Alternate Report 1

For G23

Transcript Analysis of an Information Literacy Dialogue

By: Brandi McWade

My transcript is at

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409bf2005/mcwade/mcwade-transcript.htm

Instructions for this report are at

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/g23-alternate--report1.htm

Introduction

This is my second psychology course I have taken with Dr. Leon James. As a student of Generation 23 (fall semester, 2005) I have been assigned an alternative report 1 since I had completed my original report 1 last semester (G22). My work has become part of the Generational Curriculum, which is a collaboration of all of Dr. James’ students’ work that has been published on the Internet since 1992. The topics of the published reports range between science, psychology and lifestyle. This alternative report 1 involves the analysis of a transcript about information literacy.

My original report 1 was about my own information literacy and challenged me to learn new tasks with technology and analyze my own thoughts and actions. This report allows me to observe and listen to someone else explaining how to complete a technological task and then analyze their actions and behaviors.

I think that this report may be slightly easier and less stressful than my original report 1 since I will be critiquing someone else rather than myself. More importantly, I have had the privilege of already experiencing the pressure, deadlines and expectations of Dr. James’ reports so hopefully I will be much less anxious and the workload will not be as traumatic or distressing as the first time around. I expect to learn a couple new tasks from this alternative report since I will be asking two other people to show me how to do something on the computer.

I hope that they will be able to explain an advanced task step by step so that it will be easy for me to follow and remember in the future. I consider myself to be very competent with computer information technology, especially after completing my last course with Dr. James, but I believe there is still much more for me to learn!

Method

I used two of my roommates as the subjects of this report. I explained the assignment and told them that I needed two volunteers to perform a simple task on the computer, while I recorded their dialogue and instruction on how to complete the task. I allowed them to choose their own task that they felt they were most competent in and able to explain the best. I gave them a wide range of examples such as downloading music, creating an online membership, shopping on the web, using a search engine or using software. They were both very eager to help me with my assignment and were extremely cooperative.

Lindsay* (adult #1), 20 year olds, proved to be very computer literate and is able to use proper computer language. However, since her first task did not result in much dialogue, I asked her to complete another, slightly more complex task, which she was able to complete sufficiently. Lindsay chose to upload pictures from a digital camera onto the computer into an editing program.

Kevin* (adult #2), 21 years old, is not as experienced with computers as Lindsay, but his session went very smoothly and barely encountered any problems. Kevin chose to show me how to attach a file or document to an email to send. They both proved to be very cooperative and patient subjects.

*Names have been changed to conceal identity.

I think this method was very accurate in interpreting the subjects’ information behavior. It forced the subjects to describe how to complete the task step-by-step and allowed me to analyze and monitor their behavior accurately. I think recording their thoughts is the best method to use in order to meet the objective of monitoring another person’s informational behavior. However, I thought it was difficult to go back and analyze the transcript because there is hardly any room to critique when someone explains a step-by-step process.

Analysis

I. I had to use adults as my subjects because I don’t have access to any children out here since I have only lived in Hawaii for one year. I choose to use my roommates as my subjects because I know they are both competent with computers. I also knew they would be easily accessible and supportive of my studies. Furthermore, I felt that it would be a good learning experience for them to have to acknowledge and describe their actions and thoughts out loud.

I did not encounter too many problems when conducting this activity. Both subjects were compliant and successful in completing their tasks. At first, Lindsay chose to explain how to hook up a digital camera to a computer. Unfortunately, this task was too simple and resulted in very little dialogue, so I asked her to think of a more elaborate task. She then decided to demonstrate how to upload pictures from the camera onto the computer into an editing program. I thought this task was a much more complex and interesting. Lindsay did an excellent job of explaining her actions and describing the steps to completing her task.

Kevin was also very successful with completing his task, however, he had a little more difficultly than Lindsay did with explaining his task. I had to use many interaction prompts to help coach him through and explain his actions. Kevin chose to demonstrate how to send pictures as an attachment in an email.

II. I was very pleased when I went back and listened to the recording of the sessions I had with Lindsay and Kevin. Overall, I thought they did an excellent job in explaining their tasks step-by-step. I was able to hear our entire conversation, and with the help of some interaction prompts, it proved to be very informative.

III. I simply transcribed word for word from the recorded sessions I had with Lindsay and Kevin. I really did not have many problems with the transcript because the recording was clear and easy to understand. I noticed that Lindsay was a lot more confident in her computer skills than Kevin seemed to be. Her explanations were very comprehensible and filled with detail. Kevin needed to be helped with his dialogue and explanations with interaction prompts. They both seemed to relax more after the first few minutes of being recorded.

