interview transcript example dissertation

Transcript Example (with Microsoft Word and PDF Templates)

This resource includes a transcript example from an interview, formatted in several different ways:

• Clean verbatim style
• True verbatim style
• Timestamps at regular intervals
• Timestamps at speaker or paragraph intervals

I made these .docx and PDF example transcripts for university students, educators, non-profits, journalists, podcasters, filmmakers, and transcriptionists.

Quick tip: If you’re not using it already, you can install free transcription software like Express Scribe to help you manually transcribe interviews much faster. The software lets you control audio playback using hotkeys so you don’t have to keep starting and stopping audio with your mouse.

If you want to go really fast, I also recommend getting a transcription foot pedal (I use the Infinity pedal ). Together, these two tools will save you hours upon hours of transcription time. (Or learn more about our interview transcription services .)

If you’re a professional content creator, you may also be interested in our posts about AI-powered tools for scaling up your audio and video production workflow:

• Best AI Video Upscaling Software
• Best AI Video Generators
• Best AI Video Editors

Now, on to the transcript examples!

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure for more info.

Interview transcription format sample for Microsoft Word

Download this transcription format template for Microsoft Word for use with interviews and qualitative research projects:

Interview Transcription Template – Word (.docx)

Clean verbatim vs. true verbatim transcript examples

There are two main styles of transcription used in interviews and qualitative research:

• Clean verbatim (also called intelligent verbatim or non-verbatim).
• True verbatim (also called strict verbatim, or simply “verbatim”).

A clean verbatim transcript is a lightly edited version of the original audio. Typically, the following elements are removed:

• Filler speech, including “um,” “uh,” etc.
• Most non-speech sounds, including coughing and throat clearing
• False starts

A true verbatim transcript, on the other hand, attempts to capture every utterance of the speakers. These include stutters, meaningless filler speech, and false starts. Verbatim style may also include non-speech and background sounds, such as coughing and sneezing or a door closing.

While each transcription style is useful under certain circumstances, clean verbatim is used most often because the transcripts cost less and are easier to read.

However, true verbatim may be desirable for certain qualitative and market research projects and legal investigations, where it’s necessary to study not only what was said, but also the manner in which something was said.

Below, I’ve included examples of an interview transcribed in both verbatim and clean verbatim fashion.

Example transcript in true verbatim style

Here’s a sample interview transcript that demonstrates the true verbatim style:

Download the PDF version here: Interview Transcript Example – True Verbatim (PDF)

Example transcript in clean verbatim style

And here’s the same conversation from above, transcribed in clean verbatim:

Download the PDF version here: Interview Transcript Example – Clean Verbatim (PDF)

We made the following changes to the second (clean verbatim) transcript:

• We edited out stutters, partial words, and short incomplete sentences.
• We removed meaningless instances of words like “so” at the start of sentences, and “like” when used as filler speech. (However, we left in the word “like” where removing it would have made the meaning literal when it wasn’t intended to be – i.e., when Brad refers to his “like, two” Facebook friends.)
• We chose to leave in the laughter, as it helps capture the overall tone of the interview and the banter occurring between the speakers. We also left in nonsense exclamations like “Uh … phew,” because it helps set the context for what follows. However, we removed other non-speech sounds like coughing and throat clearing that do not contribute anything useful to the content.
• In this particular example, we opted to remove repetitive instances of the word “actually” spoken by Brad, the interviewee. Normally we leave longer words in, but in this case we felt it was a speaker idiosyncrasy that distracted from the content of the interview.

Clean verbatim style is not an exact science, and sometimes there may be overlap between non-verbatim and verbatim styles in a transcript. All in all, the changes we made here make for a cleaner, less distracting, and more valuable interview – without detracting anything meaningful from the original.

Sample transcript with timestamps at regular intervals

Some projects require timestamps to be placed at regular intervals in the transcript so the audio can be easily referenced later.

Below is an example of an interview transcript with timestamps:

Download the PDF version here: Interview Transcript Example – Timestamps at Regular Intervals (PDF)

Sample transcript with timestamps at speaker intervals

Another way to timestamp a document is to place the timecode markup at speaker or paragraph intervals, like in the following interview transcript sample:

Download the PDF version here: Interview Transcript Example – Timestamps at Speaker Intervals (PDF)

Transcript format tips

There are several formatting elements common to most transcripts. These include speaker labels, timestamps, inaudible and crosstalk tags, and markup for external sounds. Let’s look at how to handle each of these:

Speaker labels. Speakers are typically identified by first name, full name, title, or role. They can also be identified by generic descriptors, like “Male” or “Female,” when other information isn’t available.

In the above examples, the speakers’ names have been offset from the rest of the transcript for better readability. To use this formatting in your own transcripts, download the .docx template at the top of this article.

Timestamps. Timestamps, e.g. [01:27] , can be placed at regular intervals such as every 15 or 30 seconds, or they may be placed at the beginning or end of each paragraph or speaker. Examples of each style are shown above.

Inaudible tags. When words or phrases are unclear, mark them out with a timecode; e.g., [inaudible 00:27] . You can also include guesses (phonetic or otherwise) as to what was said – for example, [wing yard 00:27] .

Crosstalk tags. When two or more speakers are talking at the same time and it’s impossible to hear what’s being said, use a crosstalk tag, e.g. [crosstalk 01:27] .

Sounds. Non-speech and background sounds are notated in brackets; for example, [laughing] or [door slams] . No timestamp is necessary.

Finally, a note on consistency and style: It’s best to follow a style guide to ensure consistency among elements like numerals, dates, titles of works, etc. We generally follow AP style . Other common style methods include APA , MLA , and The Chicago Manual of Style .

If you’re thinking of starting a career in transcription, check out my complete guide on how to become a transcriptionist . I also recently posted this list of 75+ transcription jobs for beginners and pros.

If you have any questions about using the example transcripts above, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help!

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23 comments.

thanks a lot for this. I appreciate th above lessons. at the moment lets keep the above into practice.

You’re very welcome! I’m glad you found it useful.

Very very helpful. For sure, God bless you.

Thank you. I’ve recently launched my own company in ghostwriting & editing, and typing & transcription services. These tips are GREAT reminders. God bless you.

Thank you, Mrs. Owens!

Handy for a beginner like me.

Thank you very much, really help me to do my assignment

I’m glad to hear that!

Hello, I don’t know how to thank you ,these instructions are very helpful and useful and real ,and how to contact you if I need any help.

I’m so happy you enjoyed the post! While I’m not always available to respond directly to questions, I always appreciate receiving suggestions about what kind of content you’d like to see me write about in the future. So if there’s a particular topic you have in mind, please feel free to reply and let me know. Thanks so much for commenting!

Your information is very valuable. My problem is, I need to find a resource that tells me how to set up the formatting in MSWord 2016. Setting the speaker tags and margins so it all lines up. If you have any link you could direct me to, or if you can explain how you do that, I would be forever grateful. Thanks, Lorri

I’ve been meaning to get a refresher on formatting myself and recently bookmarked this comprehensive tutorial on MS Word 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxLuuNprjXg

I haven’t watched it yet, but there’s a clickable table of contents in the video description and it has some sections on formatting and adjusting margins. I hope it helps!

how to name an interview transcript document?

If you’re doing the transcript for a client or professor, you should typically give the document the exact same name as its corresponding audio file; for example, “Interview with Sahar.mp3” would be titled “Interview with Sahar.docx”.

If you’re recording the audio yourself and there are a lot of files, it’s best practice to use some kind of file naming convention to keep everything organized. One easy way to do this is to use a date prefix; for example, 2019-05-30_Interview_with_Sahar.mp3.

I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for this guide. I am just about to embark on Transcription services as a full time activity and will be grateful for any mentoring and encouragement

You’re very welcome! Since you’re just getting started, I recommend visiting the following resources:

My complete guide on how to become a transcriptionist: https://www.mondayroadmap.com/how-to-become-a-transcriptionist/

My list of 75+ companies that hire work-from-home transcribers: https://www.mondayroadmap.com/online-transcription-jobs/

All the best in your new transcription career!

Thank you, this was very helpful.

Glad to hear it, Cony! Thanks for commenting.

This was really really helpful. Thank you so much.

Thank you for reading!

Hi, I’m just getting started transcribing hours of interviews. This article is a life saver. Really helpful, accessible, clear and the .pdfs are really useful allowing me to see what the finished transcription should look like. Thank you so very much.

You’re so welcome, Shaz! Thank you for reading!

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• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• Transcribing an Interview | 5 Steps & Transcription Software

Transcribing an Interview | 5 Steps & Transcription Software

Published on April 25, 2019 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Transcribing is converting speech to text word for word. Transcribing is a common practice when conducting interviews because it enables you to perform analysis.

How to transcribe an interview in five steps:

• Choose your preferred transcription method
• Transcribe the audio (using transcription software )
• Add speaker designation and time stamps
• Clarify the transcript where needed
• Proofread the transcript, looking out for any mistakes that can lead to information bias or omitted variable bias

Transcription software comparison

Table of contents

Transcription methods, altering the transcript, example transcript, analyzing interview transcripts, transcription software, other interesting articles.

Before you start transcribing, you first need to determine what transcription method you want to use. The best method depends on the goal of your transcription.

Verbatim transcription

Write down every single word, including pauses, the expression of emotions such as laughter, stuttering, and hesitations such as “uh”.

This type of transcription is mostly used in the legal profession or in research where you’re not only interested in what is said but also how it is said.

Intelligent verbatim transcription (most common)

Write down every word, but without irrelevant fillers like “uhm”, “yeah”, “you know” etc. To improve readability, you can also fix grammar mistakes, broken sentences and long paragraphs.

This method is more readable than verbatim transcription, but some data—such as emotions, pauses and hesitation—is lost in the process.

Edited transcription

A summarized and edited version of an intelligent verbatim transcript. In addition to omitting fillers like “you know”, irrelevant sentences can be omitted if it doesn’t change the meaning of the story.

If the audio quality is bad or the conversation itself needs clarification, you are allowed to make changes in the transcript. For instance:

• Adding a clarifying comment: “I showed him that this option [raising prices] would be beneficial for profitability.”
• Marking unclear / missing audio with ellipses: “I showed him … would be beneficial for profitability”
• Emphasizing words: “ Increasing prices is needed for profitability”

There are no rules for formatting and structuring a transcript. However, most transcripts contain the following information:

• Names of the interviewer and interviewee (can be anonymized)
• Date and time when the interview took place
• Location of the interview
• Speaker designation (who says what?)
• Line numbers and time stamps (optional)

After transcribing the interview(s) it is time to start analyzing. There are several techniques for doing this—coding and categorizing is one of them.

This means that you link keywords (e.g., “understanding customer”) to the answers you’ve received to your questions. Based on these keywords you are able to find connections between the answers of different respondents.

You can also use methods such as content analysis , thematic analysis or discourse analysis .

If you quote from an interview in your research paper , make sure you correctly cite the source. Learn how to cite an interview in MLA and APA .

Transcribing interviews takes a lot of time, but luckily transcription software is developing quickly! Using transcription software can help you speed up the process.

Most software is able to accurately convert English speech to text. However, the audio quality must be good in order for the software to work. That means a noise-free background, no over-talk, clear accents and good microphones.

If the audio quality is too poor for automatic transcription, you unfortunately have to dictate it or transcribe it manually.

We tested and reviewed the transcription software below using the audio of a YouTube video in which Bill Gates is interviewed . The audio meets all the criteria listed above.

Happy Scribe

• Speaker recognition
• Clean and intuitive editor
• Omits ‘uhs’ and stuttering
• Correct capitalization and use of periods
• 25% student discount
• Doesn’t insert punctuation (except for periods)

• Good speaker recognition
• Simple but powerful interface
• Comment and highlight feature
• Ignores intro music from video
• Easy to keep track of reviewing progress
• Some missing spaces

• Solid speaker recognition
• Very good capitalization and punctuation (including commas )
• Much cheaper than other transcription software
• Just a 1-minute trial
• Dated editor with limited functionality
• Doesn’t connect audio and transcript
• $20 annual license fee

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Measures of central tendency
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles
• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Thematic analysis
• Cohort study
• Peer review
• Ethnography

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Conformity bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Availability heuristic
• Attrition bias
• Social desirability bias

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2023, June 22). Transcribing an Interview | 5 Steps & Transcription Software. Scribbr. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/transcribe-interview/

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• Knowledge Base
• Methodology
• Transcribing an Interview | 5 Steps & Transcription Software

Transcribing an Interview | 5 Steps & Transcription Software

Published on 6 May 2022 by Raimo Streefkerk .

Transcribing is converting speech to text word for word. Transcribing is a common practice when conducting interviews because it enables you to perform analysis.

How to transcribe an interview in five steps:

• Choose your preferred transcription method.
• Transcribe the audio (using transcription software ).
• Add speaker designation and time stamps.
• Clarify the transcript where needed.
• Proofread the transcript.

Transcription software comparison

Table of contents

Transcription methods, altering the transcript, example transcript, analysing interview transcripts, transcription software.

Before you start transcribing, you first need to determine what transcription method you want to use. The best method depends on the goal of your transcription.

Verbatim transcription

Write down every single word, including pauses, the expression of emotions such as laughter, stuttering, and hesitations such as ‘uh’.

This type of transcription is mostly used in the legal profession or in research where you’re not only interested in what is said but also how it is said.

Intelligent verbatim transcription (most common)

Write down every word, but without irrelevant fillers like ‘um’, ‘yeah’, and ‘you know’. To improve readability, you can also fix grammar mistakes, broken sentences, and long paragraphs.

This method is more readable than verbatim transcription, but some data – such as emotions, pauses and hesitation – is lost in the process.

Edited transcription

A summarised and edited version of an intelligent verbatim transcript. In addition to omitting fillers like ‘you know’, irrelevant sentences can be omitted if it doesn’t change the meaning of the story.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

If the audio quality is bad or the conversation itself needs clarification, you are allowed to make changes in the transcript. For instance:

• Adding a clarifying comment: ‘I showed him that this option [raising prices] would be beneficial for profitability.’
• Marking unclear or missing audio with ellipses: ‘I showed him … would be beneficial for profitability.’
• Emphasising words: ‘ Increasing prices is needed for profitability.’

There are no rules for formatting and structuring a transcript. However, most transcripts contain the following information:

• Names of the interviewer and interviewee (can be anonymised)
• Date and time when the interview took place
• Location of the interview
• Speaker designation (who says what?)
• Line numbers and time stamps (optional)

After transcribing the interview(s) it is time to start analysing. There are several techniques for doing this – coding and categorising is one of them.

This means that you link keywords (e.g., ‘understanding customer’) to the answers you’ve received to your questions. Based on these keywords you are able to find connections between the answers of different respondents.

You can also use methods such as content analysis , thematic analysis , or discourse analysis .

If you quote from an interview in your paper, make sure you correctly cite the source. Learn how to cite an interview in MLA and APA .

Transcribing interviews takes a lot of time, but luckily transcription software is developing quickly. Using transcription software can help you speed up the process.

Most software is able to accurately convert English speech to text. However, the audio quality must be good in order for the software to work. That means a noise-free background, no over-talk, clear accents and good microphones.

If the audio quality is too poor for automatic transcription, you unfortunately have to dictate it or transcribe it manually.

We tested and reviewed the transcription software below using the audio of a YouTube video in which Bill Gates is interviewed . The audio meets all the criteria listed above.

Happy Scribe

• Speaker recognition
• Clean and intuitive editor
• Omits ‘uhs’ and stuttering
• Correct capitalisation and use of full stops
• 25% student discount
• Doesn’t insert punctuation (except for full stops)

• Good speaker recognition
• Simple but powerful interface
• Comment and highlight feature
• Ignores intro music from video
• Easy to keep track of reviewing progress
• Some missing spaces

• Solid speaker recognition
• Very good capitalisation and punctuation (including commas)
• Much cheaper than other transcription software
• Just a 1-minute trial
• Dated editor with limited functionality
• Doesn’t connect audio and transcript
• $20 (approx. £16.25) annual licence fee

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2022, May 06). Transcribing an Interview | 5 Steps & Transcription Software. Scribbr. Retrieved 9 September 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/transcribing-an-interview/

Is this article helpful?

