Organizational Structure

A Series is a group of related video files and is denoted with the icon. For example, if you video multiple classrooms on multiple days, you might create a series named after the teacher or the subject matter.

Within a Series are records for one or more video files, which are called Episodes, denoted by the icon. Each video file must have a separate Episode definition.

Each Episode can contain one or more Transcripts, indicated using the icon. You might choose to store your field notes as one transcript, to have a verbatim transcription as a second transcript, and to have a Jeffersonian-annotated transcription including information about phoneme pronunciation, non-word utterances, pauses, and gestures as a third transcript, each for its own unique analysis.

A Collection is a group of conceptually-related video segments taken from your Episodes. Collections are indicated with the icon and are usually named for the common analytic theme you are trying to analyze by looking at the related video clips.

Within a Collection are records for one or more analytically interesting portions of Episodes, which are known as Clips, and which are given the icon. The bulk of your analytic work is done at the Clip level.

Collections can be nested (contained) within other Collections. This allows more flexibility in specifying an analytic structure for your Clips.

A Keyword Group is a group of related Keywords and is denoted with the icon. A Keyword Group is stored as an integral part of the keyword because a given keyword can have multiple meanings. For example, the keyword Volume means something quite different in the keyword group Sound than it does in the keyword group Geometry.

Keyword Groups contain one or more Keywords, which have the icon. Keywords can be assigned to Episodes and Clips to describe the analytically-interesting content of the associated video.

Keywords may contain Example Clips. These clips should show clear examples of what is meant by the keyword.

Search Results are the data sets returned when Keyword Searches are performed and are signified by the icon. Search Results return Episodes within Series and Clips within Collections that match the search criteria you specify.

Notes, as signified by the icon, are free-form text notes that can be applied to Series, Episodes, Transcripts, Collections, and Clips to allow for a more detailed description of what the name means or how it should be used. More than one note may be created for each data object.

If you have not completed the Transana Tutorial yet, now would be a good time to do so. The Tutorial contains instructions on how to perform many of the basic tasks required for using Transana.