When I was in college, I recorded a lot of the lectures and found the recordings to be incredibly, incredibly useful. Why? They were a useful learning tool; I used recorded lectures to strategically revisit sections I wanted to reinforce, and when preparing for assessments. I was always amazed, when I listened back to the lectures, how much stuff I didn’t write down! Continue reading…
If you have rummaged through this site, (which you should – it has great tips on how to make your qualitative research a success), you’ll have noticed that it lacks an about me page. And that’s because I am (I really should say “we”) client-centric. This site is not about me, an academic transcriber or us, Weloty. It’s about You, the researcher. It’s about helping YOU, again, have a successful research project. My sole aim to provide a transcription service that assists researchers achieve their research goals – and I want to help you make your research experience better and easier.
Recently though, I had a chat with a researcher from California. I am transcribing his dissertation interviews and he asked me, “Don’t you find transcription monotonous, a chore?” I “interpreted” the question and… Continue reading…
“[I]t is a truism to note that all transcription is in some sense interpretation …” (Cook, 1990, p.12) In the first post (please read!) of this 2 part series on how to transcribe an interview for dissertation, I gave you on overview of the transcription process, equipment you’ll need, 3 ways to transcribe your interviews and made a few remarks on accuracy of the transcripts and audio quality. In this second and final post in this series on how to transcribe academic interviews for dissertation I get into the minutia of transcription. How do you transcribe? What are the different ways you can transcribe your thesis interviews (with examples)? How do you transcribe interviews for dissertation? Speaker Identification How do you transcribe, what do you do when you are transcribing? Things you need to think about as you transcribe are first the names of respondents. It is useful to just use a standard format for entering… Continue reading…
The Problem Have you tried looking for an easy to use transcription software? You may have and I am sure you were disappointed. I was. A while back I DIY guide on how to transcribe your research interviews. In that post I offered copies of an older version of the software that I used to use; F4. I was quite surprised by the number of requests I got. So yes, I have a new transcription software of choice. And I had to create it. Why? As a full-time transcriber I need a transcription software that meets my simple needs. I transcribe, and that’s it. If you that is what you are looking for, read on. A transcription software needs to have a few core elements. 1) It must have global hotkeys. Global hotkeys allow you to control video/audio playback without switching windows. This saves you a lot of time. 2) A transcription software must work… Continue reading…
“Hello Isaac. I’m going to be doing one of my research interviews via Skype. Do you have a preference for the type of recorder I use for Skype or do you just want the mp3 file?” – PhD Student. Dear PhD student, Skype is a great asset in your research. If you, and your respondent, have a decent internet connection, you can get a very good recording of the interview – superior to a mobile phone interview. There are a number of ways to record your research interview via Skype. There is one method, however, that I’ve tried and tested and I was able to get high quality recording. Before I can share that with you, a few tips on using Skype to record interviews. 1) Unless you and your participant have broadband internet with lots of bandwidth, I strongly recommend that you DON’T USE the video call feature on Skype. I have a 40mbps… Continue reading…
What is Verbatim Transcription Poland (1995) defines verbatim audio transcription as the word-for-word reproduction of verbal data, where the written words are an exact replication of the recorded (video or audio) words. With this definition, accuracy concerns the substance of the interview, that is, the meanings and perceptions created and shared during a conversation. And also how these meanings are created and shared during the conversation. So verbatim transcription of research data not only attempts to capture the meaning(s) and perception(s) or the recorded interviews and focus group discussions, but also the context in which these were created. Why Verbatim Transcription Whether or not one chooses to get verbatim transcripts for their qualitative data depends on the purposes of the research. Research methods should always reflect research questions. As an important step in data management and analysis, the process of transcription must be congruent with the methodological design and theoretical underpinnings of each investigation. Verbatim… Continue reading…