Raimo Streefkerk

Other students also liked, doing survey research | a step-by-step guide & examples, types of interviews in research | guide & examples, structured interview | definition, guide & examples.

Transcribing interviews for qualitative research

Transcribing interviews is an important step in qualitative research, as it forms the backbone of data analysis and interpretation. In other words we can say that it acts as a vital link between those unfiltered conversations and insightful data acquired from them. But why is accurate transcription so crucial in qualitative studies?

The fundamentals of qualitative research itself provide the first justification. The depth with which linguistic expressions and emotions are communicated during interviews is crucial for this kind of research. Accurate transcription ensures that these non-verbal cues are also added for more clarity.

Transcribing interviews qualitative research is essential to ensuring the correctness of findings because it enables researchers to fully capture the range of participant replies and perspectives. Moving forward in this article we have compiled a comprehensive guide to help you get a more clear perspective on how to transcribe interviews for qualitative research.

What Is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is one of the most commonly used research methods in the field of academia. Instead of concentrating just on the what, where, and when of decision-making, it explores the why and how by focusing on the human aspects of a specific issue or situation. It aims to comprehend people's experiences, actions, feelings, and the interpretations they place on objects.

Getting a much deeper insight into people's attitudes, actions, value systems, concerns, motives and goals is the main aim of qualitative research. It is employed to acquire a deeper comprehension of intricate occurrences that are challenging to put into numerical form.

The main characteristics of qualitative research are:

• Focus on context: It explores the context in which behaviours and events take place.
• Subjectivity: It recognises the subjective nature of the study and frequently captures the perspectives of the participants.
• Extensive analysis: This entails a thorough examination of a limited number of case studies or circumstances.
• Inductive approach: The inductive approach often begins with observations and builds theories from them.
• Flexibility in design: As the study goes on, the research question format may change. Here it is not necessary to follow the predetermined context.

Researchers use qualitative interview as their main method of data collection for this research since it allows them to interact with the subject first hand and focus on the non-verbal cues along with the information they are sharing.

Looking for support in transcribing your qualitative research interviews? Good Tape offers transcription services that can help you better understand your interviews. We're here to help make your transcription process more manageable and efficient. Explore how Good Tape can assist you in your research endeavors .

Qualitative vs quantitative interviews

Qualitative and quantitative interviews are different research approaches, each with a unique strategy for collecting and interpreting data. Quantitative interviews seek to measure human behaviour and experiences in a form that can be statistically examined, whereas qualitative interviews concentrate on investigating and comprehending the depth and complexity of human behaviour and experiences.

While both are extensively used in the field of research, it is important to understand where either of the two should be used. Below is a comparative table of both against which you can determine which of the two would work best in your scenario.

This table presents a clear contrast between qualitative and quantitative interviews, highlighting the differences in their technique, strategy, and study conclusions. The choice between both majorly depends on the research question at hand and the nature of the topic being studied.

How to transcribe an interview for qualitative research

For qualitative research, transcription of interviews is a painstaking procedure that needs time and close attention to detail. It requires turning spoken words from your recorded audio or video into text.

In qualitative research, this transcribing procedure is essential to data processing. Here's a step-by-step tutorial on effectively transcribing interviews, along with a few tips to make the process as easy as it can be.

Record clear audio of the interview

Select a peaceful, quiet workstation for your interviews to reduce distractions and improve focus. It is important to have a well-positioned microphone and high-quality headphones if you want to record even the minute details of speech without picking up excessive background noise.

If there are any unpleasant noises in your audio, services like Good Tape can be quite helpful. They are made to carefully pick up on all spoken and nonverbal cues, even in busy settings, and automatically transcribe all your work for you, so you won't miss any important information.

Work around your transcription

Precise transcription is essential for detailed analysis, accurately recording each word and nonverbal cue. This comprehensive approach allows for a deeper understanding of both the verbal as well as non-verbal cues in communication.

Similarly, intelligent verbatim concentrates on streamlining the text by eliminating unnecessary words and sounds to focus on the primary concepts, resulting in a transcript that is more focused and structured. Revised transcriptions enhance the material by improving clarity and fixing grammar, guaranteeing that the final transcript is accurate, comprehensible, and cohesive.

Audio transcription services such as Good Tape make accurate transcription easy with a shorter turnaround time.

Finalise the transcript

For easy navigation and the identification of important points or sensitive parts within the text, transcript formatting consistency is essential. Consistent formatting facilitates reading and improves the transcript's overall usefulness.

A further crucial stage is anonymisation, which anonymises any confidential or private data to comply with legal regulations. This also gives the interviewees peace of mind knowing that the information they provide will not be used illegally. To ensure that the transcript is correct, well-written, and presented professionally, one last review is necessary to spot any spelling, grammatical, or flow errors.

Some useful tips

Manual transcription can take a lot of time, therefore patience is essential. However, if you wish to have accurate transcripts in less time, using services such as Good Tape can cut down on the amount of time required.

It's also very important to make sure that your transcribed documents are safe. Maintaining regular backups is essential to avoiding data loss. Using services that automatically store and back up your transcribed audio might be a sensible choice if you find it difficult to remember to do backups, since they provide efficiency and peace of mind.

Why accurate transcription matters in qualitative research

Precise transcription is essential to qualitative research because it supports the accuracy and essence of the whole research process. It is the first stage of data analysis and has a direct impact on the findings and recommendations of the study. There are several reasons why accurate transcribing is important and advantageous.

Impact on data analysis

• Maintains originality: Preserving the original context of spoken words is ensured via precise transcription. For accurate interpretation of the data, this is essential.
• Enables comprehensive study: If the transcription has even minute error, it may prevent researchers from doing a thorough study of the interview data, including discourse, theme, and content analysis. Conversation analysis requires a lot of details which is possible through detailed notes of its accurate transcription.
• Supports accuracy: Data analysis in qualitative research is a very crucial step. More valid findings are produced when transcripts are accurate because they give researchers a solid foundation.

Impact on research outcomes

• Validity of findings: The reliability of the study findings is directly impacted by the quality of the transcribing. Inaccurate conclusions may result from word misinterpretation or omission.
• Reliability and reproducibility: A key component of scientific investigation is replication, which is made possible by accurate transcribing, which also increases the research's dependability.
• Reflects the voice of the participant: Accurate transcribing preserves the integrity of the participants' contributions by correctly capturing their voices.

Benefits of accurate transcription

• Enhances credibility: Precisely recorded information strengthens the credibility of the study among other researchers and readers
• Facilitates peer review and cooperation: Because other researchers can comprehend and analyse the data with clarity, it makes effective peer review and cooperation possible.
• Enhances engagement with data: When data is precisely translated, researchers may interact with it at a deeper level, which results in more perceptive analysis and interpretation.

Accurate transcription plays a crucial role in maintaining the validity, reliability, and integrity of the research findings. It improves the quality and depth of data analysis, guaranteeing that the conclusions are solid, reliable, and accurate representations of the experiences and viewpoints of the participants.

Discover Good Tape’s interview transcription service

We’ve understood in depth how to transcribe interviews for qualitative research, let’s go over how you can do so accurately and quickly without having to put in much effort. Good Tape has a relatively simpler user interface which you can navigate through without any manual or instructions. Here’s what you can expect when going through the process of transcribing your audios.

• Upload your file: The first step in the process is to upload the file you need to transcribe. Make sure the file is complete and has all the information you require

• Select the language: Good Tape has a number of options when it comes to choosing the language of transcription. Select the one you want, although you can also choose the “auto-detect” option for the system to automatically identify the language in the audio.

• Transcribe the text: Once the file is uploaded and the language is chosen, proceed further by clicking the “transcribe” button. Your audio transcription process starts here.

• To wait or not to wait: If you’re a casual plan user, you will have to wait for some time for your transcription to be completed due to excessive load by the users. However, if you’re a professional or a team user, you get your results ASAP! The wait time depends on the plan you’re subscribed to .

• Get notified: You will receive a notification once your transcribed document is ready. An e-mail will be sent to your inbox containing the link to access and download the document.

Looking for a good transcribing interviews qualitative research service? Try out Good Tape’s audio-to-text transcription service today and increase your work productivity. Their AI incorporated technology makes sure that every verbal and non-verbal cue is recorded, giving your qualitative data a deeper level of understanding.

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From text to context: A complete guide to qualitative data analysis

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The essential transcription services for qualitative research

We believe everyone should have access to top-quality automatic trancriptions.

That's why Good Tape is completely free to use . No credit card required.

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How to Transcribe an Interview for Dissertation – Part 1

“[I]t is a truism to note that all transcription is in some sense interpretation …” (Cook, 1990, p.12)

In summary, here is how you transcribe your research interviews.

• DIY – Do(ing) it Yourself
• Hire a Professional Transcriber
• Use Software.

In this first post of a 2 part series on how to transcribe an interview for dissertation, I’ll start with a brief overview of the thesis transcription process. Then discuss 3 ways to transcribe your research interviews. And finally make a few remarks on accuracy of the transcripts and audio quality.

Why Transcripts

Before I start talking about how to transcribe your dissertation interviews, just why do it?

The reason we do it is because usually we find it much easier to work with a transcript rather than a recording.

These days it’s very easy to have an audio or video recording of your interviews; digital recorders (if you are looking to buy a voice recorder for your interviews check out this post ) and digital cameras make the whole recording audio or video very, very easy .

But for analysis purposes, researchers still find it easier to work with a transcript, despite the effort that goes into creating the transcripts.

The reason has to do with the fact that you can move around transcripts, you can mark it with a pencil. You can shuffle the pages very quickly and find the bits you want, and you got some very quick random access to it.

Now there are qualitative data analysis software (QDA) that can help with that, and some of QDA programs that I’ll talk about in another post do actually deal with some of those kinds of things, but still not in quite the same easy, familiar way that we used to do with paper.

That becomes even more the case when you are doing very detailed analysis, like conversation analysis or possibly a discourse analysis, where you need a closely transcribed interview to work on. So transcription is still the norm for anything that involves interviews or the recordings of people.

Beware of Transcripts

But Steinar Kvale, a Danish writer, warns us, we have to “beware of transcripts” (97:1988).

Transcripts are not transparent.

Transcription is a change of medium.

There are dangers in transcribing. We tend to lose things. Here are some of the dangers.

Decontextualizing ; take bits out of context, because that is what we are focusing on that passage, and not the longer run of the narrative and so on. We miss the bits that came before and after by taking things out of the context. So while we are listening to a longer narrative or a longer explanation we isolate bits and decontextualize. We maybe miss what the larger conversation was about.

Transcription is a change of medium; we are changing from a verbal expression to a written expression. Things you do verbally in speech, you can’t do in text, or it is very hard to do in text. So you lose some of those things, the intonation, the pace, the speed, the pause and the so on, are often lost.

Perhaps some of the hesitation, some of the gurgling and so on is lost, because it is fine enough as you will see it. So we often have a cleaner version. Now if that is important you need to be very aware of what you’re doing. If it is not important then it doesn’t matter so much, it makes life a bit easier.

Doing the Transcription

Who should do the transcription?

As researchers you will be faced with this choice at some stage. In my mind there are 3 possibilities, do it yourself. Getting an academic transcriber to do it for you, in other words pay someone. Or use some technology to do it. Let us have a few comments about each of those in turn.

DIY – do(ing) it yourself

Thesis Transcription is tedious; it takes an awfully long time to do it.

It also varies with how good of a typist you are, how detailed you are doing it and so on; we will see the different level of detail you can transcribe later on. But you might reckon something in the order of 6 hours per hour of recording to fully transcribe and check something. Maybe you can do it faster maybe you can do it 4 hours for an hour, maybe it takes you longer, but reckon on that kind of figure. So you can see it is a very laborious process, very tedious.

On the other hand it does start you reading your data, or rather listening to your data and actually reading it as you transcribing it.

You begin to get familiar with your data, so there is an advantage to that enormous effort you spend when doing the transcription. You carefully read it and produce new ideas as you check it through it against the audio.

Of course you may have to do it yourself because the original interview is in a language that nobody else can transcribe for you. So if you are anthropologist or if you are doing research in other countries where there are no native speakers locally you can use to help you transcribe your dissertation interviews, then no luck; you have to do it yourself.

Before you can start transcribing your first research interview, you are going to need the right equipment that will help you make the transcription process bearable.

• A computer/laptop. If you plan on using a laptop to transcribe your research interview, I recommend you get an external keyboard and mouse. Regardless, it’s best to set up a transcription desk so that you can focus on the transcription.
• Transcription software. Express Scribe is a good “free” one. Personally I use F4. If you’re a mac user, here’s a great post on mac transcription software.
• A good pair of headphones/headsets. Headphones that are great for transcribing are comfortable (you’re going to wear them for hours on end), durable (you don’t want them to stop working while you’re transcribing), and improve dialogue intelligibility. Here’s another great post with some recommendations.
• Foot Pedal. I’d say this is optional. But can help you transcribe faster – especially if you’re not a touch typist. More on transcription foot pedals here .

There are lots of ways of doing a transcription, and here is one approach, which I have seen often recommended for novice transcribers.

It is a 3 stage process, so you kind of level 1, you go through the recording. So you listen through the recording, get familiar with it. Just listen to the whole thing in one go. Create a kind of table of contents, so just take notes as you go through, just a word or 2, that helps you know what is there.

Then make a rough transcription. So you might actually type up your notes into a word processor. Open up a file, start the recording again and as you come to your notes you can extend, type some more in. Pause the recording if you need to, but try not to, never rewind the recording, don’t go back and re-listen to things, try to avoid that, we are trying to speed things up here.

I have heard it takes 2-3 hours of tape to go through and do that, of course unless you can type very fast you will have to pause. So, try not to rewind because that will just take an awful lot of time.

Once you have done that, you have something that is readable, you will have lots of typos, perhaps there will be bits missing, bits not quite right and so on. So, at that stage you can go through it again and listen to the recording against the transcript and make sure it is accurate. In that case you know you need to edit it, and get it correct. That takes another you know, whatever it is, 2 hours perhaps for an hour of recording to do that, maybe longer.

Some people found like quite a useful method. Again it is up to you, if you prefer to do things accurately from the go – like I do, fine. Best of all is if you can use a transcription software. The advantage of a transcription software are 2 fold. 1) You control it with a foot pedal. So, you can sit on your computer typing while you are turning on and off with your foot. That is great.

2) Transcription software have built in an automatic rewind. So every time you pause it, before it starts playing again when you start it playing, it rewinds a small amount, and you can often change that on most software. You can actually vary the amount of rewind from half a second to 2 seconds, whatever you want.

Actually round about a second you are probably okay, when you pause something should you lose a bit, you normally lose about half a second. And actually half a second is about 1 or 2 words you miss, so you need to rewind. Having to rewind a bit more than that, is sometimes helpful because you can hear it overlap. You just have to figure out what works for you. You can also use a hotkey to control playback with most transcription software.

Hire an Academic Transcriber

If you can get some money, and this is important when you are applying for a research grant, make sure there is enough money in the grant to pay somebody else to transcribe your oral interviews for you. It will save you a lot of time and you can concentrate on analysis and writing of you dissertation. If you can pay somebody else to do it fine. It is quicker, it cost money.

Transcribers make mistakes and you need to make sure you check the transcripts. Reviewing the transcripts also helps you get to know the data before you start the analysis. It helps if your transcriber knows something about the context. Because if they know about what is going on, what to expect, then it helps.

Technical terms, medical terms, clinical terms those kinds of things are quite hard to transcribe. So either help the transcriber by giving them a set of those terms or find someone who specializes in academic transcription to transcribe your dissertation interviews for you.

Although they are not typing it, again you got to check it, so you can use that checking it as a first opportunity to get familiar with the transcript, and begin to see and remind yourself of what the interview is about.

Use Software

The 3 rd possibility is to use software technology (or artificial intelligence) to help you transcribe.

There are software available that basically you can dictate to, and it converts your word or your dictations into typed texted. Dragon is the market leader in this field. I have used them and they are not that good, they are not accurate. They tend to work well with very good quality sound, so you have to have special mics, and probably you need to get one with the package.