IV. I analyzed the transcript by counting the number of interaction prompts that I used for each subject, as well as the length and quantity of pauses within the transcript. I also compared the length of the whole interaction and the amount of detail used to describe each step with in the transcript. I found it hard to analyze a transcript that was short and very specific. The subjects were simply explaining steps to perform a small task, therefore there was very little room for error or critical analysis.

	LINDSAY	KEVIN
Number of Prompts	3	6
Number of Technological Terms	4	3
Length of Interaction (in mins.)	10	7
Number of lines in interaction	35	40

VI. Links that helped me with my Report:

· www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/409as97/march/marchtitle.html

· www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/499cl97/andrews/intro499.html

· http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~palmquis/courses/discourse.htm

· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_discourse_analysis

· http://www.fisherhouse.com/bsu/comm307/lisa.htm#transcript

· http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~dialogue/issue6.html

Discussion

I. Information literacy can be defined in many ways. I consider it to be a person’s ability to comprehend and understand information that is presented to them. For this report, I witnessed two other people’s information literacy. Kevin and Lindsay both demonstrated their ability to perform a task involving a computer. By recording their dialogue and instructions, I was able to go back and analyze their behavior and knowledge.

I analyzed their dialogue by the amount of technological terms, number of informational prompts I had to use, as well as the length of the total interaction. The data they have provided me with proves that they are both very competent with technology and computers and have a high level of informational literacy.

II. The links provided in the instructions of past generations didn’t really help me with my transcript. Most transcript analysis examples I found on the Internet all involved a “problem” to solve or some type of situation to resolve. As I said before, my subjects had to give instructions for a simple task, so it was much more difficult to analyze their dialogue. I didn’t quite understand how to analyze this type of transcript. However, I did use the Internet to do some research on informational literacy and discourse analysis.

I got a better understanding of informational literacy from one website’s definition: “information literacy implies a critical engagement with technology and information sources, not simply using them unquestioningly.” This supports my analysis of Kevin and Lindsay both having a high level of informational literacy due to their comprehensible instructions and proper use of technological terms in their transcript. This website also helped me understand that the term “literacy” now means more than just the ability to read. Informational “literacy” is referring to a person’s ability to actually comprehend and apply what they are reading or hearing. http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~dialogue/issue6.html

Furthermore, I agree with another website’s outlook on discourse analysis: “Discourse Analysis and critical thinking is applicable to every situation and every subject. The new perspective provided by discourse analysis allows personal growth and a high level of creative fulfillment.” Basically, discourse analysis is relative to the knowledge and competence of the person speaking. Even the best arguments can be deconstructed and subjected to counter-arguments. http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~palmquis/courses/discourse.htm

Advice to Future Generations

I. My first advice for future generations would be to make sure your subjects speak loud and clear for the tape recorder, otherwise it could get a little messy when you try to type up your transcript.

Second, use good interaction prompts anytime there is a pause in the dialogue to make sure your subject is explaining every step of his task. In addition, you should make sure your subjects are cooperative and supportive of you and your assignment. I choose my roommates as subjects because they had flexible schedules and were understanding of my goal. Also, try to get as much information and dialogue out of our subjects as possible, otherwise it will be very difficult to analyze your transcript.

Last, but certainly not least, DO NOT wait to the last minute to tackle this report. It requires a lot of time and attention to detail!

II. For the most part, I enjoyed doing this report because it was more interesting to analyze other’s behaviors than my own behavior. Although it was very time consuming, and tedious, it turned out to be pretty informative (don’t get me wrong though—it definitely had more downs than it did ups!) I learned that each person expresses their thoughts differently and what comes easy to some people, may be difficult for others. Some people may be able to communicate verbally better, while others communicate more physically. Everyone has a unique way of speaking, explaining and behaving to get their point across. In my report, both subjects were very successful with their interactions and thoroughly completed their tasks.

III. Since this was my first time attempting to analyze a transcript, I had to do more research than I expected. I had to learn how to actually type up a transcript first and then how to analyze it! So, I turned to the most resourceful place I know: THE WORLD WIDE WEB. I did many searches on “informational literacy,” “information behavior,” “discourse analysis” and “transcript analysis.”

I received a lot of information as a result from these searches and would not have been able to complete this report with out this research! However, the research was not as easy as I had expected it to be. I wanted to search “information literacy” and have a direct website to define it and tell me how to apply it to my report. But, instead, I was given thousands of websites that all had different definitions of informational literacy and different ways to implement in different situations!

Dr. James also tells you to use past generations as a resource to help with your report. Unfortunately, I did not find this as helpful as I had hoped because the past generations did not have the same assignment! They had to analyze a different type of transcript, but it helped to see the format of how to type up a transcript.