Hi lomantic,

no personal experience yet have heared crucial part is the quality of the tape: if the sound is very good it may work, if the quality is poor then it is a not worth the money nor the effort.
I transcribe focus groups myself, takes me about 5 hours for each hour of spoken text.

Thank Sillybilly,

your remark is helpful. If it takes a lot of time to learn to use "R" software it may not be worth the effort.

Today I havew been working on a a table using both SPSS and Excel, looks reasonable (took me several hours though!)


Kind regards

Hi Sjo4,

so you are nearly there? Well done.

I am right in the middle, on one side trying to analyse data that I have got, on the other hand still organising focus groups (not easy!)

Good luck with the final bit

Hi Catalinbond,

thanks for your reply. I am note sure that I understand the name of the programme you are suggesting. Is it "r" for graphs and "datd" for presentations? It would be very useful and kind from you if you could let me know.

Kind regards,

Rick

Thank you all for your replies.

I will have a look at the suggestions.

How is the research going?

Dear all,

Anyone got experience in where or how to get good quality graphs (presentation of data in appealing and clear picture). I have used Excel and SPSS (base) yet find the graphs quite basic. I have in my mind a picture how I want to present my data, but this does not match with the mentioned programmes (or I am too stupid to find out how to create these!)
Is there any programme or institution where you can get these made like you indicate?

Hi pineapple,

I am doing research involving focus groups as well. I do not pay participants anything, although I think a incentive is very important for people to attend / partcipate (e.g. "education points", "tea/ coffee/ biscuits" etc.
I have been to groups myself were participants were offered a meal and been to one study where you got 30 Euros if you filled a questionnaire.

Not sure regarding payment and ethical issues. I think, if you pay at all, this should only be a very small amount.

Hi Jojo,

all depends on who has made the comments. If it is a reviewer from the journal, I would amend (my experience is that small changes are OK or justify why you cannot change it), then send in again. If it is someone not related to the journal I would not change anything.
The editor will accept if you have made changes (based on comments from a reviewer), if not he/she may request again to do this.Good luck

Hi jojo,

the journal in which I wanted to publish had a part on the website regarding submission. The process is very descriptive and one needs to follow it explicitely. Once you have submitted, you can see on the website the progress of your article: on line you get feedback remarks from the reviewers, you then need to correct, resubmit etc. At the end the editor will (again on line) say something like: Will be publised.... Obviously you can contact the editors directly, by phone, yet often these are busy people, and my experience is that they do not always return your calls.

Well done doc2008

I just had a group cancelled, really difficult to arrange and extremely frustating if it does not go ahead!
The actual moderation and transcribing is not to so much the problem, it is more getting particpants!

Hi Eddi,

recognise a lot what you are saying. I think it is common, if not the norm, that students feel ythat a lot of time is wasted, progress is minimal and set goals are not met. I found this intially very frustrating, as I am used to working in environment where there is very specific planning and a need for achieving goals (or at least try to). I learned that in academic circles everything takes ages, this is partially based on the need for reflection, partially on this particular culture. I found it useful to keep a log, this really help to see that you have made progress. Also putting in the date as part of the file name of each document written helps to monitor your achievements.

Thanks Eppi,

that is interesting. So you experiment it with the principle in real life? I recognise from "normal" conversations, if you ask a question, and there is a pauze in responding, that the person answering the question probably does not agree. I usually say something like: You do not seem convinced. Then the responder often indicates what he/she really thinks! Interesting!

Are these theories "evidence based"?

Hi eppi,

is that like in micro-analyis in psychiatry where every word said by the patient is given a certain "value". For example if you use the word "rotten" that could be an indication of feeling paranoid / depression, "superb" more indicating mania. Is it something like that?

Hi doc2008,

I am in a similar position as you. Have done two focus groups and transcribed the information myself. At first had hoped the secretary could do this, yet in the end it was me transcribing myself. For me on average it takes me about 5 hours for one hour of recorded text. I agree it is very time consuming! (and boring!).
I think a key thing is the quality and positioning of the microphone: assure that the quality is good so that at least you can understand what is said. As recording device I use a "videocamera" which has a remote control. This helps recognizing who is talking and with the remote control it is easy to pause the tape and type in the text.
I have not used transcribing software. I have heared that it takes time to adjust to the voice(s), not sure whether it works for focus groups, may well be OK for individual interviews.

Hi jojo,

sorry to hear about your troubles. Indeed it has been a bit of time the last time you wrote on this forum.
Birdsandbees has a good point: life-work balance is very important both for your physical and emotional health. The way you write seems to indicate that emotionaly you find it difficult to manage. Do you recognise issues like problems sleeping ,difficulties concentrating, irratibility with people who do not understand you, difficulties in getting things done? If so it may be good idea to get help. May be contact the GP? or at least talk to people, or like Xeno suggests, write things down. Perhaps concentrating on your health is now more important than your PhD?