You need to teach it with your own voice. So you can’t use it to transcribe interviews. Even if it recognizes the first voice, it will go completely wrong on the second voice. One thing you can do with it is to do both things at once. Listen to your tape and speak it again into the software. I have tried that, it is very hard to do it, you have to get used to doing it.

It is a bit like parallel translation. So you hear something coming in your ear and then you say the same words, speaking through the mic which then gets converted into texts on the computer. If you have got a regional accent that is fine. I find if I speak slightly American it is better, you don’t have to. I just find that, but maybe that is just me.

But you do need to preserver, you need to train it in your own voice and it should pick up regional accents. In fact there are now different versions for international accents. So there is a version for British English, there is a version for American English, there is a version for Indian English and so on, so those are even covered to some extent.

Then there are online automated machine transcription services. Most of them use a Google, Amazon, Microsoft or IBM speech recognition engines. There are lot of services to choose from, and more come online everyday. They don’t require you to train the AI and they tend to produce a more accurate transcript that Dragon et al.

The main disadvantages of these services is the low accuracy rate, especially if your recordings are not awesome (have a little background noise etc), accents, speaker designation, and maintaining confidentiality.

Interviewee Review?

Once you have got the transcripts, they need to be accurate. You can go back to the interviewee to check with them. See if the transcripts is an accurate recording of what they said. Or rather what they meant to say.

That is the trouble, they remember what they meant, not what they said, because you got directly what they said, and I can guarantee you can make it accurate from what they said. So, what if they disagree with the transcript?

Well you can try and treat it as new data, so they have said one thing and we later come back with the transcript and they disagree what they said, not what they said for sure but maybe not what they meant to say but that is what they actually said. So, why are they changing their minds?

You can ask them, is it embarrassment, is it something that has happened in the meantime, maybe they boss has talked to them and they don’t want to do these things anymore. Maybe they have actually changed their mind themselves. Maybe rather peer pressure is making them change their mind.

So, you could trace in that kind of way, keep both the old data and the new data and treat the whole thing as a kind of exercise, focusing in on really crucial things that are written there.

However interviewees may want statements erased, and usually they have a right to do that. They will have signed a fully informed consent form that says they can withdraw at any moment. So, they got the rights, I don’t want that used or I withdraw completely, so you’re stuck a bit.

Good Audio Recordings

And finally, I have talked about transcribers making errors but errors occur for all sorts of reasons. A good quality recording helps. So, if it is poor quality recording, it is will be harder to hear what it is on it.

Even if it is you doing your own transcription, listening to your own voice, and adding the respondent who you were interviewing the week before, you would have forgotten what was being said in the interview. So, a good quality recording is vital.

I find a good microphone, a lapel mic works really well when plugged into a digital recorder. That works really well especially in noisy areas. In a quiet room, a digital recorder (here are a few digital voice recorders that I recommend) will capture great quality interviews.

That’s it for this first part on how to transcribe an interview for dissertation. If you have any burning questions post them below and I’ll be more than happy to answer them.

In the second and final post in this series on how to transcribe interviews for dissertation I get into the minutia of transcription mechanics: how do you transcribe? What are the different styles of dissertation interview transcription (with examples)?And I share a cover page template you can use.

If you find transcribing your dissertation interviews to be a chore – get in touch. We’ll be glad to transcribe them for you.

References.

Ashmore, Malcolm & Reed, Darren (2000). Innocence and Nostalgia in Conversation Analysis: The Dynamic Relations of Tape and Transcript . Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 1(3), Art. 3.

Cook, Guy (1990). Transcribing infinity: Problems of context presentation. Journal of Pragmatics, 14, 1-24.

Have, Paul ten (1990). Methodological issues in conversation analysis. Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique, 27 (June), 23-51.

Jefferson, Gail (1985). An exercise in the transcription and analysis of laughter. In T. Van Dijk (Ed.), Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Vol. 3: Discourse and Dialogue (pp.25-34). London, UK: Academic Press.

Ochs, Elinor (1979). Transcription as theory. In E. Ochs & B. Schieffelin (Eds.), Developmental Pragmatics. New York: Academic Press.

Thanks for the post, really helpful. I’m planning to use the Olympus/Dragon package, do you have any experience with this combo?

Hi Ana, I’ve not used Olympus digital recorder and dragon software. From my experience, dragon voice recognition only works well with dictations. The moment you have multiple voices in an audio, it fails. Isaac

Is it possible to transcribe interview onto nvivo with Sony icd ux570

Many thanks

Ana, thanks for getting in touch. The main purpose of voice recorders it to record your interviews. Some do have a “transcription mode”, which is a playback mode that allows you to fast-forward or fast-rewind the your interview recording to search for a particular point and also to use the DPC (Digital Pitch Control) function to slow the playback. That’s all it does. You will need to listen to the interview, and type out the transcript in nVivo. Personally, I find the function inadequate and possibly misleading. For it doesn’t have the basic functions of a transcription software or hardware of old. Nvivo does come with an audio playback functionality that is better, and there are lots of other audio playback softwares that you can use for transcription that are better than using the recorder. My advice is to use the recorder to record your interview, transfer the interview to your computer and then use a software of your choice to help you transcribe your interviews.

Hope that helps.

I was wondering if it is OK to type only the answers of the the people I interviewed or if I am required to type the questions every time even though they will be the same questions for each participant?

Thank you for your help.

Yes, it’s okay to only type the answers. I’d recommend, though, that you reference the question in the transcript. You can use tags, for instance Q1 for the first question, etc. Also you might want to share the transcripts with other researchers or your advisor, having the questions in the transcripts will help them contextualize the content.

All the best in your research. Regards, Isaac

I used express scribe to bring in my audio recorded interviews and then play it back at 75% speed and type it myself. Took a while but was easy to use and free.

Hi Sarah. Yes, express scribe is a good software (though I do have a love/hate relationship with it!). Would it be helpful if I did a review of transcription software I use? Isaac

Voice Typing under tools in Google Docs is exceptionally accurate and provides translation in many languages. I would consider it as a cost-effective alternative…

Thanks Annie. If you don’t mind could you please provide more information on how you used the Google Docs voice typing tools in your research. I’m sure other researchers would appreciate it…

A really useful post, thank you. I especially like the quote at the beginning – so true. I am using MAXQDA and finding it usable so far, although only just started. I am transcribing a group semi-structured interview, a discussion really. Is it okay to write something like ‘all agree’ rather than go into the exact words of the individuals? And if one of them (they are children) goes off on a tangent, can I miss that bit out?

Sarah, I don’t know much about your study’s methodology, so my answer has to be yes and no. Depending on your methodology, it may make sense to edit out some stuff and have placeholders. But generally no. And here’s why. When transcribing, you are not analyzing. So your aim is to create a “faithful” representation of the conversation/interview. You don’t know, and should not know, what is useful or not. You do want to transcribe as much information as possible. Let me share a personal example. During my thesis, a participant said an off-hand comment. It did not speak to my study’s goal and objectives – and it was really hard to hear what they said. But I transcribed it anyway. It was only at the end of my thesis writing that I realized that that off-hand comment was the key to explaining the phenomena that I was researching. My advice, be consistent and either transcribe everything or nothing. Hope that helps, Isaac

Hi Isaac, very informative articles! I’m in the process of writing my first book. I own an independent tv news studio servicing the news networks for remote “live shots” I have all the necessary equipment for broadcast, but I’m a “tech junkie” and get excited over buying new gear! So, for audio I already own Sony XLR ECM 77 mics, I have several Tascam DR40’s a Tascam DR05. But as I’m reading your posts and others online, I see your recommendation for the Sony ICDUX560BLK Digital Voice Recorder and the Giant Squid lab mics. I own a few of the Azden 503 models (cheaper mics) and was thinking about using them with my Tascam DR05.

Do you think the Sony 560 Digital Audio Recorder and the Giant Squid Mics will be a much better setup to go with? I also plan to use the DR40 with one of the Sony XLR ECM 77’s as a backup audio recording and double mic myself to both recorders.

My studio is fully soundproofed so ambient noise is not an issue when recording. I plan on sending my audio recordings to a professional transcription service afterward. I see you provided a link in your article. I will check it out!

What do you suggest? But the Sony Recorder and Squid Mics or stay with what I have?

Hi Scott. Both of those mics are more than adequate (for transcription purposes) for voice recording in a studio. You are not going to get better audio using the ux560 and giant squid. My advice, use what you have. My only concern would be the Tascams. I own a DR05 and I get radio interference whenever I place it next to my smartphone. I don’t know if the DR40 has the same issue. Provided you keep the DRO5 away from microwaves, it’s a wonderful recorder. All the best. Isaac

This is a good read. I am about to transcribe an interview I conducted and I was wondering how and what is the best way to transcribe. After reading this, I will just go ahead and listen to the recording and type out the responses to aid with my analysis. Thank you!!!

Glad I helped.

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How to transcribe an interview – and maximise the benefits

Stop scribbling and start listening. Capture more value from your interviews with transcription.

An interview is a dynamic process, like a game of tennis, with the flow of conversation determined by how the ‘players’ deliver each question and answer. For an interviewer to obtain maximum value from the interview, therefore, they must be able to focus fully on the responses coming back over the net from the interviewee.

Any distraction from what the interviewee is saying could result in the interviewer missing a vital comment, misreading a crucial point of emphasis or delivering questions that fail to capitalise on earlier responses.

It’s not a good idea, therefore, to stop paying attention during an interview so you can scribble down the bits you did hear. So, how can an interviewer achieve the best interview while maintaining a detailed and accurate record of what was said?

Fortunately, there is a simple solution: transcription . Simply record the interview then transcribe the recording into the written word.

Why transcribe an interview?

Here are 10 ways that interview transcriptions can benefit you and your business:

1. Carry out better interviews

Knowing that an interview is to be transcribed allows you to keep your notebook, laptop or tablet out of sight and concentrate on what you are actually there for: the interview. Without having to constantly jot down notes, you can engage with what is being said, look the interviewee in the eye and build rapport.

2. Capture every detail

Scribbled notes taken during an interview usually require deciphering afterwards. Struggling to make sense of barely legible scrawl and rewriting the bits you can salvage takes time. Recording the session and having it transcribed, however, allows you to review a full, accurate and clearly presented account of the entire interview.

3. Quote with confidence

Word-for-word accuracy is essential when quoting your interview subjects. Indeed, attributing an inaccurate quote can result in legal consequences and the loss of credibility when attempting to arrange interviews in the future. A transcript helps you avoid this potential pitfall. It also provides a definitive source should there be any dispute over what was said at the time.

4. Search with ease

Listening to an entire recording of a lengthy interview each time you want to locate a specific comment is not an effective use of time. A transcribed interview, on the other hand, gives you a searchable text document, where a single word or phrase can be found instantly and effortlessly.

5. Collaborate with colleagues

Interviews and the subsequent analysis of the content often involve more than one person. Transcription replaces the large, unwieldy audio and video files that result from an interview’s recording with much smaller, more manageable text files – making life easier for the whole team. The accuracy of a transcript also ensures that colleagues who were not involved in the interview themselves can interpret and quote what was said without error or loss of context.

Download our free transcription template

Get started with transcription. Here you will find templates for both detailed transcription and standard transcription . You can use the formats and examples in your own working document.

6. Recycle content

The words spoken during an interview can be valuable on more than one occasion, especially for those in the journalism or content creation business. The written text of a transcript is easy to edit, summarise and expand, making it relatively simple to extract different elements of the interview and adapt and reuse them in various forms, from a terse tweet to a full-length article.

7. Generate video captions

Subtitles (a text alternative to video dialogue), closed captions (subtitles plus all other relevant elements of the soundtrack, such as background noises and phones ringing) and foreign-language captions (translated from the initial text) all require a time-indexed transcription of the original video before they can be created.

8. Keep lasting records

Having conversations in transcript form makes it possible to compile, collate and review your interviews past and present. This is particularly useful when you need to carry out further analysis, settle a dispute or evaluate an interview alongside newly acquired data, for example. Whether printed on paper, stored in a laptop or uploaded to the cloud, organising, retrieving and sharing your notes becomes easy and convenient.

9. Increase accessibility

Audio recordings are, by their nature, restricted to the hearing community. A transcript of the recording, however, is accessible to the hard-of-hearing, the deaf, those who do not have a fluent understanding of the language, and those who don’t speak the language at all.

10. Assess your performance

Typically, interviews take place away from anyone other than the participants. Examining a transcript to identify the effectiveness of the questioning and the subtle interplay between interviewer and interviewee can be a valuable learning opportunity for the interviewer. Unlike imperfect and subjective memory, a transcript provides a dispassionate view of precisely what was said in the interview room.

Want to know more about Semantix transcription services?

When are interviews transcribed.

There are a wide variety of situations where someone would want to transcribe an interview. Here are six examples of when it makes sense to transcribe:

1. Transcribe interviews for qualitative research

Qualitative research involves collecting and analysing non-numerical data, such as interviews with individuals and focus groups. In business, qualitative research is a long-established part of a product’s journey to market. As well as using these interviews as source material, it is important to record and preserve them for the sake of accuracy and future reference. Written transcripts provide qualitative researchers with the ideal medium for this.

2. Transcribe interviews for a dissertation

Interviews undertaken for academic work can be transcribed to create an easily editable version of what was said. Furthermore, transcription is often used within educational organisations such as schools, colleges and universities to improve the quality of teaching, the accessibility of learning resources and to provide students with searchable versions of lectures and seminars online.

3. Transcribe medical interviews

The work of doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners is often too fast-moving to be able to log written notes after each medical interview. Dictating remarks into a recording device, however, is quick and can be transcribed into text afterwards, maximising medical care while maintaining reliable records.

4. Transcribe legal interviews

The legal profession relies on huge quantities of easily accessible written records. From wills to witness statements, court proceedings to arbitrations and mediations, transcribed recordings of interviews can be presented at a later date, safe in the knowledge that they correlate exactly with what was said during the interview.

5. Transcribe insurance interviews

When insurers interview claimants, witnesses and other relevant parties, any discussions are legally binding. It is essential that every word is logged with absolute accuracy. Transcription transforms audio and video recordings of interviews into written legal documentation that can be used to assess and process an insurance claim.

6. Transcribe interviews for journalism

Interviews are central to the work of any journalist or reporter. With a need to recall vast amounts of information, and a duty to quote people correctly and report events as they happened, transcription offers a valuable method of capturing and presenting what was said with absolute accuracy.

How to transcribe an interview verbatim

With so many applications for transcribed text, it is no surprise that there are also many different types of transcription to choose from.

‘Verbatim’ transcriptions include every pause, every repetition, every noise and every er… um… yeah… you know. The transcriber can even add notes regarding such details as the tone of voice being used to ensure the reader gets as much information as they would if they were listening to the original recording. If every little detail matters, verbatim transcriptions are probably the best choice for you.

If you can manage without the extraneous coughs and stammers, an ‘intelligent’ or ‘word-for-word’ transcription offers an edited version of the interview – but only edited to the degree that all the inessential noises, interruptions, etc. are removed.

The next step away from the verbatim transcription is the ‘edited’ transcription. This is similar to the intelligent transcription, but with grammatical mistakes corrected, unfinished sentences completed and so on. The result will appear more formal than the original interview, but it will be easier to read and understand.

Intelligent and edited transcriptions offer more workable versions of the verbatim transcription, but they should only be used if you are certain the interview’s audible extras and style of delivery are not required to provide useful insight.

How to mark timestamps and speakers in an interview

As well as the words spoken during the interview, a transcript includes two more vital components: timestamps and speaker identification. Knowing who is talking and when allows users to jump straight to specific points in the interview without having to work through the entire recording.

Typically, a new speaker is identified wherever they change. Timestamps specify the hours, minutes and seconds – in [HH:MM:SS] format – from the start of the audio recording at which the given text was spoken.

