Benefits of Transcribing Interviews for Research
Catherine ByrneWhat is so important about transcribing interviews for research? While transcribing interviews for research is one of the most used methodological techniques utilised by researchers worldwide; the technique of transcribing remains underrated, under-researched, neglected, and little understood, within research and academic communities.
Transcribing Interviews – A Research Technique Worth Pursuing – If Conducted Correctly
The technique of transcribing interviews for research is best understood by professional transcription companies, as transcribing interviews is their “bread and butter”.
How does it work?
- Researchers provide their interview recordings to a transcription company.
- The transcription company assigns the files to a typist, who then listens to the audio while typing what they hear, into a Word document.
- Using a typist rather than artificial intelligence or voice recognition software means the transcribed interviews have much higher accuracy. The human ear has a greater capacity in picking up nuances, cadences, and particular phrasing used by the interviewees.
- The transcribed interviews then pass through a quality assurance process – again, ensuring the best possible accuracy.
- The transcribed interviews are returned to the researcher, in the format requested.
- The researcher then analyses the transcripts, as a part of their research project.
Why Transcribe Interviews?
There are many reasons why researchers get their interviews transcribed. Transcribed interviews help keep the research accurate. Transcribed interviews are an accepted and valid way to show evidence of the research being conducted. Having an external, professional transcription company transcribe the interviews for you, on your behalf, maintains and validates the authenticity and integrity of the words spoken during the interviews. Put simply, interviews transcribed by a professional transcription company give even more weight to the validity of the research methodology.
Why is Transcribing Interviews for Research Important?
There are many advantages of engaging a professional transcription company, such as Sterling Transcription, to transcribe your interviews, including:
- Giving more weight (evidence) to the premise of your argument or theory,
- Helping researchers prove or back up their specific theory with documented and quality-assured qualitative evidence,
- Helping provide researchers with better context for the findings, and
- Giving researchers access to accurate, verbatim quotes, can greatly help with the analysis (as long as the interviewees have given prior permission).
The interview is a privileged technique of data collection in qualitative studies. Having a professional transcription company that quality-assures the accuracy of each transcript gives the researcher peace of mind that they are receiving accurate transcripts for analysis.
If you are wondering whether transcribing interviews for research is worthwhile, look no further. The answer is a resounding YES! Contact Sterling Transcription today at enquiries@sterlingtranscription.co.uk or Freephone 0800 910 1410 to secure your quality-assured transcript, so you can focus on the analysis, not the typing.