Nagrywanie magnetofonowe wywiadów w środowisku małomiasteczkowym

Abstract

In a town where (for the second time within two years period) a group of sociology students was interviewing a random sample of inhabitants, 42 interviews were tape recorded while simultaneously noted down in a questionnaire. The interviewers doing the tape recording and noting have prepared observation reports on the behavior of respondents in the moment of their contact with the tape recorded as well as in the course of recording procedure. No refusal was observed. It was found that the most efficient way of obtaining the permission of respondents to be tape recorded consisted in presenting the recording as a technique auxiliary in relation to the noting down in a questionnaire. The following reactions to the tape recording were observed on the part of respondents: 1° – a consciousness of being recorded with visible symptoms of a nervous tension; 2° – a consciousness of being recorded without any visible symptoms of a nervous tension; 3° – a lack of tape recording consciousness, accompanied by easiness of answers, the attention being concentrated on the noting only; 4° – an initial nervous tension retreating gradually in the course of recording. The reactions to the recording were determined by the amount of previous contacts and experiences with a tape recorder. It was found that 10 persons who had had closer contacts with it behaved more easefully and without visible signs of a nervous tension; at the same time it was observed, however, that they showed symptoms of an increased feeling of responsibility for the correct form of their expressions. The greatest number of cases of a nervous tension in the behavior appeared among 28 persons who did not have any previous contacts and experiences with a tape recorder. During three weeks of research, no evidence of rumors about recording was found in that community. Only 2 respondents took an interest in an eventual ultimate use of the tape with the recorded interview; one of them asked if it would be erased after its utilization as a means of making corrections in the noted down content of a questionnaire.