There are several different ways in which timestamps and speakers are inserted into transcriptions. For example:

• Timestamps that indicate when actual speech begins and ends are useful when a recording does not have dialogue right from the start.
• Timestamps and speaker identification placed whenever a new person speaks can help to locate key moments in an audio recording. Interviewer: (00:17:30) Have you ever met anyone famous? Joe Smith: (00:17:32) Well, I’ve never told anyone this before, but I dated Beyonce for a while back in the 90s. A more granular marker can be provided by adding a new timestamp every sentence (though this can result in a cluttered transcription). (00:00:00) This is a brief example of a transcript. (00:00:02) The time each new sentence begins is displayed in the timestamp. (00:00:05) This is just one of many timestamping options.
• A more common requirement is the periodic timestamp, which is added at predetermined time intervals (such as every three seconds or every 30 minutes). (00:00:00) Here is an example of how a time-stamped transcript can incorporate a (00:00:03) timestamp every three seconds by including the (00:00:06) timestamp within the written text.

How to transcribe an interview automatically using apps or software

Transcribing an interview can be a time-consuming task, which is why many people take advantage of the numerous technological speech-to-text solutions that are on the market.

There are several transcription software options for Mac and PC users to choose from. For example, Windows 11 , Microsoft’s latest operating system, which has the advantage of operating without the need for an internet connection.

In addition to most smartphones’ built-in speech-to-text application, there are a variety of downloadable transcription apps for mobile devices. These apps provide a dedicated, portable tool for transcribing interviews. Some apps, such as Dragon Anywhere , sync with the desktop version of the software and save storage space by being cloud-based. The downside of this feature is the requirement for an internet connection.

There are also many free transcription tools available online, offering varying degrees of effectiveness. oTranscribe , for example, is a free, open-source product with a simple interface that can be used straight from a web browser.

Remarkable though transcription software and apps are, the greatest accuracy is delivered by skilled human transcribers. It is always a good idea, therefore, to carefully proofread any interview transcribed by artificial intelligence.

Read more: What are the best transcription apps and tools?

Ready to transcribe your next interview?

Creating a transcription of an interview gives you a complete, searchable, shareable document that not only boosts the quality of your research, it also saves you time and money and helps to increase the integrity of your work.

So when you have an interview to conduct, don’t think of transcription as an ‘extra’. In today’s content-driven world, it is indispensable.

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Download templates for both detailed transcription and standard transcription. You can use the formats and examples in your own working document.

Related content

How to transcribe audio to text – the ultimate guide to transcription

What is transcription? Get answers to 15 essential questions.

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How to Analyze Interview Transcripts in Qualitative Research

Rev › Blog › Transcription Blog › How to Analyze Interview Transcripts in Qualitative Research

Studies take time, accuracy, and a drive to provide excellent information, and qualitative research is a critical part of any successful study. You may be wondering how qualitative data adds to a paper or report, given that it’s not the hard “science” we often see highlighted the most often.

How Do You Analyze Qualitative Interviews?

There are two main approaches to qualitative analysis: inductive and deductive . What’s more, there are two types of inductive qualitative analysis to choose from. These are called thematic content analysis and narrative analysis, both of which call for an unstructured approach to research.

Inductive Methods of Analyzing Interview Transcripts

A thematic content analysis begins with weeding out biases and establishing your overarching impressions of the data. Rather than approaching your data with a predetermined framework, identify common themes as you search the materials organically. Your goal is to find common patterns across the data set.

A narrative analysis involves making sense of your interview respondents’ individual stories. Use this type of qualitative data analysis to highlight important aspects of their stories that will best resonate with your readers. And, highlight critical points you have found in other areas of your research.

Deductive Approach to Qualitative Analysis

Deductive analysis , on the other hand, requires a structured or predetermined approach. In this case, the researcher will build categories in advance of their analysis. Then, they’ll map connections in the data to those specific categories.

Each of these qualitative analysis methods lends its benefits to the research effort. Inductive analyses will produce more nuanced findings. Meanwhile, deductive analyses allow the researcher to point to key themes essential to their research.

Successful qualitative research hinges on the accuracy of your data. This can be harder to achieve than with quantitative research. It’s easy to lose important facts and meaning as you transition qualitative data from the source to your published content. This makes transcription a vital tool in maintaining integrity and relaying information in an unbiased way that’s useful for readers and adds appropriate context to the journal or study.

How to Transcribe a Qualitative Interview

Accurate transcription begins early in the interview process, even before you start interviewing. Here are the steps to transcribing a qualitative interview.

1. Collect Feedback for Qualitative Research

There are dozens of ways to gather qualitative data. Recording and accurately transcribing interviews is among the best methods to avoid inaccuracies and data loss, and researchers should consider this approach over simply taking notes firsthand.

Make sure you have a reliable way to record, whether the interview takes place in person, over the phone, or as part of a video call. Depending on the interview method, you may record a video or an audio-only format. Here are some tips depending on where the interview takes place:

• These apps can also be used for over-the-phone interviews.
• For video interviews , we recommend taking advantage of one of our transcription integrations , such as Zoom. Rev also has an API available for those who want to streamline their workflow even further by integrating Rev directly into their processes and platforms.

2. Organize Your Research Recordings

You should ensure that your audio or video files are easy to save, compile, and share. To do this, be sure to adopt easy-to-remember naming conventions as well to ensure they stay organized. An example of a naming convention that is simple to remember and recreate includes “Date.LastNameofSource.Topic”.

3. Transcribe All the Interviews and Focus Group Recordings

The next critical step is transcription. Done manually, this is a long and tedious process that can add hours, days, or even months to your report-writing process. There are dozens of pitfalls when performing transcriptions manually as well, as it can be hard to pick up words spoken in a heavy dialect or quiet tone. You also want to avoid having to transcribe all the “umms” and “ems” that occur when a source is speaking naturally.

Rev provides a variety of transcription services that take the tedium and guesswork out of the research process. You can choose to edit out all of the “umms,” while ensuring that heavy accents or muffled voices are picked up by the recording service.

You can order transcripts from Rev with both audio and video recordings. Once you’ve received your professional transcripts from Rev, you can begin your qualitative analysis.

The 6 Steps of Qualitative Interview Data Analysis

Among qualitative interview data analysis methods, thematic content analysis is perhaps the most common and effective method. It can also be one of the most trustworthy , increasing the traceability and verification of an analysis when done correctly. The following are the six main steps of a successful thematic analysis of your transcripts.

1. Read the Transcripts

By now, you will have accessed your transcript files as digital files in the cloud or have downloaded them to your computer for offline viewing. Start by browsing through your transcripts and making notes of your first impressions. You will be able to identify common themes. This will help you with your final summation of the data.

Next, read through each transcript carefully. Evidence of themes will become stronger, helping you to hone in on important insights.

You must identify bias during this step as well. Biases can appear in the data, among the interviewees, and even within your objectives and methodologies. According to SAGE Publishing , researchers should “acknowledge preconceived notions and actively work to neutralize them” at this early step.

2. Annotate the Transcripts

Annotation is the process of labeling relevant words, phrases, sentences, or sections with codes. These codes help identify important qualitative data types and patterns. Labels can be about actions, activities, concepts, differences, opinions, processes, or whatever you think is relevant.  Annotations will help you organize your data for dissemination .

Be generous with your annotations—don’t hold back. You will have an opportunity to eliminate or consolidate them later. It’s best to do more here, so you don’t have to come back to find more opportunities later.

3. Conceptualize the Data

Conceptualizing qualitative data is the process of aligning data with critical themes you will use in your published content. You will have identified many of these themes during your initial review of the transcripts.

To conceptualize,  create categories and subcategories  by grouping the codes you created during annotation. You may eliminate or combine certain codes rather than using all the codes you created. Keep only the codes you deem relevant to your analysis.

4. Segment the Data

Segmentation is the process of positioning and  connecting your categories . This allows you to establish the bulk of your data cohesively. Start by labeling your categories and then describe the connections between them.

You can use these descriptions to improve your final published content.

• Create a spreadsheet  to easily compile your data.
• Then, use the columns to structure important variables of your data analysis using codes as tools for reference.
• Create a separate tab for the front of the document that contains a coding table. This glossary contains important codes used in the segmentation process. This will help you and others quickly identify what the codes are referring to.

5. Analyze the Segments

You’re now ready to take a  deep dive into your data segments . Start by determining if there is a hierarchy among your categories. Determine if one is more important than the other, or draw a figure to summarize the results. At this stage, you may also want to align qualitative data with any quantitative data you collected.

6. Write the Results

Your analysis of the content is complete—you’re ready to transition your findings into the real body of your content. Use your insights to build and verify theories, answer key questions in your field, and back aims and objectives. Describe your categories and how they are connected using a neutral, objective voice.

Although you will pull heavily from your own research, be sure to publish content in the context of your field. Interpret your results in light of relevant studies, theories, and concepts related to your study.

Why Use Interviews for Qualitative Data

Unlike quantitative data, which is certainly important, a qualitative analysis adds color to academic and business reports. It offers perspective and can make a report more readable, add context, and inspire thoughtful discussion beyond the report.

As we’ve observed, transcribing qualitative interviews is crucial to getting less measurable data from direct sources. They allow researchers to provide relatable stories and perspectives and even quote important contributors directly. Lots of qualitative data from interviews enables authors to avoid embellishment and maintain the integrity of their content as well.

So, how do you conduct interview data analysis on qualitative data to pull key insights and strengthen your reports? Transcribing interviews is one of the most useful tools available for this task.

As a researcher, you need to make the most of recorded interviews . Interview transcripts allow you to use the best qualitative analysis methods. Plus, you can focus only on tasks that add value to your research effort.

Transcription is Essential to Qualitative Research Analysis

Qualitative data is often elusive to researchers. Transcripts allow you to capture original, nuanced responses from your respondents. You get their response naturally using their own words—not a summarized version in your notes.

You can also go back to the original transcript at any time to see what was said as you gain new context. The editable digital transcript files are incredibly easy to work with, saving you time and giving you speaker tags, time marks, and other tools to ensure you can find what you need within a transcript quickly.

When creating a report, accuracy matters, but efficiency matters, as well. Rev offers a seamless way of doing the transcription for you, saving you time and allowing you to focus on high-quality work instead. Consider Rev as your transcription service provider for qualitative research analysis — try Rev’s AI or Human Transcription services today.

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Transcribing Interviews for Qualitative Research: Best Practices

• Serra Ardem

The long hours dedicated to transcribing interviews are now in a galaxy far far away, thanks to the developments in AI and machine learning. Qualitative research highly benefits from these advancements as AI transcription technology not only saves valuable time but also increases research efficiency and accuracy.

In this blog, we emphasize the significance of transcribing interviews for qualitative research as well as the best practices in this area. We also explain why automatic transcription offers more advantages to researchers and how to choose an interview transcription software to achieve optimal results.

Let’s begin.

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is a systematic approach to understanding and explaining social phenomena. Focused on “How?” and “Why?” questions, it is an umbrella concept that involves different research methodologies including interviews, participant observation, focus groups and so on.

Qualitative data is based on words, behaviors and images. By analyzing these, qualitative research generates theories and hypotheses on how the social world is experienced and understood by people in everyday life. Unlike quantitative research that depends on numbers and statistics, qualitative research seeks to uncover the underlying meanings in human experiences.

Importance of Transcribing Interviews in Qualitative Research

Transcribing interviews for qualitative research offers several benefits that contribute to the overall depth and success of the research process. Here are its key advantages:

• Comprehensive analysis: Transcripts capture every word, nuance and non-verbal cue, which is a goldmine for data analysis. This allows researchers to identify themes and patterns thoroughly to draw meaningful conclusions.
• Enhanced reliability: Having the transcript for an interview will strengthen research validity by providing evidence to your argument. Plus, other researchers can review the transcription, ensuring transparency and collaboration.
• Reduced bias: Transcribing interviews will reduce bias as it minimizes the risk of misinterpreting or omitting information. Compared to note-taking, which may be influenced by the researcher’s perceptions, transcription offers a more objective representation of data.
• Increased accessibility: Via transcription , researchers can share and discuss findings with people who couldn’t participate in the interview due to language barriers. Furthermore, the practice improves accessibility for deaf and hard of hearing individuals by allowing them to engage with the findings through written text.
• Time-efficiency: No more jumping back and forth in audio files! When you transcribe the interview, you can quickly search for and navigate to specific parts, saving time during the analysis phase.

4 Types of Transcription

Transcription can be grouped into four categories: verbatim, intelligent verbatim, edited and phonetic. Let’s take a look at each one’s pros and cons, and highlight the best choice for transcribing interviews for qualitative research.

Verbatim Transcription

Verbatim transcription includes every sound in the audio recording such as coughs, doorbells and hesitations (er, mm, etc.) between sentences.

Pros: Provides the most complete and accurate record of the interview, which is essential for capturing the full context and subtle nuances.

Cons: May include unnecessary details. Can be time consuming and expensive to produce in case of manual transcription.

Primarily used in: legal proceedings, sociolinguistic research studies

Intelligent Verbatim Transcription

An intelligent verbatim transcript removes filler words and repetitions but retains key content and non-verbal cues. Its purpose is to provide a more on-point transcript.

Pros: Offers a balance between readability and details. 

Cons: May sacrifice some context and require careful quality control to guarantee accuracy.

Primarily used in: qualitative research, especially in interviews and focus groups

Edited Transcription

Clarity is the main focus of an edited transcript. It corrects grammatical errors and eliminates filler words, repetitions and extraneous sounds.

Pros: More readable and concise, therefore suitable for general understanding and thematic analysis.

Cons: Risks losing some nuances and the authenticity of participants’ expressions.

Primarily used in: journalism and media contexts

Phonetic Transcription

Phonetic transcription is unorthodox as it uses symbols from the International Phonetic Association to represent sounds exactly as they are spoken. This includes accents, dialects and non-standard pronunciations.

Pros: Analyzing variations in pronunciation.

Cons: More complex and expensive than other types of transcription.

Primarily used in: linguistic studies

What is the best type for interview transcripts in qualitative research? As we’ve said above, intelligent verbatim transcription is often the best choice: It is readable and manageable for analysis, yet it also provides a detailed record of the conversation.

Still, always consider your research goals, questions, data and budget when transcribing interviews. An edited transcript might be sufficient if you want to focus on broader themes. Meanwhile, verbatim transcription can be pretty useful if details matter to you a lot.

Methods of Transcribing Interviews

There are two main methods when it comes to transcribing interviews: manual and automatic. While manual transcription involves a human transcriber typing out the spoken words in the interview, automatic transcription utilizes speech recognition technology to convert audio to text.

As in types of transcription, these two methods have their unique advantages and disadvantages. Human transcribers can better understand nuances and context. However, this method can also be pretty time consuming and it may be expensive to hire a professional transcriber.

On the other hand, automatic transcription is much faster and cost-effective. This is an important advantage in the realm of qualitative research where large amounts of interview data need to be processed and analyzed. You can definitely save time and resources by using software when transcribing interviews for research.

Moreover, automatic transcription services are getting more accurate day by day thanks to the developments in AI, machine learning and voice recognition. Current systems can handle diverse accents, linguistic variations and even contextual nuances very well. This significantly increases the reliability of the interview transcript and research results.

How to Choose an Interview Transcription Software

Decided to use an interview transcription software for research but confused on how to choose one? Look for these qualities when making your decision:

Accuracy is crucial when transcribing interviews as it directly influences the reliability of your data. Prioritize an AI-powered tool with a high accuracy rate to remain true to your original interview. We recommend you test the AI transcription software beforehand with a small sample of your interview.

Quick turnaround time is essential for researchers who work with large sums of interview data and tight deadlines. The right software must transcribe audio to text rapidly without compromising accuracy and meet the demands of an intense qualitative research process.

It is your responsibility to comply with ethical standards and protect your participants’ sensitive information. You must choose a tool that has end-to-end encryption and clear privacy policies.

Flexibility

Does the transcription software allow you to upload audio and video files in different formats? Is it easy to edit the transcript and add notes? This flexibility will help you refine interviews seamlessly, enhancing the quality of your data.

Customization

Speaker identification, timestamps and punctuation are indispensable when transcribing interviews for qualitative research. Select a software that allows you to tailor these elements to your needs.

Language Support

Make sure that the tool supports the languages spoken in your interviews. Break down the language barrier by choosing a software that transcribes multiple languages and enrich your research with global perspectives.

