


I am looking to purchase some digital equipment to record focus groups and
in-depth interviews I will be conducting this year.

There seem to be two main options open to me - purchase of a mini disc
recorder or a digital dictaphone recorder.  Whilst the dictaphone seems
preferable in that it is possible to down load data directly onto the PC at
high speed (the mini disc down loads at a slower speed), I am concerned that
the quality of recording with a dictaphone, particularly in focus groups,
will not be as good as that from a mini disc or even good enough to
transcribe the discussions.

I wonder whether anyone has experience of using these two formats and
whether they are able to offer any information as to the difference in
recording quality between them (particularly in group situations).

In terms of dictaphone models, I have been recommended the Olympus DS 330
Digital Voice Recorder over a Sony ICD MS-515 Memory Stick Digital Dictation
Machine.  This is compatible with Dragon Naturally Speaking Software -
again, does anyone have any experience of using this software to transcribe
in-depth interviews/focus groups?  My feeling is that it will not be able to
capture the complexity of discussion of a focus group particularly if people
have strong regional accents - bearing in mind this work will be conducted
in the UK and not the US (where I assume the software was developed).

Any information gratefully received.

Dr Suzanne Martin
Social Forestry Project Leader

Forest Research
Northern Research Station
Roslin
Midlothian
EH25 9SY

Email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: +44 (0)131 445 6930
Fax: +44 (0)131 445 5124
http://www.forestry.gov.uk