Transcription: Why make a record?

The thing we're analysing is long gone.

Even if we had been taking notes while it was happening, we can't be sure we'd got things down accurately, and we'd probably have missed quite a lot. And if we hadn't been taking notes, then relying on later recall is doubly risky. We'd be battling against the everyday mistakes of memory as well.

It's better to have a videotape, or an audiotape.

An exercise to illustrate what I mean. You might like to play through the main clip now (audio or video). On the left, click on 'audio and video clips'. Then, according to how good your connection is, choose either the audio or video clip called 'hello/I'm here'. A 40-second clip will play. [Remember: you will need to be on a good, fast connection (the kind you get in a University) to download the video; otherwise, stick to the audio. The exercise works perfectly well with that.] Listen (or watch). Treat the scene as if it was in 'real time', knowing that you wouldn't be able to replay it later. Take notes while it's playing and then see what you can add to that by using your memory. Then check what you've written against a further replay. You'll probably find that you've missed a certain amount.

When you've finished with that exercise, go to the next page of this introduction (what to transcribe) to reflect on the benefits of making a recording and then a transcript.