Transcribing Interviews with Maestra Step-by-Step

If you’re looking for a tool with all these features, then Maestra’s AI-powered interview transcription software is the right choice for you. You can get your transcript instantly by following a few simple steps.

• Upload your audio or video file. Maestra supports 125+ languages .
• Select audio language and receive the transcript in seconds. 

Custom dictionary is especially beneficial when transcribing interviews for research as the audio content is more likely to include technical terminology. With this feature, you can add specific terms to your custom dictionary, assign importance values and Maestra will transcribe them as specified, ensuring accuracy.

You can also select the number of speakers during the upload phase and assign names to each speaker, making it easier to navigate the transcript.

• Click “Submit” and witness AI transcription work its magic. You will instantly receive your interview transcript with timestamps and speaker tags.
• Ta-da! You can now proofread and edit your transcript, take notes and add comments with Maestra’s built-in text editor .

Maestra has a very high accuracy rate but you can always polish your document for maximum clarity and comprehensibility.

After transcribing interviews, you can safely reach and organize them via MaestraCloud . You can also store your interview recordings here as the cloud allows you to keep audio and video files of any size without time limitations.

Collaborating with fellow researchers? Maestra Teams is ready to help you. You can create team-based channels with different permission levels and edit the document with other researchers in real-time.

Tips for Transcribing Interviews for Qualitative Research

No matter your experience in qualitative research or the software you use, there are certain practices to adopt when transcribing interviews.

Use a High-Quality Recording Device

Utilizing a high-quality recording device lays a solid foundation for interview transcription. Invest in a reliable recorder with good microphone sensitivity and audio quality to capture every part of the conversation. Don’t forget to test your equipment beforehand to avoid potential technical issues during the interview.

Respect Confidentiality

Upholding confidentiality is paramount when transcribing interviews for qualitative research. Always obtain informed consent from participants for recording and transcription, and store your files securely. Avoid sharing any personally identifiable information to safeguard participant privacy and maintain the integrity of your research.

Include Speaker Identification and Time Stamps

This practice enhances the overall usability of an interview transcript by enabling easy reference to specific points. Make sure you clearly identify each speaker on the document either by name, role or pseudonym. You can use different fonts or colors to visually distinguish between speakers.

Follow the Specific Style Consistently

Choose a transcription style guide (verbatim, intelligent verbatim, etc.) and follow it consistently throughout the project. Define rules for punctuation, contractions and interruptions. This will guarantee uniformity and enhance the reliability of your findings.

Add Non-Verbal Cues and Annotations

This one is not mandatory but can provide valuable context. You can document non-verbal expressions, pauses or changes in tone to add depth to qualitative data analysis. Meanwhile, bracketed annotations can help you highlight important moments. Just remember that adding too much detail can be distracting, so only include relevant information.

Edit and Proofread the Transcript

Proofread and edit your document once transcribing an interview: correct any errors, format inconsistencies and review for readability. Double check speaker identification and timestamps for accuracy. These practices will ensure a smooth transition from transcription to analysis and publication.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is transcription necessary for qualitative research.

The necessity of transcription depends on the nature and goals of the qualitative research you conduct. For example, it is crucial for in-depth and focus group interviews but not essential for participant observation where researchers can rely on field notes.

How do you transcribe an anonymous interview?

When transcribing interviews with anonymous participants, remove any information that can directly or indirectly identify the participant such as name, nickname, location, job title and affiliations. Create neutral pseudonyms (Participant 1, Interviewee A, etc.) for the participant and use them consistently throughout the interview transcript.

How do you analyze interview transcripts in qualitative research?

First, familiarize yourself with the data through readings when analyzing an interview transcript for research . Then, assign codes to relevant segments and organize similar codes into broader recurring themes. Finally, present your findings via a structured narrative. Always maintain transparency during the process.

How do you transcribe an interview in APA format?

Transcripts of interviews are usually added to the appendix in APA format . You should use a specific header with interview details, double line spacing and speaker identifiers in the transcript.

How do you summarize an interview transcript?

Carefully read the content and identify key themes when summarizing the transcript of an interview . Organize the information logically, provide brief contextual details when necessary and use quotes to add impact. Capture the essence of the interview by keeping the summary short and sweet.

Interview transcription is particularly valuable in qualitative research, which delves deep into human experiences and perceptions. Transforming spoken words into text enables researchers to derive meaningful insights from the rich tapestry of qualitative data. It also increases the accessibility of the research, empowering scholars to collaborate with colleagues across disciplines and borders. 

The advent of AI technology revolutionized the process of transcribing interviews and will continue to do so in the future. Its benefits range from increased accuracy to cost-effectiveness, providing a much refined experience for researchers. By choosing the right software and adopting the best practices for transcribing interviews, researchers can unleash the full potential of their endeavors.

About Serra Ardem

Serra Ardem is a freelance writer and editor based in Istanbul. For the last 8 years, she has been collaborating with brands and businesses to tell their unique story and develop their verbal identity.

Extract insights from Interviews. At Scale.

Dissertation interview transcript example: how to create.

Home » Dissertation Interview Transcript Example: How to Create

Dissertation Interview Transcript examples play a crucial role in qualitative research. These transcripts serve as valuable tools for organizing insights, interpreting data, and decluttering information gained from interviews. Understanding the structure and format of a dissertation interview transcript can significantly impact the clarity of your findings.

In this section, we will explore the essential components and best practices for creating effective dissertation interview transcripts. By examining examples, you'll learn how to capture audio content accurately, highlight key themes, and summarize responses for easy analysis. This foundational knowledge will set the stage for producing high-quality transcripts that enhance your overall dissertation experience.

Why Dissertation Interview Transcripts are Crucial to Your Research

Dissertation interview transcripts serve as an essential cornerstone for qualitative research, enriching your study with firsthand accounts. They provide a detailed account of participants’ perspectives, allowing you to analyze their insights deeply. This analysis can uncover themes and patterns that may not be apparent through surveys or quantitative data alone, thus enhancing the overall quality of your research.

Moreover, thoroughly documented interview transcripts ensure transparency and credibility in your work. They allow other researchers to verify your findings and methodology, which is crucial in academic circles. By maintaining rigorous and comprehensive dissertation interview transcripts, you not only uphold the integrity of your research but also contribute to the broader academic community’s understanding of your topic. Consequently, investing time in crafting these transcripts can fundamentally elevate the impact and depth of your dissertation.

Overview of Creating Dissertation Interview Transcripts

Creating dissertation interview transcripts is an essential part of qualitative research, serving as a foundation for analysis and interpretation. This process begins with carefully recording interviews, whether through audio or video. Once collected, the next step is to transcribe these recordings, converting spoken language into written text. Ensuring clarity and accuracy during this phase is crucial, as it impacts the overall quality of your dissertation interview transcript.

In creating these transcripts, it is important to maintain objectivity. A good practice is to include timestamps and speaker identifiers for easy navigation. Additionally, highlighting important quotes or themes can aid in later analysis. After transcription, a thorough review is necessary to correct any errors and to enhance readability. This attention to detail not only supports your research but also contributes to the credibility of your findings, making your dissertation interview transcript a valuable asset in your academic work.

Preparing for the Interview

Preparing for the interview is a crucial step in obtaining insightful dissertation interview transcripts. Start by defining your research questions clearly, as they guide the structure and content of the interview. It's essential to create a comfortable environment for the interviewee, ensuring they feel at ease to share their thoughts and experiences openly. Prepare a list of open-ended questions to encourage detailed responses, and allow for flexibility in the conversation.

Next, familiarize yourself with the technology you'll use, whether it's audio-recording devices or note-taking software. Test your equipment beforehand to avoid technical issues during the interview. Additionally, consider the ethical aspects of your research, such as obtaining informed consent from your participants. Finally, review existing literature related to your research topic to enrich your understanding and improve your questioning technique. These steps will help you prepare effectively, resulting in thorough and informative dissertation interview transcripts.

Developing Effective Questions for Dissertation Interview Transcripts

Developing effective questions is a crucial step in crafting a dissertation interview transcript that yields rich and meaningful data. To create insightful questions, consider the objectives of your research and the areas you wish to explore. Open-ended questions encourage participants to share their thoughts and experiences in detail. For example, instead of asking, “Did you face challenges?” you might ask, “What challenges did you encounter, and how did they affect your experience?” This approach invites deeper responses, enriching your analysis.

In addition, context is vital when formulating questions. Adding specifics prompts interviewees to focus their answers effectively. Consider starting with general questions to build rapport, then gradually transition into more precise queries that align with your dissertation's themes. By meticulously designing your questions, you not only enhance the quality of your dissertation interview transcripts but also ensure that the data collected aligns with your research objectives.

Tools and Software for Recording Interviews

Recording interviews effectively is crucial for creating a Dissertation Interview Transcript. Various tools and software options can streamline this process, ensuring clarity and accuracy. Some popular choices include portable audio recorders and smartphone applications that can capture high-quality sound. These tools allow researchers to focus on the conversation without worrying about missing details.

Additionally, transcription software can convert recorded audio into text efficiently. These programs often come with features like speaker identification, timestamps, and text editing, enhancing both the usability and accuracy of your Dissertation Interview Transcript. Consider tools that enable easy sharing and collaboration, allowing you to refine transcripts with peers or advisors seamlessly. Understanding the available resources can significantly aid in producing a polished, comprehensive transcript that adheres to academic standards.

Conducting the Interview

Conducting the interview is a pivotal step in capturing comprehensive insights for your dissertation interview transcript. Start with proper preparation by outlining the questions that guide the discussion. This framework helps maintain focus, ensuring that essential topics are covered. Additionally, fostering an open and inviting atmosphere will encourage participants to share their thoughts freely. You should actively listen, allowing your interviewee to express ideas fully without interruption.

During the interview, consider the flow of conversation and adapt as necessary. The dynamics may shift based on the participant's responses, so be flexible in your approach. After the interview, it's crucial to organize your notes while the information is still fresh. This will facilitate the transcription process and ensure that key insights are accurately captured in your dissertation interview transcript. Following these guidelines will enhance the quality of your research and enrich the depth of your analysis.

Best Practices for Recording High-Quality Dissertation Interviews

Recording high-quality dissertation interviews is essential for generating meaningful transcripts. Begin by choosing a quiet location free from distractions. This ensures clearer audio and allows participants to speak freely. Use professional equipment such as quality microphones to capture every nuance of the conversation. Checking battery life and storage space on recording devices before interviews is crucial to avoid unexpected interruptions.

It’s also important to prepare an interview guide with well-structured questions. This not only helps steer the conversation but also makes it easier to create a comprehensive dissertation interview transcript later. Additionally, always obtain consent from participants for recording. After each session, promptly transcribe the interviews while the content is still fresh in your mind. This practice aids in maintaining the authenticity of responses, crucial for high-quality analysis. Overall, these best practices foster a more productive interview experience and ensure valuable outcomes for your research.

Dealing with Common Interview Challenges

Conducting interviews for a dissertation can present a variety of challenges, each requiring thoughtful strategies to navigate effectively. One common issue is encountering unexpected responses. Being prepared for surprising answers not only enriches your dissertation interview transcript but creates opportunities for deeper insights. Another frequent challenge lies in managing participant anxiety. It’s essential to create an environment where interviewees feel comfortable and at ease, which encourages openness and trust during the conversation.

Additionally, maintaining focus during the interview is crucial. To address this, consider developing a structured outline of questions while remaining flexible enough to explore relevant tangents. Lastly, technology-related issues may arise, particularly with recording devices or software. Always check your equipment beforehand and have backup options ready. By anticipating and addressing these challenges, your dissertation interview can become a rewarding experience that yields valuable data for your research.

Transcribing the Interview

Transcribing the interview is a crucial step in creating a Dissertation Interview Transcript. This process involves converting spoken responses from your interview into written text, capturing every detail accurately. It is essential to maintain the integrity of the dialogue, preserving not only the participants' words but also their tone and emotions. By accurately documenting the conversation, you provide a reliable basis for analysis and interpretation.

To effectively transcribe, consider these key points:

• Choose the Right Tools – Utilize transcription software or services that can aid in quicker and more precise transcriptions.
• Listen Carefully – Play back the recordings several times to ensure you capture every nuance of the dialogue.
• Format Consistently – Maintain a clear and consistent format to improve readability, indicating who speaks and noting significant non-verbal cues.
• Review and Revise – After completing the initial transcript, review it for accuracy. Make revisions to enhance clarity where needed.

Transcribing the interview properly sets the foundation for analyzing and synthesizing your findings effectively.

How to Transcribe Dissertation Interview Recordings Accurately

Transcribing dissertation interview recordings requires careful attention to detail to ensure accuracy. A high-quality transcript is crucial as it serves as the foundation for your analysis and findings. Begin by selecting a reliable transcription method, whether using software or manual transcription. Software can expedite the process, but ensure you review the output for errors. If transcribing manually, be attentive to the speaker's words, intonation, and emphasis, as these nuances play a vital role in understanding the content.

Additionally, incorporating specialized vocabulary is essential, especially when discussing domain-specific topics. Familiarity with terminology relevant to your dissertation will enhance the accuracy of your Dissertation Interview Transcript. Consider using timestamps to mark sections of the audio, making it easier to locate specific content later. Finally, maintain confidentiality by anonymizing participant information. Following these steps will lead to a clearer, more precise transcript that effectively supports your research objectives.

Manual vs. Automated Transcription Techniques

Transcribing interviews for a dissertation can be done through either manual or automated techniques, each possessing unique strengths. Manual transcription involves listening and typing out the conversation, allowing for greater precision and context interpretation. This approach enables the transcriber to capture subtle nuances, pauses, and emotional tones, which can be critical for accurately representing the interviewee's perspectives. Additionally, manual methods provide the opportunity to incorporate domain-specific vocabulary, enhancing the final transcript's quality.

On the other hand, automated transcription utilizes advanced software, often leveraging AI to convert spoken words to text. While automated services can save time, they might not always achieve the level of accuracy found in manual transcription, particularly with unique terminology or specific accents. The choice between these methods depends on factors like available time, budget, and desired accuracy level. Ultimately, understanding these techniques can significantly impact the quality of your Dissertation Interview Transcript.

Proofreading and Editing Your Transcript

Proofreading and editing your dissertation interview transcript is a crucial step in ensuring its accuracy and clarity. First, review the transcript for any grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, or unclear sections. Pay close attention to specialized vocabulary and terminology relevant to your research topic, as these elements must be precise for your work to convey its message effectively.

Next, ensure that the content accurately reflects the responses and insights from your interviews. This might involve cross-referencing your notes or recordings. Once you are confident in the accuracy, consider formatting the transcript according to your institution’s guidelines. Finally, readability plays a vital role; ensure that the text flows logically and retains the original meaning without misinterpretations. By following these steps, your dissertation interview transcript will be polished and ready for submission.

Utilizing the Dissertation Interview Transcript

The Dissertation Interview Transcript serves a vital role in transforming raw interview data into meaningful insights. By systematically analyzing these transcripts, researchers can identify patterns, themes, and significant responses relevant to their study. This process involves extracting information that addresses the research questions while providing context to the participants' experiences and perspectives.

To effectively utilize the Dissertation Interview Transcript, follow these key steps:

Coding the Data : Begin by assigning codes to themes and concepts that emerge from the interviews. This step will help streamline the analysis process.

Synthesizing Findings : Use tools such as a research matrix to compile insights from multiple transcripts. This allows for a comprehensive view of the data that can highlight commonalities and differences among participants.

Identifying Key Trends : As you analyze the transcripts, focus on recurring themes and unique statements. This can yield critical insights that enhance understanding of the topic.

By employing these strategies, researchers can maximize the value of the Dissertation Interview Transcript, translating participant narratives into data-driven conclusions.

Analyzing Data from Dissertation Interview Transcripts

Analyzing data from dissertation interview transcripts requires a thoughtful approach to ensure accurate interpretations of the collected insights. The process typically begins with organizing the transcripts, which can be achieved in several ways—matrix analysis, visual dashboards, or interactive chat services. Each method has its strengths and can cater to different preferences in data evaluation.

