Suchergebnisse

A discussion of some problems involved in employment of recorders in the field & in processing tape recorded interviews: based upon 4 yrs of experience in using tape recorders on the Disaster Project of NORC who gathered 1,000 non-directive interviews with 700 tape recordings, all then transcribed into typewritten form with necessary corrections made on the typescripts. It is found that R's accepted use of tape recorders with a (mean - average) refusal rate of less than 10%. The most crucial element in gaining acceptance of recorder is interviewer's own attitude toward it. The recorder does not become an issue to the R unless interviewer makes it one. Soc characteristics of R's had little relevance to acceptance &/or rejection of the use of the recorder. In field work of returning with inaudible tapes is a more serious problem than refusals. Interviewer should maintain outwardly casual attitude toward equipment but be continually alert; he should try to avoid drawing too much attention to the machine & keep R occupied. Spatial juxtaposition of the R, interviewer, microphone, & machine is crucial for recording quality, with microphone being placed close to R & interviewer. A test run will determine adequacy of arrangement. Simultaneous talking must be prevented because overlapping voices on tape are impossible to discern. Prior to interviewer's entry into the field it is essential to establish a system for tape identification. In processing tape, a basic problem in transcribing is that there are no clerical or secretarial org's prepared to process tapes on a large scale, thus projects are faced with doing its own transcribing, assembling a special group to do the job, or contracting with an outside agency capable of doing the task. H. H. Smythe.

Modern survey institutions offer S's of PO & the son process the possibility of keeping the fundamental propositions of soc sci continuously related to, & open to correction by, the current stream of events. We are about to have at our disposal machines for the processing of data which will enable us continuously to verify all important equations of soc interaction by checking them against the current stream of data about contemporary events on a world scale, or within selected subdivisions of the world. Not the least implication of this development is that the traditional distinction between 'pure' & 'applied' res will cease to apply. The only way to describe a context fully is to observe contemporary events in detail. IPSA.