I'm currently pulling together the Appendices for my thesis and I was unclear as to whether the transcript from the focus group should be included or not. I already have all the questions which were asked in a separate appendix named "Focus group questions" from the case study protocol. Also, I've removed the codes associated with the transcript so it just reads like a conversation. Should I leave the codes in the document as part of the transcript?
I had a similar dilemma, it is dependent on your university, supervisor and institute within the uni with whatever is normal practice.
For a publication, it is not necessarily required to publish the transcripts within the appendices however is recommended that a section is added as to how the data can be accessed. In a thesis, it may not be necessary to add them, but in case your examiners may wish to read, it may be necessary for them to view it so do keep it to hand just in case.
Also I recommend it is advisable that it is anonymised as per your ethics approval i imagine. Best advice, see what other thesis published from your institute tend to go for, do not breach your ethics and liaise with your supervisors as to their thoughts?
You should not include the transcript of the focus group for a number of reasons (e.g., you might not have explicit consent of the participants. Consent to participation and analysis is different from consent to publish the raw data). If you need to include something at all, you can include the code sheet.
Kind regards,
Usman
It would be unusual to include a full transcript, instead, it would be more traditional to include a copy of the questions and the codebook (or equivalent) that you used. Also, as Muhammad Usman Amin Siddiqi notes, there could be ethical issues in including a full transcript -- especially if it would be possible to identify the participants through things they said.
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