New software makes transcription of digital recordings easier. Some people use Express Scribe which is free and downloadable at http://www.nch.com.au/scribe. You can use a foot pedal, but you can assign functions on your computer key board for rewind, speed of playback, etc.
Transcription buddy is another software that helps with transcription of digital recordings. Find it at www.transcriptionbuddy.com/TB_main.htm. It’s free for 30 days trial and then it costs about $30. This program also lets you use computer keys for the functions you need for transcription.
For Mac users, Quicktime is useful for transcription and you can also find the functions you need for transcriptions of digital files.
Happy Transcribing!
Showing posts with label qualitative research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label qualitative research. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Training, Funding, Conference Presentations from QI4
A group of social workers met at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry in May 2008. We identified many issues specific to social work and strategies for dealing with them.
Education
There is an on-going need for training in qualitative social work research. Most of us got our training from members of other disciplines. As helpful and enlightening as that training is, there are issues that are unique to social work, such as research on sensitive issues, ethics, the inherent vulnerability of most of our research informants, the mismatch between our training as social workers and the realities of doing social work and researching social work, the need for approaches to social work research that match the scope of our work.
At the meeting, attendees responded enthusiastically to the suggestion that we hold summer training institutes. Jim Drisko said that Smith College is already set up for continuing education, and he would see about how to arrange training sessions there. Several other attendees said they would be willing to contribute to the planning and would also be willing to teach at Smith for short periods. Jim said attendees could get continuing education credits. These sessions would be done in one to five day formats.
Jane Gilgun said that she had talked to members of the research committee at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work about summer training. This training could be for course credit as well as for continuing education credits. Like Smith, Minnesota could give ceus but they could also give course credit.
Funding
Another topic discussed at the meeting was funding for qualitative research. Several attendeeds had funding from foundations and from state agencies and a few from federal agencies. Much of the time, the funding goes to social service agencies who then hire University researchers to do the research. Many foundations will only fund agencies and will not fund University researchers. The CDC funds social work projects, but often the money goes to agencies and that could well be CDC's preference.
So, we talked about the kinds of research that social workers do that is fundable. Of course, mixed methods is fundable, and that is always an option. Most of us have a small track record for surveys and experiments and so our chances for funding are low if we go it as sole p.i., but if we team up with a well-known survey researcher and have a credible statistical consultant, then our chances go way up.
In particular, among the kinds of research that social workers can do and that are fundable are the following
--research on implementation and uptake of interventions. Often, in RCTs, interventions appear to work but in practice they show lower success rates. Qualitative research can take a good look at what goes on during the implementation phase and how and why clients respond or do not respond to treatment. This would require interviews over time where researchers build relationships of trust with clients os that clients can be frank and also good relationships with researchers for the same reason. Observations and case record reviews would also be helpful to understand implementation and uptake. These can be intrusive and so the planning would have to be careful. Some case records are founts of information and others are not. Sometimes interventions can be tape recorded and/or videotaped and analyzed later.
--research on how programs work. Interviews, observations, and case record reviews can identify factors associated with good, poor, and mixed outcomes. This approache answers the questions what works with whom under what conditions.
--research on both the conditions we want to change and on the effects of the interventions that we craft. Einat Peled of Tel Aviv University has five year project that involves first research on family violence, then the crafting of interventions to respond to family violence, and then an evaluation of the intervention. This is ideal for many social work researchers. We often intervene into situations we don't fully understand and then our interventions don't work. A fuller understanding of the clients' situations will increase the likelihood that our interventions will be successful.
Three or Four Panels for QI5
We would like to do three or four panels on social work qualitative research to make social work more prominent on the program, to learn from each other, and to network. Many suggestions for topics came up, such as the ones that I just discussed above. There will be more on this blog about the panels, funding, and training. Stay tuned. Let us know what you think.
Education
There is an on-going need for training in qualitative social work research. Most of us got our training from members of other disciplines. As helpful and enlightening as that training is, there are issues that are unique to social work, such as research on sensitive issues, ethics, the inherent vulnerability of most of our research informants, the mismatch between our training as social workers and the realities of doing social work and researching social work, the need for approaches to social work research that match the scope of our work.
