I do quite a few interviews and find that its easier to record exactly what was said mechanically because at another level, I'm also understanding and respondin

I do quite a few interviews and find that its easier to record exactly what was said mechanically because at another level, I'm also understanding and responding to it. This way, I keep a record of what happened for later without much thought to summarizing it at that time, and instead am able to take the conversation where i want it to. later, i look at the raw notes and re-visualize the conversation and THEN draw conclusions. So yes, IMO, there's place for exact notes when you're both the scribe and active participant.