Step 5: With the permission of the participant, audiotape the interview and take brief notes on a copy of the interview protocol.

We recommend audiotaping interviews in combination with taking notes. Audiotaping has the advantage of being an objective means of data recording and allows the creation of an interview transcript (see Step 10). The transcript, in turn, makes it possible to go back to exact quotations from the interview — that is, the interview data in an unfiltered form.

Videotaping is an alternative to audiotaping, but participants typically find videotaping more intimidating than audiotaping. Unless you have a particular reason to videotape (e.g., the participant will be asked to do visual demonstrations, or you are interested in body language), audiotaping is adequate.

The equipment for audiotaping is straightforward. You will need a small, battery-powered cassette voice recorder. A plug-in, extension microphone is optional (note: if the microphone has a separate ON-OFF setting, be sure to turn it to the ON setting). Usually, the microphone built into the recorder will be more than adequate if the interview setting is relatively quiet. Also, we recommend using 120-minute tapes (60 minutes per side). This length of tape will accommodate all interviews of reasonable length (plus allow for running over). Dedicating one fresh tape to each interview is important to eliminate the risk of accidentally recording over an existing interview. Finally, it is strongly advised that you test the equipment right before starting the interview and have extra batteries and tapes ready.

Even if you are audiotaping the interview, you still should jot down brief notes about each answer. These notes are a backup should anything go wrong with the taping. Also, the notes may help you refer to something said earlier in the interview as you probe. Typically, it will be easiest to write your notes out by hand on a paper copy of the interview protocol. An alternative is to have the interview protocol available on a laptop computer that you take with you and to type out notes on a separate copy of the interview document for each participant. This method should be considered only if you are a very fluid typist and the notebook keystrokes are not distracting to the conversation.

If you are not allowed to audiotape or videotape, then you will need to take more lengthy notes on extra sheets of paper or on the laptop. It's always a good idea to include extra paper at the end of each copy of the protocol, as well as bring along a blank notepad as backup.