At the meeting, attendees responded enthusiastically to the suggestion that we hold summer training institutes. Jim Drisko said that Smith College is already set up for continuing education, and he would see about how to arrange training sessions there. Several other attendees said they would be willing to contribute to the planning and would also be willing to teach at Smith for short periods. Jim said attendees could get continuing education credits. These sessions would be done in one to five day formats.
Jane Gilgun said that she had talked to members of the research committee at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work about summer training. This training could be for course credit as well as for continuing education credits. Like Smith, Minnesota could give ceus but they could also give course credit.
Funding
Another topic discussed at the meeting was funding for qualitative research. Several attendeeds had funding from foundations and from state agencies and a few from federal agencies. Much of the time, the funding goes to social service agencies who then hire University researchers to do the research. Many foundations will only fund agencies and will not fund University researchers. The CDC funds social work projects, but often the money goes to agencies and that could well be CDC's preference.
So, we talked about the kinds of research that social workers do that is fundable. Of course, mixed methods is fundable, and that is always an option. Most of us have a small track record for surveys and experiments and so our chances for funding are low if we go it as sole p.i., but if we team up with a well-known survey researcher and have a credible statistical consultant, then our chances go way up.
In particular, among the kinds of research that social workers can do and that are fundable are the following
--research on implementation and uptake of interventions. Often, in RCTs, interventions appear to work but in practice they show lower success rates. Qualitative research can take a good look at what goes on during the implementation phase and how and why clients respond or do not respond to treatment. This would require interviews over time where researchers build relationships of trust with clients os that clients can be frank and also good relationships with researchers for the same reason. Observations and case record reviews would also be helpful to understand implementation and uptake. These can be intrusive and so the planning would have to be careful. Some case records are founts of information and others are not. Sometimes interventions can be tape recorded and/or videotaped and analyzed later.
--research on how programs work. Interviews, observations, and case record reviews can identify factors associated with good, poor, and mixed outcomes. This approache answers the questions what works with whom under what conditions.
--research on both the conditions we want to change and on the effects of the interventions that we craft. Einat Peled of Tel Aviv University has five year project that involves first research on family violence, then the crafting of interventions to respond to family violence, and then an evaluation of the intervention. This is ideal for many social work researchers. We often intervene into situations we don't fully understand and then our interventions don't work. A fuller understanding of the clients' situations will increase the likelihood that our interventions will be successful.
Three or Four Panels for QI5
We would like to do three or four panels on social work qualitative research to make social work more prominent on the program, to learn from each other, and to network. Many suggestions for topics came up, such as the ones that I just discussed above. There will be more on this blog about the panels, funding, and training. Stay tuned. Let us know what you think.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
New Directions in the Qualitative Social Work Blog
After a discussion with 15 other social workers at a meeting we held at the 4th International Congress on Qualitative Research held in May 2008, I will now take prime responsibility for blogging on this blog. Whenever I have something to say to social workers and allied disciplines I will post it on this blog.
This is an open blog, meaning anyone can blog on it. I decided to talk to the group about changing how the blog is run because after one year, no one is using it. There are many discpline-related isses that we as social workers can discuss for the benefit of our consitutents, who are service users and persons affected by social and economic justice. We have various ways of doing our work--as educators, researchers, and advocates, among others--but the goal we share is social justice and a caring society.
Training for us as social workers who do or want to do qualitative research is scant. We have had to learn from scholars in other disciplines. Within social work there is now sufficient maturity for us to start talking about and working out discpline-specific issues related to qualitative research. This is what this blog will do. In particular, I am interested in the contributions that qualitative social work can make to ameliorate social conditions. For us to do this, we must have the vision of what we can do and how we can do it.
I will stop now but will be back soon.
Jane Gilgun
jgilgun@umn.edu
This is an open blog, meaning anyone can blog on it. I decided to talk to the group about changing how the blog is run because after one year, no one is using it. There are many discpline-related isses that we as social workers can discuss for the benefit of our consitutents, who are service users and persons affected by social and economic justice. We have various ways of doing our work--as educators, researchers, and advocates, among others--but the goal we share is social justice and a caring society.