The matrix, for instance, allows you to align your old manual analysis techniques with AI assistance, making comparisons intuitive. Meanwhile, visual dashboards present data in a more compelling format, aiding in the identification of trends. Lastly, chat services offer a conversational way to extract insights by posing questions directly related to the dataset. This multifaceted approach to analyzing dissertation interview transcripts not only enhances understanding but also fosters richer interpretations that can ultimately inform your research findings.

Incorporating Transcripts into Your Dissertation

Incorporating transcripts into your dissertation can enrich your research significantly. A key component of qualitative research, a Dissertation Interview Transcript serves as a detailed record of your interviews, allowing you to present your findings effectively. First, ensure that your transcripts are accurate and thoroughly proofread. Clean and clear transcripts will help readers understand the context and insights gathered during your interviews.

Next, consider where to place these transcripts within your dissertation. You might include selected excerpts in the text to illustrate specific points or trends. Additionally, you can append the full transcripts to your dissertation to provide transparency and allow for a deeper understanding of your research. Finally, discuss how the insights derived from the transcripts support your dissertation's arguments. This strategy not only validates your findings but also enhances the academic rigor of your work.

Conclusion: Mastering Dissertation Interview Transcripts

Mastering dissertation interview transcripts requires a systematic approach, combining effective techniques and tools. By carefully organizing and analyzing your transcripts, you can uncover valuable insights that enrich your research narrative. It’s essential to provide context for each interview, highlighting key themes and ensuring thorough documentation for accurate representation of participant responses.

In addition, employing software that simplifies the analysis can significantly enhance your efficiency. This allows for easier identification of patterns and trends within the data. Ultimately, mastering your dissertation interview transcripts not only strengthens your findings but also deepens your understanding of the subject matter, making your dissertation a more impactful contribution to the field.

Recap of Key Steps and Best Practices

Creating a Dissertation Interview Transcript involves several essential steps that contribute to its effectiveness. First, it is crucial to prepare thoroughly by developing a comprehensive interview guide. This guide should outline the questions that align with your research objectives, ensuring a focused and coherent discussion. Second, conducting the interview in a relaxed and respectful environment facilitates open communication, allowing participants to share their insights comfortably.

After the interview, transcription becomes the next important step. It is essential to accurately document the dialogue to maintain the integrity of the data collected. Utilize reliable transcription tools for efficiency, but also manually review the transcript for any discrepancies. Finally, when analyzing the Dissertation Interview Transcript, highlight key themes and insights that emerge from the discussion. This process not only validates your research findings but also enhances the overall quality of your dissertation, making the insights more impactful and relevant.

Final Thoughts and Additional Resources

Creating a dissertation interview transcript is a valuable skill that enhances the clarity and accessibility of your research findings. By structuring your transcripts effectively, you can provide essential insights while keeping your audience engaged. Always remember that the main purpose of the transcript is to serve as a reliable document that can facilitate further understanding and analysis of the data collected through interviews.

To assist you in this journey, various resources are available to deepen your knowledge and refine your skills. Consider exploring templates for interview guides and summarization tools that can help organize your content more coherently. Additionally, academic articles and research forums often provide insights on best practices in transcribing and summarizing interviews. Utilizing such resources can enrich your process and make your dissertation more impactful.

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Doing Interview Research: The Essential How To Guide

Student resources, annotated interview transcripts.

Author Uwe Flick’s annotated interview transcripts give you best-practice examples of how to do coding and annotation in your own research.

How to Do Interview Transcription for a Dissertation?

Transkriptor 2024-04-23

Interview transcription is a key step in the dissertation process, transforming audio or video interviews into written text. This step allows researchers to closely analyze their data, providing a solid base for their findings.

Accurate transcription is vital in the dissertation process, turning spoken words from interviews into a written format that forms the backbone of qualitative research. It allows researchers to engage deeply with their data, marking significant sections and swiftly navigating through insights, thereby reinforcing the foundational evidence required for a compelling dissertation.

Meet Transkriptor , a leading speech-to-text tool designed to elevate the transcription process for researchers. This tool stands out for its ability to deliver precise, efficient transcriptions, making it an indispensable asset for dissertation work. By leveraging Transkriptor, researchers can ensure that their transcription process is not only faster but also more accurate.

The 6 steps to do interview transcription for a dissertation are listed below.

• Sign Up/Log in to Transkriptor: Create a new account or access an existing one.
• Upload/Record the Interview: Either upload audio/video files from your device or directly record the interview within Transkriptor for transcription.
• Start Transcribing Interview: Choose the language of the recording and let Transkriptor's AI technology accurately transcribe the speech to text.
• Review and Edit: Review and make adjustments to the transcription, ensuring it accurately reflects the interview content.
• Download or Share: After finalizing the transcript, download it in formats like TXT, SRT, or Word, or share it directly from the platform.
• Use the Transcriptions for Analysis: Utilize the accurate and detailed transcripts for in-depth analysis, identifying patterns, themes, and insights in your research.

Step 1: Sign Up/Log In to Transkriptor

The first step for researchers is to either sign up for a new account or log into an existing one on Transkriptor. This platform caters specifically to the needs of academic transcription, providing a streamlined interface for ease of use. Researchers can create an account using their Google accounts or an email address.

Upon completing this initial step, access to Transkriptor's dashboard is granted, allowing for immediate start on transcription tasks. This simple and straightforward process ensures that researchers can quickly begin their work, leveraging the platform's capabilities to facilitate their dissertation transcription needs.

Step 2: Upload/Record the Interview

After logging in, researchers have the capability to upload or record their audio or video files to Transkriptor. Simply click on the “Record” button to start recording. The platform supports a wide range of file formats, including but not limited to MP3, MP4, WAV, and MOV, accommodating virtually any type of audio or video recording used in academic research. Uploading is made flexible through options to drag and drop files directly into the platform or import them from popular cloud storage services like Google Drive or OneDrive. This feature ensures a seamless and secure upload process, allowing researchers to quickly proceed with their transcription tasks without worrying about compatibility or access issues.

Also, consider using Meetingtor . It attends and records the meetings in your calendar and stores them. With one click on the platform, users can get transcriptions via Transkriptor.

Step 3: Start Transcribing Interview

After uploading, researchers start the transcription process on Transkriptor by selecting the recording's language with one click. The platform's AI technology then accurately transcribes speech to text, supporting a broad range of languages to meet diverse research requirements. This ensures precise capture of spoken words, essential for qualitative analysis.

Step 4: Review and Edit

Transkriptor offers an editing feature that allows researchers to review and tweak the transcript while it's being created. This means immediate corrections can be made, helping to make sure the transcript matches the original recording closely. Being able to edit on the go is crucial for catching important details and ensuring the transcript accurately reflects the interview.

This process not only makes work easier but also improves the quality of the final transcript, which is important for research that relies on detailed and accurate data. Through Transkriptor, researchers can be confident that their transcripts are both precise and true to their source material.

Step 5: Download or Share

After editing their transcript, researchers can add details like speaker names and timestamps for clarity. Transkriptor allows downloading in various formats such as TXT, SRT, or Word , suiting different needs. For sharing, the platform enables direct distribution, making it simple to collaborate with others or submit work. This feature ensures transcripts are easily accessible and ready for any next steps in the research process.

Step 6: Use the Transcription for Analysis

Researchers proceed to analysis by coding and organizing data based on the dissertation's methodological framework after completing transcription. This involves identifying patterns and themes and providing meaningful insights from the interview content.

Moreover, researchers can leverage Transkriptor's AI chat feature for additional support during their analysis. This innovative tool assists in interpreting and organizing transcribed data. By integrating AI chat assistance with traditional analysis methods, researchers can navigate the coding process with greater accuracy and generate robust, meaningful outcomes in their research endeavors, making Transkriptor an invaluable ally in qualitative research.

Why is Transcription Crucial for Dissertation Interviews?

Transcription plays a crucial role in dissertation interviews. It accurately captures and preserves spoken words, ensuring data integrity and reliability. Researchers prefer working with transcripts for analysis despite the accessibility of audio and video recordings. This preference arises from easily handling tangible transcripts, facilitating quick access and annotation.

Digital recorders and cameras make recording easy, but transcripts remain more manageable for detailed analyses. Researchers find it advantageous to shuffle pages and mark transcripts with a pencil. The familiarity and convenience of working with paper transcripts persist, even with the availability of qualitative data analysis software. Traditional transcription methods remain the norm for interviews and recordings involving people.

How to Prepare Before Transcribing Dissertation Interviews?

Researchers prepare before transcribing dissertation interviews by considering essential factors. This phase involves organizing recordings, investing in quality equipment, and setting up an efficient workspace.

The steps to prepare before transcribing dissertation interviews are listed below.

• Review Interview Objectives: Gain a clear understanding of the research aims and contextual details.
• Ensure Good Quality Recordings: Focus on acquiring clear and crisp audio, minimizing background noise, and addressing technical glitches.
• Create a Comfortable Workspace: Establish an environment that promotes focus, concentration, and optimal listening.
• Understand Ethical Guidelines: Be aware of confidentiality requirements and relevant data protection rules.

Review Interview Objectives

Researchers initiate transcription by thoroughly reviewing the interview objectives. This involves gaining a clear understanding of the research aims and contextual details. Aligning transcription efforts with these goals ensures purposeful and insightful outcomes. Researchers must delve into key themes, critical topics, and specific study objectives for a detailed transcription decision-making process, fostering a deeper analysis.

Ensure Good Quality Recordings

Prioritizing high-quality audio recordings is essential for effective transcription. Researchers focus on acquiring clear and crisp audio, minimizing background noise, and addressing technical glitches. Checking for audio clarity involves evaluating factors like background noise and potential distortions. Starting with a high-quality recording establishes a reliable foundation for accurate transcription, ensuring an authentic representation of the interview content.

Create a Comfortable Workspace

Crafting a dedicated and comfortable workspace is crucial for the transcription process. Researchers establish an environment that promotes focus, concentration, and optimal listening. A well-designed workspace minimizes distractions, enhancing the ability to immerse in interview content. Consider lighting, seating arrangements, and equipment placement to optimize the workspace for transcription demands.

Understand Ethical Guidelines

Researchers engaging in transcription activities must possess a profound understanding of ethical guidelines. This involves being aware of confidentiality requirements and relevant data protection rules. Upholding ethical standards ensures the responsible treatment of interview participants and their sensitive information.

The commitment to ethical transcription practices includes obtaining informed consent, preserving anonymity, and safeguarding data confidentiality, contributing to the overall integrity of the research process.

What are the Challenges in Transcribing Interviews?

Researchers face critical challenges when preparing for the transcription process. Various hurdles impact accuracy and efficiency, requiring a keen understanding of effective mitigation strategies.

The challenges in transcribing interviews are listed below.

• Poor Audio Quality: Prioritize addressing poor audio quality for accurate transcription.
• Fast-Paced Speech Challenge: Fast-paced speech is difficult to follow and transcribe. Use transcription software or slow down the playback.
• Accents and Dialect Challenge: Navigating the variability introduced by accents and dialects in spoken language requires researchers to adopt specific approaches.
• Background Noise Challenge: Background noise hinders the transcription process, emphasizing the need to create an optimal recording environment.
• Technical Jargon Challenge: Researching technical or unfamiliar terms is essential for grasping their meanings for an accurate transcription.

Poor Audio Quality

Researchers must prioritize addressing poor audio quality for accurate transcription. High-quality recording equipment is pivotal in this process. Investing in noise-canceling software further enhances the clarity of the recorded content, ensuring the faithful representation of spoken words and eliminating potential discrepancies introduced by subpar audio.

Fast-Paced Speech Challenge

Fast-paced speech in transcription demands specific strategies. Utilizing transcription software with adjustable playback speed proves valuable. Slowing down the playback without altering the pitch lets researchers meticulously capture each spoken word. This detailed approach significantly improves transcription accuracy, especially with rapid speech patterns.

Accents and Dialects Challenge

Navigating the variability introduced by accents and dialects in spoken language requires researchers to adopt specific approaches. Familiarize yourself with the specific linguistic characteristics to overcome challenges related to unfamiliar accents. Seeking assistance from individuals proficient in the accent or dialect provides valuable insights, ensuring accurate transcription that reflects the intended communication.

Background Noise Challenge

Background noise hinders the transcription process, emphasizing the need to create an optimal recording environment. Conducting interviews in quiet settings minimizes external disturbances. Additionally, transcription software with noise reduction features proves instrumental in mitigating unwanted sounds during transcription. This dual approach significantly contributes to the overall accuracy of the transcription.

Technical Jargon Challenge

Ensuring accurate transcription when dealing with technical jargon requires a proactive approach. Thoroughly researching unfamiliar terms is essential for grasping their meanings. Alternatively, consulting with the interviewee or subject matter experts provides valuable insights and clarification. This meticulous approach guarantees the transcription captures the intended meaning, even when confronted with specialized language or terminology. Researchers navigate the intricacies of technical content with precision and clarity.

To Overcome Interview Transcription Challenges: Transkriptor

Transcription challenges such as poor audio quality, fast-paced speech, accents, background noise, and technical jargon can significantly hinder the accuracy and efficiency of the transcription process. To overcome these challenges, Transkriptor stands out as a robust solution, employing advanced AI algorithms for precise and reliable transcriptions, minimizing errors.

Transkriptor not only ensures that the transcribed text represents the spoken words but also streamlines the entire process, making it a comprehensive solution for enhancing dissertation transcription accuracy. Try it for free!

Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on your time, budget, and the level of accuracy required. Transcribing interviews yourself can be time-consuming but offers closer engagement with your data. Professional services, like Transkriptor, can save time and provide high-quality transcripts, but at a cost.

The format depends on your research needs. Verbatim transcription captures every word and sound, which is useful for detailed analysis.

Mark these sections with a standard notation (e.g., [inaudible] or [unclear]) and the timestamp. If possible, ask the interviewee for clarification on these parts. Consistency in handling these sections is key for accurate analysis.

Follow your academic institution's guidelines for citing primary research data. Typically, you would reference the interviewee (as per your ethics agreement), the date of the interview, and possibly a transcript reference number or page number.

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Qualitative Data Coding 101

How to code qualitative data, the smart way (with examples).

By: Jenna Crosley (PhD) | Reviewed by:Dr Eunice Rautenbach | December 2020

As we’ve discussed previously , qualitative research makes use of non-numerical data – for example, words, phrases or even images and video. To analyse this kind of data, the first dragon you’ll need to slay is  qualitative data coding  (or just “coding” if you want to sound cool). But what exactly is coding and how do you do it? 

Overview: Qualitative Data Coding

In this post, we’ll explain qualitative data coding in simple terms. Specifically, we’ll dig into:

• What exactly qualitative data coding is
• What different types of coding exist
• How to code qualitative data (the process)
• Moving from coding to qualitative analysis
• Tips and tricks for quality data coding

What is qualitative data coding?

Let’s start by understanding what a code is. At the simplest level,  a code is a label that describes the content  of a piece of text. For example, in the sentence:

“Pigeons attacked me and stole my sandwich.”

You could use “pigeons” as a code. This code simply describes that the sentence involves pigeons.

So, building onto this,  qualitative data coding is the process of creating and assigning codes to categorise data extracts.   You’ll then use these codes later down the road to derive themes and patterns for your qualitative analysis (for example, thematic analysis ). Coding and analysis can take place simultaneously, but it’s important to note that coding does not necessarily involve identifying themes (depending on which textbook you’re reading, of course). Instead, it generally refers to the process of  labelling and grouping similar types of data  to make generating themes and analysing the data more manageable. 

Makes sense? Great. But why should you bother with coding at all? Why not just look for themes from the outset? Well, coding is a way of making sure your  data is valid . In other words, it helps ensure that your  analysis is undertaken systematically  and that other researchers can review it (in the world of research, we call this transparency). In other words, good coding is the foundation of high-quality analysis.

What are the different types of coding?

Now that we’ve got a plain-language definition of coding on the table, the next step is to understand what overarching types of coding exist – in other words, coding approaches . Let’s start with the two main approaches, inductive and deductive .

