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The obtrusiveness of my recording was also a major concern for me.
Even though I had carefully selected my recording equipment, I did have some
concerns as to the effect that the introduction of recording equipment would
have on the interaction itself. My worst fears were that the recording equipment
would bring the interaction to halt where nobody was willing to say anything at
all, the presence of a tape recorder in a 'sociable episode' being perceived as
quite simply unsociable. Indeed, at the moment of introducing the recorder,
there was invariably a noticeable if temporary state of interactional 'anomie'.
However, conversational ists appeared very quickly to accept the presence of
the recorder and the fact that they were being taped. Indeed, rather than being
unsociable as such, as gatherings progressed, the recorder often served as a
source of amusement, particularly at points when the alarm signalled and the
participants remarked with startled comments such as 'Oh what have we said'
or'Mein Gott alles ist drinne' [My God, everything (we have said) is on there] 14
Indeed, not infrequently, my work was done for me as, if I had briefly withdrawn
from the milieu, participants would call me back to tend to my equipment with
comments along the lines of 'Bob, your tape's beeping' or'Robert, dieses
pepton klingt schon'[Robert, the alarms already beeping]. On one occasion,
events effectively paused as participants waited for the tape to be reinserted
and restarted before commencing the conversation with 'So, jetz k6nnen wir
weitersprechen, ne' [So, now we can continue talking, eh? ]. It transpired that
participants - some of whom were recorded on numerous occasions) became
very quickly desensitised to the presence of the tape recorder. That said, I was
aware throughout of the demands placed on participants in being recorded and
for this I am truly indebted to all those who patiently collaborated in my
research.
Finally, my in situ roles informed the ethical aspects of the study.
Primarily, I had throughout fundamental reservations about drawing data from
these gatherings in which I was intimately connected. Was it right for example
to exploit my access to sociable gatherings as a family member or friend. In
addition to this was my reluctance to abuse or non-fulfil my role as guest or, on
occasion host. Consider the following extract (excerpt 4.1) from an early
recording of an English gathering at which I was the host. The gathering was
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