Training for us as social workers who do or want to do qualitative research is scant. We have had to learn from scholars in other disciplines. Within social work there is now sufficient maturity for us to start talking about and working out discpline-specific issues related to qualitative research. This is what this blog will do. In particular, I am interested in the contributions that qualitative social work can make to ameliorate social conditions. For us to do this, we must have the vision of what we can do and how we can do it.
I will stop now but will be back soon.
Jane Gilgun
jgilgun@umn.edu
Monday, January 14, 2008
SSWR is Coming Up--and The Power of Words
The annual conference of the Society for Social Work and Research will start Thursday, January 17, 2008, in Washington, D.C. There will be a meeting of the qualitative methods interest group. I expect that people will want to do some networking and to learn from each other.
I think we prefer to network in person. This blog has been up since May 2007, and it is now January 2008. Two people have used it.
Censorship and Worse on the Internet
I have several places where I can write what I please, but I've also found that ezinearticles.com will not let me publish articles about child sexual abuse.
These articles are based on interviews with survivors and perpetrators of child sexual abuse. I use the lanuage that they use. The website says my language is obscene, and they will not publish the articles. I am a bit worn out from pointing out that they are part of the problem. Their stance silences children and allows perpetrators to carry on. Stay tuned. Maybe they will see the point.
Paradoxically, Language Silences Child Sexual Abuse Survivors
Children who have been sexually abused have to use the words they know to decribe what happened to them. If adults tell them these words are dirty and they should not use them, what recourse do children have?
I interviewed a 14 year-old girl who was driven to tell me what had happened to her. This is what she said about the older teen who raped her: He said to me, "You fat oomph, you oomph
my oomph."
At least she communicated something.
Narrative Analysis Workshop
On Saturday at SSWR, Karen Staller, Kathleen Wells, and I are doing a workshop on social work and narrative analysis. Karen will cover a structured interview/narrative method, Kathleen will present on Labov's approach to narrative, and I will do critical discourse analysis.
Critical Discourse Analysis
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) looks at the power of words to construct other people and to silence people about oppressive practices. It is a role of social work to resist oppression. The example I gave above of the 14 year-old girl is an example of the effects of oppressive practices. An example of resistance is the word "queer,"which until fairly recently had negative connotations. The LGBT movement has reclaimed it and it even has surfaced in respectable circles of academia as queer theory.
The language of oppression not only leads to discrimination but also keeps discrimination going.
I hope other people use this blog. I have a book I want to tell you about but I will save that for another time.
I hope to connect with a lot of people at the SSWR conference.
Jane Gilgun
I think we prefer to network in person. This blog has been up since May 2007, and it is now January 2008. Two people have used it.
Censorship and Worse on the Internet
I have several places where I can write what I please, but I've also found that ezinearticles.com will not let me publish articles about child sexual abuse.
These articles are based on interviews with survivors and perpetrators of child sexual abuse. I use the lanuage that they use. The website says my language is obscene, and they will not publish the articles. I am a bit worn out from pointing out that they are part of the problem. Their stance silences children and allows perpetrators to carry on. Stay tuned. Maybe they will see the point.
Paradoxically, Language Silences Child Sexual Abuse Survivors
Children who have been sexually abused have to use the words they know to decribe what happened to them. If adults tell them these words are dirty and they should not use them, what recourse do children have?
I interviewed a 14 year-old girl who was driven to tell me what had happened to her. This is what she said about the older teen who raped her: He said to me, "You fat oomph, you oomph
my oomph."
At least she communicated something.
Narrative Analysis Workshop
On Saturday at SSWR, Karen Staller, Kathleen Wells, and I are doing a workshop on social work and narrative analysis. Karen will cover a structured interview/narrative method, Kathleen will present on Labov's approach to narrative, and I will do critical discourse analysis.
Critical Discourse Analysis
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) looks at the power of words to construct other people and to silence people about oppressive practices. It is a role of social work to resist oppression. The example I gave above of the 14 year-old girl is an example of the effects of oppressive practices. An example of resistance is the word "queer,"which until fairly recently had negative connotations. The LGBT movement has reclaimed it and it even has surfaced in respectable circles of academia as queer theory.
The language of oppression not only leads to discrimination but also keeps discrimination going.
I hope other people use this blog. I have a book I want to tell you about but I will save that for another time.
I hope to connect with a lot of people at the SSWR conference.
Jane Gilgun
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