With deductive coding, you, as the researcher, begin with a set of  pre-established codes  and apply them to your data set (for example, a set of interview transcripts). Inductive coding on the other hand, works in reverse, as you create the set of codes based on the data itself – in other words, the codes emerge from the data. Let’s take a closer look at both.

Deductive coding 101

With deductive coding, we make use of pre-established codes, which are developed before you interact with the present data. This usually involves drawing up a set of  codes based on a research question or previous research . You could also use a code set from the codebook of a previous study.

For example, if you were studying the eating habits of college students, you might have a research question along the lines of 

“What foods do college students eat the most?”

As a result of this research question, you might develop a code set that includes codes such as “sushi”, “pizza”, and “burgers”.  

Deductive coding allows you to approach your analysis with a very tightly focused lens and quickly identify relevant data . Of course, the downside is that you could miss out on some very valuable insights as a result of this tight, predetermined focus. 

Inductive coding 101 

But what about inductive coding? As we touched on earlier, this type of coding involves jumping right into the data and then developing the codes  based on what you find  within the data. 

For example, if you were to analyse a set of open-ended interviews , you wouldn’t necessarily know which direction the conversation would flow. If a conversation begins with a discussion of cats, it may go on to include other animals too, and so you’d add these codes as you progress with your analysis. Simply put, with inductive coding, you “go with the flow” of the data.

Inductive coding is great when you’re researching something that isn’t yet well understood because the coding derived from the data helps you explore the subject. Therefore, this type of coding is usually used when researchers want to investigate new ideas or concepts , or when they want to create new theories. 

A little bit of both… hybrid coding approaches

If you’ve got a set of codes you’ve derived from a research topic, literature review or a previous study (i.e. a deductive approach), but you still don’t have a rich enough set to capture the depth of your qualitative data, you can  combine deductive and inductive  methods – this is called a  hybrid  coding approach. 

To adopt a hybrid approach, you’ll begin your analysis with a set of a priori codes (deductive) and then add new codes (inductive) as you work your way through the data. Essentially, the hybrid coding approach provides the best of both worlds, which is why it’s pretty common to see this in research.

Need a helping hand?

How to code qualitative data

Now that we’ve looked at the main approaches to coding, the next question you’re probably asking is “how do I actually do it?”. Let’s take a look at the  coding process , step by step.

Both inductive and deductive methods of coding typically occur in two stages:  initial coding  and  line by line coding . 

In the initial coding stage, the objective is to get a general overview of the data by reading through and understanding it. If you’re using an inductive approach, this is also where you’ll develop an initial set of codes. Then, in the second stage (line by line coding), you’ll delve deeper into the data and (re)organise it according to (potentially new) codes. 

Step 1 – Initial coding

The first step of the coding process is to identify  the essence  of the text and code it accordingly. While there are various qualitative analysis software packages available, you can just as easily code textual data using Microsoft Word’s “comments” feature. 

Let’s take a look at a practical example of coding. Assume you had the following interview data from two interviewees:

What pets do you have?

I have an alpaca and three dogs.

Only one alpaca? They can die of loneliness if they don’t have a friend.

I didn’t know that! I’ll just have to get five more. 

I have twenty-three bunnies. I initially only had two, I’m not sure what happened. 

In the initial stage of coding, you could assign the code of “pets” or “animals”. These are just initial,  fairly broad codes  that you can (and will) develop and refine later. In the initial stage, broad, rough codes are fine – they’re just a starting point which you will build onto in the second stage. 

How to decide which codes to use

But how exactly do you decide what codes to use when there are many ways to read and interpret any given sentence? Well, there are a few different approaches you can adopt. The  main approaches  to initial coding include:

• In vivo coding 

Process coding

• Open coding

Descriptive coding

Structural coding.

• Value coding

Let’s take a look at each of these:

In vivo coding

When you use in vivo coding , you make use of a  participants’ own words , rather than your interpretation of the data. In other words, you use direct quotes from participants as your codes. By doing this, you’ll avoid trying to infer meaning, rather staying as close to the original phrases and words as possible. 

In vivo coding is particularly useful when your data are derived from participants who speak different languages or come from different cultures. In these cases, it’s often difficult to accurately infer meaning due to linguistic or cultural differences. 

For example, English speakers typically view the future as in front of them and the past as behind them. However, this isn’t the same in all cultures. Speakers of Aymara view the past as in front of them and the future as behind them. Why? Because the future is unknown, so it must be out of sight (or behind us). They know what happened in the past, so their perspective is that it’s positioned in front of them, where they can “see” it. 

In a scenario like this one, it’s not possible to derive the reason for viewing the past as in front and the future as behind without knowing the Aymara culture’s perception of time. Therefore, in vivo coding is particularly useful, as it avoids interpretation errors.

Next up, there’s process coding , which makes use of  action-based codes . Action-based codes are codes that indicate a movement or procedure. These actions are often indicated by gerunds (words ending in “-ing”) – for example, running, jumping or singing.

Process coding is useful as it allows you to code parts of data that aren’t necessarily spoken, but that are still imperative to understanding the meaning of the texts. 

An example here would be if a participant were to say something like, “I have no idea where she is”. A sentence like this can be interpreted in many different ways depending on the context and movements of the participant. The participant could shrug their shoulders, which would indicate that they genuinely don’t know where the girl is; however, they could also wink, showing that they do actually know where the girl is. 

Simply put, process coding is useful as it allows you to, in a concise manner, identify the main occurrences in a set of data and provide a dynamic account of events. For example, you may have action codes such as, “describing a panda”, “singing a song about bananas”, or “arguing with a relative”.

Descriptive coding aims to summarise extracts by using a  single word or noun  that encapsulates the general idea of the data. These words will typically describe the data in a highly condensed manner, which allows the researcher to quickly refer to the content. 

Descriptive coding is very useful when dealing with data that appear in forms other than traditional text – i.e. video clips, sound recordings or images. For example, a descriptive code could be “food” when coding a video clip that involves a group of people discussing what they ate throughout the day, or “cooking” when coding an image showing the steps of a recipe. 

Structural coding involves labelling and describing  specific structural attributes  of the data. Generally, it includes coding according to answers to the questions of “ who ”, “ what ”, “ where ”, and “ how ”, rather than the actual topics expressed in the data. This type of coding is useful when you want to access segments of data quickly, and it can help tremendously when you’re dealing with large data sets. 

For example, if you were coding a collection of theses or dissertations (which would be quite a large data set), structural coding could be useful as you could code according to different sections within each of these documents – i.e. according to the standard  dissertation structure . What-centric labels such as “hypothesis”, “literature review”, and “methodology” would help you to efficiently refer to sections and navigate without having to work through sections of data all over again. 

Structural coding is also useful for data from open-ended surveys. This data may initially be difficult to code as they lack the set structure of other forms of data (such as an interview with a strict set of questions to be answered). In this case, it would useful to code sections of data that answer certain questions such as “who?”, “what?”, “where?” and “how?”.

Let’s take a look at a practical example. If we were to send out a survey asking people about their dogs, we may end up with a (highly condensed) response such as the following: 

Bella is my best friend. When I’m at home I like to sit on the floor with her and roll her ball across the carpet for her to fetch and bring back to me. I love my dog.

In this set, we could code  Bella  as “who”,  dog  as “what”,  home  and  floor  as “where”, and  roll her ball  as “how”. 

Values coding

Finally, values coding involves coding that relates to the  participant’s worldviews . Typically, this type of coding focuses on excerpts that reflect the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the participants. Values coding is therefore very useful for research exploring cultural values and intrapersonal and experiences and actions.   

To recap, the aim of initial coding is to understand and  familiarise yourself with your data , to  develop an initial code set  (if you’re taking an inductive approach) and to take the first shot at  coding your data . The coding approaches above allow you to arrange your data so that it’s easier to navigate during the next stage, line by line coding (we’ll get to this soon). 

While these approaches can all be used individually, it’s important to remember that it’s possible, and potentially beneficial, to  combine them . For example, when conducting initial coding with interviews, you could begin by using structural coding to indicate who speaks when. Then, as a next step, you could apply descriptive coding so that you can navigate to, and between, conversation topics easily. You can check out some examples of various techniques here .

Step 2 – Line by line coding

Once you’ve got an overall idea of our data, are comfortable navigating it and have applied some initial codes, you can move on to line by line coding. Line by line coding is pretty much exactly what it sounds like – reviewing your data, line by line,  digging deeper  and assigning additional codes to each line. 

With line-by-line coding, the objective is to pay close attention to your data to  add detail  to your codes. For example, if you have a discussion of beverages and you previously just coded this as “beverages”, you could now go deeper and code more specifically, such as “coffee”, “tea”, and “orange juice”. The aim here is to scratch below the surface. This is the time to get detailed and specific so as to capture as much richness from the data as possible. 

In the line-by-line coding process, it’s useful to  code everything  in your data, even if you don’t think you’re going to use it (you may just end up needing it!). As you go through this process, your coding will become more thorough and detailed, and you’ll have a much better understanding of your data as a result of this, which will be incredibly valuable in the analysis phase.

Moving from coding to analysis

Once you’ve completed your initial coding and line by line coding, the next step is to  start your analysis . Of course, the coding process itself will get you in “analysis mode” and you’ll probably already have some insights and ideas as a result of it, so you should always keep notes of your thoughts as you work through the coding.  

When it comes to qualitative data analysis, there are  many different types of analyses  (we discuss some of the  most popular ones here ) and the type of analysis you adopt will depend heavily on your research aims, objectives and questions . Therefore, we’re not going to go down that rabbit hole here, but we’ll cover the important first steps that build the bridge from qualitative data coding to qualitative analysis.

When starting to think about your analysis, it’s useful to  ask yourself  the following questions to get the wheels turning:

• What actions are shown in the data? 
• What are the aims of these interactions and excerpts? What are the participants potentially trying to achieve?
• How do participants interpret what is happening, and how do they speak about it? What does their language reveal?
• What are the assumptions made by the participants? 
• What are the participants doing? What is going on? 
• Why do I want to learn about this? What am I trying to find out? 
• Why did I include this particular excerpt? What does it represent and how?

Code categorisation

Categorisation is simply the process of reviewing everything you’ve coded and then  creating code categories  that can be used to guide your future analysis. In other words, it’s about creating categories for your code set. Let’s take a look at a practical example.

If you were discussing different types of animals, your initial codes may be “dogs”, “llamas”, and “lions”. In the process of categorisation, you could label (categorise) these three animals as “mammals”, whereas you could categorise “flies”, “crickets”, and “beetles” as “insects”. By creating these code categories, you will be making your data more organised, as well as enriching it so that you can see new connections between different groups of codes. 

Theme identification

From the coding and categorisation processes, you’ll naturally start noticing themes. Therefore, the logical next step is to  identify and clearly articulate the themes  in your data set. When you determine themes, you’ll take what you’ve learned from the coding and categorisation and group it all together to develop themes. This is the part of the coding process where you’ll try to draw meaning from your data, and start to  produce a narrative . The nature of this narrative depends on your research aims and objectives, as well as your research questions (sounds familiar?) and the  qualitative data analysis method  you’ve chosen, so keep these factors front of mind as you scan for themes. 

Tips & tricks for quality coding

Before we wrap up, let’s quickly look at some general advice, tips and suggestions to ensure your qualitative data coding is top-notch.

• Before you begin coding,  plan out the steps  you will take and the coding approach and technique(s) you will follow to avoid inconsistencies. 
• When adopting deductive coding, it’s useful to  use a codebook  from the start of the coding process. This will keep your work organised and will ensure that you don’t forget any of your codes. 
• Whether you’re adopting an inductive or deductive approach,  keep track of the meanings  of your codes and remember to revisit these as you go along.
• Avoid using synonyms  for codes that are similar, if not the same. This will allow you to have a more uniform and accurate coded dataset and will also help you to not get overwhelmed by your data.
• While coding, make sure that you  remind yourself of your aims  and coding method. This will help you to  avoid  directional drift , which happens when coding is not kept consistent. 
• If you are working in a team, make sure that everyone has  been trained and understands  how codes need to be assigned. 

32 Comments

I appreciated the valuable information provided to accomplish the various stages of the inductive and inductive coding process. However, I would have been extremely satisfied to be appraised of the SPECIFIC STEPS to follow for: 1. Deductive coding related to the phenomenon and its features to generate the codes, categories, and themes. 2. Inductive coding related to using (a) Initial (b) Axial, and (c) Thematic procedures using transcribe data from the research questions

Thank you so much for this. Very clear and simplified discussion about qualitative data coding.

This is what I want and the way I wanted it. Thank you very much.

All of the information’s are valuable and helpful. Thank for you giving helpful information’s. Can do some article about alternative methods for continue researches during the pandemics. It is more beneficial for those struggling to continue their researchers.

Thank you for your information on coding qualitative data, this is a very important point to be known, really thank you very much.

Very useful article. Clear, articulate and easy to understand. Thanks

This is very useful. You have simplified it the way I wanted it to be! Thanks

Thank you so very much for explaining, this is quite helpful!

hello, great article! well written and easy to understand. Can you provide some of the sources in this article used for further reading purposes?

You guys are doing a great job out there . I will not realize how many students you help through your articles and post on a daily basis. I have benefited a lot from your work. this is remarkable.

Wonderful one thank you so much.

Hello, I am doing qualitative research, please assist with example of coding format.

This is an invaluable website! Thank you so very much!

Well explained and easy to follow the presentation. A big thumbs up to you. Greatly appreciate the effort 👏👏👏👏

Thank you for this clear article with examples

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I appreciate your great effort. Congrats!

Ahhhhhhhhhh! You just killed me with your explanation. Crystal clear. Two Cheers!

D0 you have primary references that was used when creating this? If so, can you share them?

Being a complete novice to the field of qualitative data analysis, your indepth analysis of the process of thematic analysis has given me better insight. Thank you so much.

Excellent summary

Thank you so much for your precise and very helpful information about coding in qualitative data.

Thanks a lot to this helpful information. You cleared the fog in my brain.

Glad to hear that!

This has been very helpful. I am excited and grateful.

I still don’t understand the coding and categorizing of qualitative research, please give an example on my research base on the state of government education infrastructure environment in PNG

Wahho, this is amazing and very educational to have come across this site.. from a little search to a wide discovery of knowledge.

Thanks I really appreciate this.

Thank you so much! Very grateful.

This was truly helpful. I have been so lost, and this simplified the process for me.

Just at the right time when I needed to distinguish between inductive and

deductive data analysis of my Focus group discussion results very helpful

Very useful across disciplines and at all levels. Thanks…

Hello, Thank you for sharing your knowledge on us.

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Should I include interviews transcriptions in my thesis?

In my PhD, I ran an experiment falling within the grounded theory framework, based on interviews I conducted. I transcripted them, tagged them, etc. This "enhanced transcription" is about 130 pages long (with pretty narrow margins). I am now writing my thesis and I wonder if I should include these transcription in appendix of my PhD thesis .

My first guess would be yes, in order to enable contextualization when I quote snippets of theses interviews, but also for "open science" purposes (being honest about what I've done, archival purpose, reproducible research, etc.).

However, thesis in my field are usually ca. 150 pages long. Addind these transcriptions (i.e. 130 pages) would add a significant amount a pages with a low information density. A solution could be to display these transcripts in a very small font, so that they are only 50 pages long, but I don't think it's a good solution.

By the way, my supervisors don't have opinion about it, since using grounded theory is rather uncommon in my field - hence no "jurisprudence".

• At the time of the interviews, did you discuss with interviewees how the material might be used? There are some major potential issues here with use of personal information, though hopefully you have already considered this aspect! –  user2390246 Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 11:20
• 1 I've got their consent for audio-recording the interviews in order to transcribe it later. I was considering anonymizing any personal information (name, title of the project they worked on, and any hints that might make them recognizable), and asking again for formal authorization for publishing transcripts in their final form (i.e. sending them the file and asking " is it ok for you to publish it in that form? "). –  ebosi Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 11:29
• Despite the authorization you have currently, you probably need to go through IRB to get permission to change the way you are dealing with any data, not just getting consent again from the participants. IRB might also have opinions about your raw or transcribed data, and whether publication of material in that form is ever acceptable. –  Bryan Krause ♦ Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 23:03

Quite honestly I doubt that anybody would go and read that appendix. What I would do is that once the thesis is approved and put in the online repository of the university, you could add this appendix just as an online document and refer to it in the main thesis. That way if anybody wants to access it they can.

