Tuesday, 26 February 2013

Writing up the data!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Okay, I'm going to be honest. I'm listening back to all my interviews and regretting that I have recorded so many. it is taking my so long to type them all up and put them in note form. I have to say, I am a bit bored. I used to temp in a doctors surgery and watch their sectaries listen and type up their dictations. It's not all boring, sometimes I laugh, mainly at the things I say or the sound of my own voice. Do I really sound like that?

Still I understand that this is definitely something I have to do. It almost physically removes the data from me and presents it back to me in a tangible form. Then I can cast my fresh eyes over what was said at the point of analysis. However I have these moments of excitement when I hear something I instantly know challenges or supports something stated in my literature. It's these comments I'll be looking for and as I gather my data.

I see it as a pirate gathering his secret treasure that he has been collecting on his journey, each piece of treasure tells a single story and together they inform him of where he needs to go next. I continue to gather my treasure of data (Ooh Arrr).
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13 comments:

  1. Pauline Hutton26 February 2013 at 01:36

    Ahoy there pirate! great that you have done so many interviews. I am still trying to gain mine but I am determined to get the ones I want.The camus session seemed to go well. I am back from Australia, good point you made to me about how the Australians handle their arts, its a younger scene than here i mean younger in years of beginning therefore I felt culturally it is evolving. Its an expensive place though and I cant help feeling that when a place is so expensive it excludes a lot of people to art so for me that was a minus.

    best ,
    Pauline

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    1. Ahmet Ahmet27 February 2013 at 23:32

      The situation between expense and the arts is present in a lot of countries at the moment. Such a shame. I bet you are glad you are back and can get on with your studies. I'd say you are right to be choosy about your interviews. We need to be sure about who we are asking to produce a better quality discovery at the end.

      Thanks,
      ahmet

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  2. Simone.Grandjean26 February 2013 at 02:44

    Hi Ahmet, I do empathise with you there, but like you said it has to be done! The time of the interview you get carried away with trying to draw out as much information as possible, when in reality it ALL just needs to be compressed again. How are you presenting this information? Are you going to prepare some audio files or just document it? Are you using another form of data capturing?
    Sounds like everything is going well with you, I look forward to your updates!

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    1. Ahmet Ahmet27 February 2013 at 23:38

      That's for the comment Simone.

      I agree, the idea of compressing is important. I need to be able to communicate my inquiry to the outside world. The action of transcribing and compressing what was said in order to compare and use as evidence. I think to say within the ethical framework of my inquiry I will not submit any audio files and it will be presented in written for, with a couple of graphs. My data is mostly conversations and observations, for me the best form to capture these are notes. how do you intend to capture you data?

      Thanks
      Ahmet

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    2. Simone.Grandjean28 February 2013 at 08:03

      I am the same, though initially criticising the method of observation in my proposal I have found it to be of greater use now. I will be documenting all mine also due to the ethics involved - it just seems so much writing now! I have started to post about my 'next step' though still find myself getting lost in the enormity of the project. I keep trying to break it down into sub-sections, but this doesn't always work - you always find your mind runs away with itself!

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  3. Danni Webber26 February 2013 at 09:08

    Hi Ahmet,

    I think transcribing interviews is the activity of the day! (I too hate listening back to my own voice, and I'm sure it isn't how I sound!)I agree with your treasure analogy, its amazing to have the recorded evidence as it reminds you of things you have forgotten or the things you didn't pick up on.

    I agree with you Simone that it was great to pull out as much info as possible but it now has to be compressed back down, I am considering just transcribing the most important things, that really have value to my inquiry, but I am concerned that this might affect the validity, any thoughts??

    Look forward to keeping up with everyone's progress.

    Danni.

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    1. Ahmet Ahmet27 February 2013 at 23:41

      Hi Danni, I think that this is a good idea. You only need to extract the things you need. Obviously the researcher needs to be aware that you are responsible to displaying what happened from a non-bias view. But it would be pointless to extract subject which don't relate to you.

      The validity comes from your reason behind choosing them for interview and the idea of triangulation within your participants and questions.

      Thanks,

      Ahmet

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  4. Corinda27 February 2013 at 05:52

    Hi Ahmet

    Ah yes! capturing too much data! I remember that. In the end I decided to choose four questions to investigate further and expand on. I discarded the questions I felt where not so relevant to my inquiry. I then found reoccurring themes and focused on those.

    Yes, I too laughed at my video recoded interviews but it made me change how I conducted and presented myself, how I was sitting, if I was fidgeting and I kept interrupting and contributing to the discussion, the tone of my voice etc. It highlighted many things about myself.

    Sounds as if you have quite a lot to transcribe...

    Looking forward to reading your blogs.

    Best wishes
    Corinda

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    1. Ahmet Ahmet27 February 2013 at 23:47

      Thanks foe this Corinda.

      i am at the end of this process now but that sounds like a fantastic way of dealing with the issue. I agree that it's all about reoccurring themes and i get excited when I see a pattern emerging. I too found an awareness for how much I interrupt or finish off peoples sentences for them, especially if i agree or get passionate about what they are saying. it's been a great exercise for taming my professional voice.

      Out of interest, do you plan to continue blogging in life after the BAPP programme?

      Best
      Ahmet

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  5. Adesola27 February 2013 at 09:46

    Well OK, as a fellow dyslexic there's no way I could type up something that was recorded and not take a couple of years. Here a dyslexic way: I listen to the recording and take notes about what was said noting down the time stamp (for example 2.45 minutes into the recording etc...) Then when you are writing up your work and need a quote look at your notes, go back to that part of the recording and just type up the part you are going to use as a quote. I think that is fine. I mean for research projects you should type everything up but this project is more about you and your process of learning and discovery than it is about findings. If it was a research project for findings, I would suggest you get someone to type it up. There are professional who do that.
    Adesola

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  6. Ahmet Ahmet27 February 2013 at 23:51

    Adesola, I could have done with this conversation a week ago...

    Thank you for your advice, again it reminds me that I should think outside the box sometimes and try to do things my own way. I agree that it's about a balance between researcher and practitioner. I am certainly not passionate about research as such, however I am extremely interested in my inquiry not so I can get results, but my aim is to understand and become more informed within an aspect of my practice.

    Thank you for you comment.

    Ahmet

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  7. Lemon Leaf3 March 2013 at 07:58

    Hi Ahmet!
    I am doing the same thing now and I agree it is a bit of a bore typing out an interview. However, i also agree that listening to it a 2nd and 3rd time means that different points pop out that you hadn't noticed before, bringing out some interesting points to think about!

    I hope it is all going well :)

    Emily

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    1. Ahmet Ahmet9 March 2013 at 04:46

      Thanks, Emily.

      it's hard not to hone in on the way it was said, as that is my interpretation and could be accused as bias... Complex stuff!

      Ahmet

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