It was a really good data collection session today. My audio recorder never saved it though.:-( My research now faces a significant set back.:-(

Oh no, thats awful. I know its easy for me to say this but try not to dwell on it too much, tomorrow is another day and hopefully you will be able to rectify it. Also try to think that everything happens for a reason, I'm a great believer in fate although that might not be very helpful.

WWWWwaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhw how rotten.

I've just realised I left the hard copy of one my student group's research project report in the seminar room, in another city, and its assessed work they handed in to me which I have to have marked by the beginning of next week (when next I am in ssaid other city). So have had to email them to try and et an electronic copy, saying I left it in someone's office, better than 'the dog ate it' I suppose... human error on my part entirely, and I do feel like a daft, disorganised tutor for having done it. But with your news it doesn't seem so bad...

Cheer up Wal, I'm sure your research is fabulous anyway - could you do the whole thing again? Have a sprout = (sprout)

oh no wal. This happened to me, well I had a few interviews that there was so much distortion from my equipment that even my sound engineer bro couldn't sort it out. I would say take 2 audio recorders, but they will probably cause static (or something to do with physics) between them and you will probably end up with it all ruined!

All I can say is that if you were a girl - go and have some chocolate. As you are of the male variety then how about a beer? (nearly wrote bear - that would be dangerous).

Have you double checked your audio recorder, is it digital? - it may be that its just really quiet or something? and your computer might be able to boost the sound **sneaks grasps at straws**

Who are your participants? are they hard to come by?

Hi, Eska, Sneaks and Natassia, there's just no file on the SD card - I've tried file recovery software and everything. It was really important data because the group involved was a group of clinicians that only get together every so often. A cruel twist of fate. I'm in flight or fight mode at the moment. I don't want to discuss the implications with my sup because I'll come across as a right stupid idiot. I shouldn't be letting things like this happen at such an advanced stage. I'm looking at being set a month back for the sake of a 45 minute recording. Ppffffff!

Sorry to hear that willi, but every one makes mistakes, and in a year or so you won't even remember it happened (this might seem impossible now, but you will). I have done so many mistakes, and I'm sure your supervisor will understand if you tell him (he was a student like you few years ago and surely he made mistakes). May be you were stressed and forgot to do that, one mistake doesn't make you idiot or stupid in front of his eyes (OK may be a little but not so much i think :)).

Can you send an email to everyone who contributed and tell them the truth? is it possible to ask them to come together sooner? (Some might think that is stupid, some might feel sorry for you and help you but, who cares ! as long as you can get your job done, let your pride aside and ask for help). May be you should ask for advice from your supervisor about that? If not, a month really is not that much in a long PhD, I had to wait three months for a protein arrival from America and another 4 months for other stuff like that, and I was loosing my mind, now I think I should have enjoyed the free time and just write/organise/or read more papers.
Disasters like that are common in PhD, although it feels so bad at the time but, you can rise above it and take it as a lesson and another challenge to overcome. Best of luck
(up)

Oh unlucky Wal, that sucks. I know this won't make things any better for you now, but my supervisor confessed to me that she forgot to press the record button on her very first PhD interview and had to go back and do it again. Her participant had Alzheimer's and had no recollection of doing the interview to start with so had no problem with doing it again, but I'm guessing this won't apply to your participant(s)! I use a voice recorder and I always triple check it's working and even then worry that it will pack up halfway through the interview...oh how technology can let us down. It's crappy now, but you will get it sorted and look back (and dare I say, laugh), though I'm sure that feels like a long long way away at the moment. Good luck with catching up, KB

Thanks someone 3 and Keenbean. What really annoys me though is that my recorder is an all-singing, all-dancing top of the range one - I spent most of my postgraduate fund on it. I realise know that I would have been better sticking to one of the traditional micro casette ones. I really, really built myself up for this data collection session and it went so well. In fact I remember thinking to myself as I was undertaking the data collection and thinking I was recording the information: 'I can't believe this is going so well'. I was right.

could you use a laptop to record? as well as a dictaphone? My biggest problem was remembering to take off the interviews, so I would go into an interview with no room left on the dictaphone, and by the time I did take them off and put them on the computer, I had completely forgotten who they were etc. For a while I did use my Ipod to record - I got a little gadget that clips on the end and changes it into a dictaphone, although I am told that newer ipods have this all built in anyway.

ah wally. I just don't know what to say, I'm so sorry! I hate when that kind of thing happens. If it helps, these kinds of things happen to me regularly, altho not on such a long time scale....I have frequently had lab equipment break down on me, and lost an entire batch of samples that I couldn't get again, due to a method failure. We had to rework the whole study to find a way to make stuff fit in, but I got there. but try not to get too annoyed about it, there is nothing that can be done now, you've just got to do what you can and if it takes an extra month, then so be it. don;t let it affect the restof your work or it could drag on even longer, keep positive. (mince)