• I do agree that it's unlikely someone would go through these interviews! If I upload it online, how should I refer to it in my thesis? (i.e. when I quote a sentence, I'd like to say "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" (cf. Project X, Participant Y, at time mm:ss) . However I feel a bit dishonest if thesis reporters cannot access transcript at the time of their report... –  ebosi Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 9:24
• @ebo you can still add an online file also when you submit the thesis, in the main text you will give a refence to the section of the appendix. If they want they follow the link you provide, what's the issue? –  Herman Toothrot Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 13:16

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• Academic essay overview
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Dissertation Interview – A Short Guide With Helpful Tips

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A dissertation interview is a vital tool in academic research, often serving as a primary source in data collection . These structured, semi-structured, or unstructured dialogues provide detailed and firsthand insights into the research topic, supplementing or extending other research methods. The design, execution, and analysis of dissertation interviews require careful planning and a clear understanding of the research question to ensure they contribute effectively to the overarching thesis. This guide aims to guide students with helpful tips for dissertation interviews.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 Dissertation Interview – In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: Dissertation interview
• 3 Including a dissertation interview
• 4 Referring to a dissertation interview
• 5 Quoting a dissertation interview
• 6 Using the name of the interviewee from the dissertation interview

Dissertation Interview – In a Nutshell

• Transcribe the interview accurately for inclusion in the dissertation.
• Situations in which you cannot include a dissertation interview transcript in your appendix.
• How to quote a dissertation interview in your dissertation
• What to consider when using the name of the interviewee.

Definition: Dissertation interview

A dissertation interview is a method of primary data collection used in academic research, typically undertaken for a dissertation or thesis. It can be in the form of a structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interview between the researcher and the interviewee(s), with the goal of gaining detailed, firsthand insights into the research topic. The interview questions are formulated based on the research objectives, and the responses are used to support or explore the thesis argument in depth. The information derived from such interviews often complements secondary data or may serve as the primary basis for the research findings.

• Closed questions only allow for a limited number of predetermined answers.
• Open questions encourage individuals to contribute details of their thoughts and feelings.

Including a dissertation interview

You have conducted interviews as part of your descriptive study for your dissertation. How do you incorporate them? There is a high possibility you do not know what is anticipated since no one ever told you.

Transcribing interviews is a condition for using them in dissertations. This may be accomplished with the use of transcribing software. The transcripts of the interviews might be included as an appendix. Due to the length of the appendix, it may be necessary to submit it as a separate document after discussing your dissertation interview with your supervisor. It is essential to have proof that interviews were conducted.

Referring to a dissertation interview

Include the transcripts of the interviews in an appendix, and then refer to them throughout your dissertation via paraphrasing. This is how paraphrasing works:

• Interviewee A claims that (Appendix 1).
• Through conversation with B, it became apparent that (Appendix 1)

There may be cases when you cannot include a dissertation interview transcript in your appendix. If we cannot make any references to the interview, it may be cited in the following way if you are using the APA format .

• Person A claims that (Individual conversation, December 24th, 2012).

Quoting a dissertation interview

You must use quotation marks if you take someone else’s statements in a dissertation interview. Finding fascinating quotations will be much simpler if you understand how to pull useful data out of the individual during the dissertation interview. It’s important to maintain professionalism throughout the dissertation interview.

Using the name of the interviewee from the dissertation interview

Do not copy down the interviewee’s name without considering these two things:

If the identity is important to the study and you have obtained the interviewee’s consent to use it, then you can go ahead. You may use a description instead if you are not authorized to use the name.

How is an interview included in a dissertation?

Use a transitional phrase like “according to” or another reference when introducing your interview in the piece. Likewise, tailor your responses to the particular dissertation interview format you are using. Doing so will give your paper a more credible and convincing character.

Is there a certain number of questions posed in a dissertation interview?

Use two or three queries to get started. Research may become overwhelming in scope if excessive questions are asked. For this reason, you should begin with no more than two or three research topics, but some studies may have more.

When writing a dissertation, how long should an interview last?

They normally take 30 minutes to a few hours to complete and are only done once. It’s common practice in many fields to conduct interviews to gather information.

How likely is it that a dissertation interview will be turned down?

The truth is that defending a dissertation is tough and that some students have theirs turned down. All the academics showing you the ropes on how to write a dissertation that will get you accepted have been rejected at some time in their careers.

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How to Transcribe an Interview

How to transcribe an interview - the easy way

Whether you're a journalist, a researcher, a student or a podcaster, if you're conducting interviews either as a one off or as a regular part of your job, then chances are you're also going to need an interview transcription to accompany it.

Transcribing interviews has a whole host of benefits. For starters, transcribing audio to text makes it easy to find important quotes to include in reports, articles and essays. It also helps to improve accessibility, as you can share a transcript alongside a podcast recording or add subtitles to a filmed interview to make your content accessible for those that might be deaf or hard of hearing.

In this guide we'll walk you through the fundamentals of transcribing an interview, including how to prepare before the interview has even begun, how to transcribe an interview quickly and easily, and how to edit the transcription.

What is an interview transcript?

How to prepare for an interview that you want to transcribe later, how to edit an interview transcription, other ways to transcribe an interview, who might benefit from an interview transcription.

An interview transcript is a written (or typed) record of a conversation that took place during an interview. It captures the dialogue between the interviewer and the interviewee, so that you can easily refer back to the conversation, search for key quotes, or share it alongside the recording for improved accessibility.

The clearer the recording, the easier it will be to transcribe your interview, so here are some things to consider before you get started with the interview:

• Find a quiet room

Ensure you're conducting the interview in a quiet room where background noise will be minimal. The less background noise there is, the clearer the dialogue will be, which will make it much easier to transcribe.

• Use headsets

Using headsets or a dedicated microphone will mean the quality of your audio recording will be clearer and louder than if you use the microphone built into your laptop.

• Speak slowly and clearly

Speaking slowly and clearly, ensuring that the interviewer and interviewees speak one at a time and don't interrupt one another, will make the transcription process easier.

Find out more about how to conduct a research interview or how to interview someone for an article .

1. Choose your transcription software

The easiest way to transcribe an interview is with transcription software like Transcribe. Our AI-powered transcription software provides you with high quality transcriptions in a matter of minutes, potentially saving you hours of time. And since the process is automated, we can keep costs down and offer you the best possible price.

Depending on the quality of the audio and how many speakers there are, you might need to make small tweaks to the text, but this is easy to do thanks to timestamps that signal exactly where in the recording you need to skip to.

Read our step-by-step guide on how to transcribe audio using Transcribe .

2. Upload your audio or video file

With Transcribe, you can import audio and video files from any app or cloud storage system, including Google Drive and Dropbox. You can also integrate with Zoom for quick and easy transcriptions of Zoom interviews.

Supported file formats include mp3, m4a, wav, m4v, mp4, mov and avi. If your file is in a format that isn't supported, get in touch and we'll help you to convert your file.

3. Transcribe the interview recording

Once you've uploaded your interview recording, all you have to do is wait a few seconds, and you'll have a complete transcript!

4. Add speaker designation and time stamps

Transcribe will automatically separate the text based on who said what. Simply click on the speakers in the interview transcript to rename them. Your changes will be applied to the entire transcript.

5. Proofread and amend the transcript where needed

With Transcribe, you can edit the interview directly in the app or online editor, or you can export your transcript in a variety of formats, including TXT, DOCX, PDF, JPG and SRT. When you export it, you can choose to include speakers and timestamps in the transcript.

Edits might include adding the date and time and the names of the interviewer and interviewee, as well as cutting out certain irrelevant bits of dialogue.

Let's take a look at the editing process in more detail.

When it comes to editing your interview transcript, there are several different levels of detail you can choose to go into. The type of interview and what the transcript is being used for will determine exactly how precise the transcript needs to be. If you're transcribing manually or using a human transcription service, then you should decide this before you start the transcription process to save time.

- Full verbatim

Full verbatim transcripts capture every single sound, including false starts, repetitions, 'ums' and 'ahs' and interruptions. This level of detail is much more difficult to capture, and isn't often necessary.

Often called 'intelligent verbatim' or 'clean verbatim', the false starts, 'ums' and 'ahs' are removed to make the transcript easier to read. This is often considered the industry standard and what you would receive from a professional transcription service unless you request otherwise.

If you don't need quite as much detail from your transcript, then perhaps detailed notes or a summary would be better instead. Detailed notes go a step further than verbatim and remove any conversation that is off-topic, while a summary includes simply the main points from the interview.

So we've seen that the best and easiest way to transcribe an interview is with the help of transcription software. But there are other ways too. The route you choose to go down will depend on a variety of factors, including the length of the interview, how much time you have to spare, and your budget.

The other options for getting an interview transcript are:

• Type it out manually

Manually transcribing the interview yourself is the cheapest option, however the process will be time-consuming. A one hour interview recording will take upwards of four hours to transcribe - that's how long it takes professionals!

Without specific transcription software, you'll also have to flick continuously between your word processing tool and your audio every time you need to pause and press play, which can really test your patience!

• Use an agency or freelancer

Another option is to pay a professional interview transcriber to transcribe your interview for you. These skilled professionals will provide you with highly accurate audio transcriptions, however these services can be costly and you might have to wait a matter of days - or even longer - for your transcript.

Example of an interview transcript

So now you know the different options available to you, and what the process of transcribing an interview looks like, let's take a look at an example of an interview transcript.

Conducting interviews as part of a big project? With a transcription you can quickly and easily skim read and search for key themes and quotes to include in your essay, dissertation or thesis.

• Researchers

Interviews are a key component of qualitative research, and a verbatim transcript of your interviews makes it easy for you to search for key quotes to include in your reports.

Learn more about the benefits of academic transcription .

• Journalists

A transcription of your interviews will enable you to skim for soundbites and important quotes to add to your stories, and if the interview is being filmed and shared online, then you can use the transcript to create subtitles too.

Publishing a written transcript alongside your podcast will boost your SEO, which will help you to reach a wider audience, generate more traffic and grow your listening base. It also makes your content more accessible for audience members that might be deaf or hard of hearing.

• Business conferences & meetings

As well as making it easy for you to share minutes and meeting summaries, transcriptions can be repurposed and used for reports and articles to support your marketing activity. They can also be turned into subtitles to accompany recordings of important interviews for accessibility purposes.

Final thoughts

Ready to transcribe an interview? Transcribe is the quick and easy way to convert your interview to text. You'll receive your transcript in a matter of minutes, which you can then search, amend, condense and export. Download the Transcribe app or launch the online editor to get started.

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How to Transcribe Audio

From doing it yourself to using Word, Google Docs or, best of all, the Transcribe App or online editor, learn how to transcribe audio with our helpful guide.

2 Great Examples of Interview Transcripts (Done in Two Ways)

Interview transcription is a complex process. It involves elements like speaker identification and timestamps for better navigation and understanding of the context of the interview. Another important factor is differentiating the types of interview transcription that will best fit your needs - whether it’s pure verbatim transcription or smart verbatim transcription .

Learning how to transcribe interviews is best done by seeing examples. To help deepen your understanding of interview transcriptions, below are two transcribed interview examples done in two ways.

Example Transcript 1

In this example, a job applicant underwent an interview for a position in a company. The applicant was quite nervous and stuttered plenty of times during the interview.

Pure Verbatim Transcription

Name of Interviewee: XXX Name of Interviewer: XXX Date of Interview: 02/07/2020 [Begin Transcript 00:00:23] IN: Tell me about yourself. JP: Well, um, I am a college student looking for an internship in, uh… your presti- prestigious company. I have some experience in-in project management through extracurricular [cough] activities… [00:00:41] IN: What kind of extracurricular activities did you do in college? JP: Oh, um… I became a team lead for various marketing projects to… to help advertise our student businesses inside the campus. My basic responsibilities included social media management, event planning… uh… overseeing the marketing materials… stuff like that. Oh, and coordinating with the leaders of those businesses so we can make sure we match their branding [laugh] IN: I see. For how long were you in the team lead position? JP: Let me see… I think it was… it was two years, yes. During my last two years in college. [End Transcript 00:02:02]

Pure verbatim transcription captures all the utterances, fillers, and sounds in the recording. This includes coughing, stuttering, false starts, and laughing. This may be a great choice if you want to capture all the details and achieve a better understanding of the context of the interview. 

In this case, the interviewee has a compelling past experience as a team lead during their college years. However, their struggle to communicate smoothly may be a factor worth considering for the interviewer.

Smart Verbatim Transcription

Name of Interviewee: XXX (labeled as “IN”) Name of Interviewer: XXX (labeled as “JP”) Date of Interview: 02/07/2020 [Begin Transcript 00:00:23] IN: Tell me about yourself. JP: I am a college student looking for an internship in your prestigious company. I have some experience in project management through extracurricular activities. [00:00:41] IN: What kind of extracurricular activities did you do in college? JP: I became a team lead for various marketing projects to help advertise our student businesses inside the campus. My basic responsibilities included social media management, event planning, overseeing the marketing materials, and coordinating with the leaders of those businesses so we can make sure we match their branding. IN: I see. For how long were you in the team lead position? JP: Two years. During my last two years in college. [End Transcript 00:02:02]

Smart verbatim transcription gives you a cleaner transcript that eliminates false starts, filler words, grammatical mistakes , and other irrelevant sounds.

The resulting transcript gives only the input of the respondents, which may be ideal for you depending on your research.

Example Transcript 2

In this interview transcript example, a field news reporter interviewed the director of a highly anticipated Hollywood film.

Name of Interviewee: XXX (labeled as “IN”) Name of Interviewer: XXX (labeled as “JP”) Date of Interview: 05/08/2018 [Begin Transcript 00:00:14] IN: So KF, is this gonna be the biggest movie that you have ever, ever done to date? KF: [laugh] Absolutely! The team and I… we’ve poured blood and soul into this project. Uh… we know that our fans have been waiting [cough] a long… long time coming for this since the 2nd installment of our franchise 6 years ago. Our main lead, especially… he can’t wait for the world to see what we’re about to bring to the red carpet this coming Sunday. IN: Right! [laugh] So, without spoiling us, you know… [laugh] will there be a sequel? KF: Oh… that we can’t say. There’s nothing we can tell you yet, that’s for sure! [laugh] The team and I always pride ourselves in keeping to ourselves and making the audience feel nervous about whether or not a new installment will come, or if that’s it. IN: That is exciting! Well, anything you want to say to your fans about the movie? KF: Expect the unexpected. [End Transcript 00:01:41]

Pure verbatim transcription always includes complex audio like laughing or stuttering, which may provide benefits for some people. For example, bloggers or other people who want to discuss the interview can use these utterances as talking points.

Name of Interviewee: XXX Name of Interviewer: XXX Date of Interview: 05/08/2018 [Begin Transcript 00:00:14] IN: Is this going to be the biggest movie that you have ever done to date? KF: Absolutely! The team and I poured our blood and soul into this project. We know that our fans have been waiting a long time for this since the 2nd installment of our franchise 6 years ago. Our main lead can’t wait for the world to see what we’re about to bring to the red carpet this coming Sunday. IN: Right! Will there be a sequel? KF: There’s nothing we can tell you yet, that’s for sure! The team and I always pride ourselves in keeping to ourselves and making the audience feel nervous about whether or not a new installment will come, or if that’s it. IN: That is exciting! Is there anything you want to say to your fans about the movie? KF: Expect the unexpected. [End Transcript 00:01:41]

For entertainment journalists who are looking strictly for the facts, a smart verbatim transcription may be more to their liking. Without false starts or filler words, the transcript becomes quicker to digest and analyze by journalists.

These examples should help you better understand interview transcription, especially the difference between smart verbatim and pure verbatim transcriptions . Nevertheless, the actual difficulty is in transcribing the interview audio. If you want high-quality interview transcripts without the hassle, consider using TranscriptionWing to transcribe your interview audio for you.

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