This document is adapted from the manual published by the ADRC Clinical Task Force Cognitive Working Group, in collaboration between the Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program at Boston University and the Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. It serves as a guide for researchers interested in audio recording of cognitive testing for research analysis.
To implement audio recording in research protocols, please see the following four sections:
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Informed consent It is crucial to provide an in-depth description of the audio recording implementation and use of the data as part of the informed consent process. In addition, it is important to provide detailed information regarding data usage, storage, and protection. A copy of the FHS-BAP consent form can be found under Appendix B: FHS-BAP Consent Form.
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Selecting Audio Recording Equipment For audio recording equipment, consider the following factors: portability, data storage space, battery life, ease of set up, sampling rate, etc. FHS-BAP uses the Zoom H4N recorder.
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Storage and retrieval of audio recordings Use a standardized naming convention for the audio recording files and maintain a data log for inventory management.
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Post data collection processing Generating analysis-ready files is resource intensive. It may not be possible for all researchers, especially if funding may be an issue. Personally identifiable information is a common concern for audio recordings; hence these files must undergo post data-collection processing before they can be made available for analysis, especially in situations where the sensitive data are being shared with other researchers.