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Public Health Workforce Training
Link to beginning section of An Introduction to Qualitative Analysis with ATLAS.ti

Examples of Margin Notes

Here are some examples of margin notes that you may make on the excerpt from the transcript.

MODERATOR: .so you can make a little special effort to talk to those folks. Okay. What do you think are the.the groups that are at the greatest risk?

W3: Between ages seventeen and twenty five!

MODERATOR: Uh huh. Okay. And –

W1: I'd say lower than that. Because I know [unclear]. .because they getting' to have a body like a woman and [unclear].

DOUBTS ABOUT DATA QUALITY: I can’t interpret this clearly, must have a conversation with the transcriber about the quality of this data. There are too many “unclear” passages for me to interpret this data.

SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT A PARTICIPANT WAS “REALLY” SAYING: "I think that Respondent is making a link between experiencing physical/pubertal changes and sexual activity or promiscuity here, but I am not sure. Need to confirm this in the tapes.

MODERATOR: Okay. And, um, who else besides teenagers will get into anything that's out there to be gotten into?

W2: Drug users.

W3: Battered women. Women who are facing domestic violence.

MODERATOR: Okay, uh huh. Um..

W4: Gays. Gay people.

MODERATOR: Okay.

MODERATOR: Say what?

W5: That HIV comes from gay people.

W2: They say that it came from monkeys. You know, they got a lotta [unclear].

A MENTAL NOTE TO PURSUE AN ISSUE FURTHER: “the literature indicates that stigma towards sexual minorities is high among heterosexual populations at risk for or infected with HIV; this respondent turns that conventional wisdom that on its head. I will explore the issue of stigma further to see how it looks among women in the other focus groups.”

MODERATOR: Gay people were like the first people to have it in big numbers in the U.S.[unclear]

THE RESEARCHER’S RELATIONSHIP WITH PARTICIPANTS: “The moderator must be neutral at all times. There may be some biases at play here with regard to her views on HIV transmission. Must be sure to bring this up in our next meeting.”

MODERATOR: Okay. And what kind of drug use do you get in this area?

W1: Cocaine.

W2: Crack

W1: Crack.

(The other women repeat "crack" in agreement.)

A NEW HYPOTHESIS THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN A PUZZLING OBSERVATION: “it is surprising that teenagers are so aware of the amount of drug use in their community. Environmental and structural factors might be shaping HIV risk among teens, as well as adults here in Brooklynville.”

W5: Weed.

MODERATOR: Right.

THE RESEARCHER’S RELATIONSHIP WITH PARTICIPANTS: I must stay away from verbal agreement with participant statements.