I was never able to keep a diary going longer than 6 weeks, so it's no surprise that I haven't blogged for ages.  But don't worry, 'walk 'n talk-ers', work has been progressing.  Not as fast as I would have liked (Phil and James, too, no doubt), but progress has been made.  Things did take a little while to pick up after Christmas, but eventually some really helpful people got to know about our project and have been encouraging friends and relations to join in.

So, the tally stands at:

Walking interviews - 7 done; 1 arranged.

Sedentary interview - 3 done.

Doubles - 5 completed; 1 to finish (but this does include one walking interview where the PDA failed).

Counting on my fingers tells me that is 17 people interviewed, plus I have 3 more people to contact after Easter.  (I don't actually have 17 fingers - I had to take my socks off.)

In other news, I have been receiving a steady stream of interview transcipts from Jon, who is doing a good job of this essential, but slightly tedious task!  I am now trying to find time to listen to the recording while checking the transcript for accuracy, trying to remember what was said in the bits we can't hear very well and assessing the noise level.  I then go through them a second time to 'smoothe' them slightly - i.e. take out some of the 'ums' and 'errs'.  This is potentially controversial as we are trying to reflect what people say about the area.  On the other hand, things that make sense verbally look very strange written down, and without hearing the inflection in the voice, meaning may be changed.  Also, it seems that few of us (and I was horrified to discover that I am very much included in this, given that talking is one of the key requirements of my job!) can speak in proper sentences!!  While the interviews are always fine at the time, all the 'ums' and repetitions while people think of the right word makes following the thread of the conversation difficult - not to mention rather boring.  Transcripts are then sent to the interviewee to ensure that they are a correct reflection of what was said - and it also gives the respondent a chance to take out any comments that may have slipped out inadvertently.  It doesn't happen very often, but sometimes if we feel comfortable with  someone (and I hope you all feel happy being interviewed by me!) we forget that the recorder is running....  Anyway, once I get the OK from the interviewee, I select some of the stories to go on the website, and Phil does something technical which attaches the text to the GPS location et viola! - it appears on the website.  Look out after Easter for more....

Well, it keeps me out of mischief.

So, as Easter approaches, I wonder 'where did the time go?'  Well, actually, no.  I really think - 'yippee, holiday!'  Happy Easter, all - I'll be back in a couple of weeks.... xxx