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Republic of the Philippines

Leyte Normal University
College of Arts and Sciences
SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT
P. Paterno St., Tacloban City, 6500
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COMMON METHODS OF RECORDING

I. PROCESS RECORDING

Process recording is an educational tool that accesses the communication

skills of students seeking certifications or degrees in nursing, social work, and
similar jobs. Understanding what it is and knowing how to use it effectively have
mutual benefits for the student and the instructor. The forms used to collect
data often vary, but they essentially gather information about the interviewee
and the interviewer. The data from the assessment will show the student, who
is the interviewer, how he or she can improve his or her ability to communicate
with patients, clients, and others.

Wilson (1980)
A specialized and highly detailed form of recording. Everything that
takes place in an interview is recorded using an “I said then s/he” said style.
Urbanowski & Dwyer,1988
Process recording is a tool used by the student, the field instructor,
and the faculty advisor to examine the dynamics of a particular interaction
in time. The process recording is an excellent teaching device for learning
and refining interviewing and intervention skills. The process recording
helps the student conceptualize and organize ongoing activities with client
systems, to clarify the purpose of the interview or intervention, to improve
written expression, to identify strengths and weaknesses, and to improve
self-awareness
Advantages
o Allow student to analyze in detail the interactions with clients.
o Allow supervisor to give the student a specific feedback even though
he/she was not present during the interaction.
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Disadvantages
o Process recording is very time-consuming.

II. Audio/video recording

Audiotaping client sessions has a long history of use in psychiatry
(Lamb & Mahl, 1956), psychology (Roberts & Renzaglia, 1965),
counseling (English & Jelenevsky, 1971) and social work (Itzin, 1960). In
brief, with the client's permission, the student audiotapes a session for
later replay and analysis (Bogo & Vaydon,1987).
Having field instructors listen to entire tapes is time-consuming
(Itzin, 1960). This problem can be reduced by having the student
submit a limited number of taped examples. The student has the
opportunity to review the process repeatedly, pick out critical inci• dents,
and prepare for discussion with the instructor. A less common, but
very useful technique is replay for or with the client (Bailey & Sowder,
1970). Using this strategy, the client and worker are able co examine
their process together.

o Taping can supply the worker or student with general feedback about
his/herself.
o Provide clear picture of worker or student “natural style of interaction”.
o Taping the sessions with clients can also be used to gain specific feedback
about the worker or student interviewing and problem-solving styles.
o
A. Audiotaping
Audiotaping client sessions has a long history of use in psychiatry
(Lamb & Mahl, 1956), psychology (Roberts & Renzaglia, 1965),
counseling (English & Jelenevsky, 1971) and social work (Itzin, 1960). In
brief, with the client's permission, the student audiotapes a session for
later replay and analysis (Bogo & Vaydon,1987).
Having field instructors listen to entire tapes is time-consuming
(Itzin, 1960). This problem can be reduced by having the student
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submit a limited number of taped examples. The student has the

opportunity to review the process repeatedly, pick out critical inci dents,
and prepare for discussion with the instructor. A less common, but
very useful technique is replay for or with the client (Bailey & Sowder,
1970). Using this strategy, the client and worker are able co examine
their process together.

Advantages of Audiotaping
o Provide an accurate verbatim of an account of the interaction.
o Audiotapes provide evidence of how much or little students talk, the
modulation, tenor, emotion of voice, and the pace of interactions.
o Student and instructors can pick up on tones and attitudes not
available in the written record.
Disadvantages of Audiotaping
o Audiotapes are limited in that they restrict process to one sense,
that of hearing.
o Listening to entire tapes is time-consuming.

B. Videotaping
Videotaping social work interviews has become a more accessible and
thus more common technique in recent years. improving record-keeping
skills (Kagle, 1991), evaluating the transition of interviewing skills from
the classroom to the field (Kopp & Butterfield, 1985), educational
assessment (Brownstein & Mc Gill, 1984) and skill development
(Lang• horst & Myers. 1983)

Advantages of Videotaping
o Students and instructors can hear the dialogue with all its
inflections, observe movement in the room, and see the body
language of the participants
o Can be very helpful for self-assessment or “self-confrontation”
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Disadvantages of Videotaping
o One’s attention can be directed at different times to different
aspects of the process (e.g., body language, seating arrangement,
tone of voice and patterns of interaction)

Steps for using video/audio tapes

1. Get the client’s explicit permission to use the tapes
2. Doing the taping
3. Involves writing out what transpired during the tape word by word.

4. Involves writing a summary of the taped session.

5. Organize an unstructured summary according to the most important things
that happened chronologically
6. Structure the report by prioritizing what occurred in the interview in order of
importance.
7. Involves reviewing the tape, the summary and perhaps the verbatim record
with your supervisor.
8. Involves adapting what you’ve learned during the discussion and writing
report that complies conventional format the agency uses.