21 What did Miles say was the problem with the room? A It was too small. B It was noisy. C It was too cold.
22 What was one problem with their coding categories? A They were too broad. B They used too many technical terms. C They changed every week.
23 What was the supervisor’s other main comment about their categories? A They were too many. B They were too detailed. C They were based on published schemes.
24 Hana says the categories were difficult because they were A hard to remember. B too formal. C based on unusual cases.
25 Hana says examples should be A realistic. B very detailed. C unusual.
26 What helped them agree more during the meeting? A Reading published examples. B Discussing ten items together. C Changing the software.
Questions 27 and 28
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Which TWO things do the students say help improve consistency in coding?
A adding notes about what a label is not B checking work regularly C writing longer examples D discussing differences after separate coding E reducing the number of meetings
Questions 29 and 30
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Which TWO actions did Hana and Miles decide to take next?
A buy new equipment B reduce the number of meetings C double-code a small sample every Monday D make a checklist for new team members E stop using categories
Keys
21 B 22 A 23 A 24 A 25 A 26 B 27 B 28 D 29 C 30 D
Transcripts
Part 3: You will hear two students discussing a meeting about a project plan.
Hana: The meeting was clearer than I expected. Miles: Same. I liked that the supervisor began with a simple plan. She told us what we had to decide, and in what order. Hana: Yes, that helped. Usually we spend ages talking and nothing gets decided, but today we actually got somewhere. Miles: The only problem was the room. The corridor was busy, so we could hear people walking past and talking, and it was hard to focus at the start. Hana: True, it was noisy, but we still finished the important points. Miles: The supervisor said our categories were too broad. Hana: I agree. If categories are too broad, different people interpret them in different ways, so you get disagreement. Miles: She also said we have too many categories at the moment. Hana: Yes, and that makes them hard to remember, especially for new people. If you have a long list, you end up picking the first one that sounds close. Miles: She suggested we make the definitions shorter and clearer, and add a few examples under each one. Not pages of text, just enough to guide choices. Hana: And the examples should be realistic, not unusual cases that hardly ever appear. Miles: Then we tried ten items together from the dataset. At first we disagreed on two of them. Hana: But once we explained why we chose a label, we started to agree more. It was easier when we talked through the reasons rather than just voting. Miles: That exercise showed what was unclear in the wording. Miles: I noticed that when we disagreed, it was usually because one of us focused on tone and the other focused on the content. Hana: Yes. One message sounded friendly, but the point was still a complaint about delivery time. Miles: That is why examples will help. If the guide shows a short message and says which label to use, people will follow the same pattern. Hana: We should keep each example short, maybe one or two sentences. If it is too long, people remember the story, not the label. Miles: The supervisor said we do not need an example for every situation. Just the common ones we see again and again. Hana: She also suggested adding a note about what a label is not, so people do not confuse it with another one. Miles: And if we reduce the list of categories, there is less overlap. Hana: That links to weekly checks. If we check regularly, we can spot confusion early and fix the guide. Miles: The check can be simple. We label a small set separately, compare, and talk through any differences. Hana: Weekly checks keep consistency. Otherwise, people slowly change their interpretation without noticing. Miles: The supervisor asked you to do one task after the meeting, didn’t she? Hana: Yes, she asked me to write a short summary of today’s decisions in the shared document by Tuesday, so everyone can see the final version. Miles: Good, that will stop people using old versions. Miles: So we agreed on two next steps. First, we will double-code a small sample every Monday and compare results. Hana: Second, we will make a short checklist for new team members, so they follow the same steps from day one. Miles: Great. If we do those things, the next stage should feel much smoother.
