How to Format MS Word Transcripts with Heading Styles for Import into NVivo 11

Date: August 15, 2016 Author: Isaac Comments: Leave a reply

Prepare MS word transcript for autocoding

Weloty’s NVivo Transcription Service offers 3 types of transcripts that you can import into NVivo. Transcripts formatted with heading styles are our default and most popular NVivo transcription format. For those of you who plan to use NVivo to analyze their interviews and or focus groups, and are inclined to DIY, this video is a step by step guide on how to format MS Word Transcripts with Heading Styles for Import into NVivo 11. If you’d like us to transcribe your interviews and or focus group discussions using the NVivo heading styles format, which eliminates an enormous amount of work for you, please get in touch. Transcript Hi, welcome to this short video series on how to format, import, and auto code NVivo header formatted transcripts. In this first video, I’m going to show you how to format Microsoft Word transcripts with heading styles before you import them into NVivo. 2 Key Elements you’ll… Continue reading…

NVivo Transcription Services

Date: July 18, 2016 Author: Isaac Comments: 2 Replies

Let me take you back to the beginning of this millennium, when I conducted my first qualitative research (bear with me, this is a short story in lieu of why we provide NVivo transcription services). I interviewed 6 key informants. Recorded the 1-on-1 interviews using a mini tape recorder – lots of background noise. Had a horrid time transcribing the 6 interviews. Ultimately, I had about 150 pages of transcripts and it was time to code and analyze the data. My “codus” operandi involved 1) printing the transcripts 2) re-reading the transcripts while making notes on the edges, highlighting writing codes. 3) Cutting up the transcripts and trying to place these cut up strips into categories/themes. On one occasion, I had everything categorized and spread out on the living room carpet and left it overnight. You can imagine my horror the morning after, when I found all my transcript strips neatly piled up on the… Continue reading…

Recording Research Interviews; Using Your Laptop

Date: March 6, 2016 Author: Isaac Comments: Leave a reply

Recording academic interviews on a laptop

Can you use your laptop to record your research interviews and focus groups? Yes, you can. But there are 2 mistakes that researchers make when recording their interviews using a laptop that I don’t want you to make. Also, what are the best microphones for interviews? But first, what are the 3 main advantages of recording research interviews on your laptop. 1), If done right, you’ll get awesome audio quality which leads to more accurate research transcripts. 2), You also don’t have storage constrains, especially if you have an external HDD drive. And 3), laptops are versatile. You can use your laptop to record 1-on-1 interviews, Skype interviews (here is a great post on how to record Skype interviews), Google hangouts, WebEx meetings et al. The 2 mistakes Researchers who record their interviews using their laptop type during the recording! This is a big mistake. Because, the sound of your keystrokes is recorded. And it’s… Continue reading…

How to Record Phone Interviews

Date: December 29, 2015 Author: Isaac Comments: Leave a reply

Conducting research interviews over the phone and the internet has become really popular. Mainly because of the widespread use of smart phones and web based services (for instance freeconferencecall.com and Skype). If you conduct your research interviews over the phone it’s important to record them. Why? Increase the rigor of you research by getting your research interviews transcribed Allows you to focus on the engagement with the interviewee. Avoid note taking Here are a few things to keep in mind when recording phone interviews Know and obey the law: The laws for recording phone interviews vary from state to state, but they all require at a minimum that you inform the interviewee. As you are recording research interviews, your IRB requires that you get written consent to record the interview. Keep in mind that consent should be granted before you start recording the interview. Do The Recording Yourself: There are different online services that provide… Continue reading…

How to Transfer Audio Files from Olympus VN-7200 to Your Computer

Date: December 1, 2015 Author: Isaac Comments: 59 Replies

I have just completed my fieldwork and I’m looking for interview transcription services. I recorded the interviews using the Olympus VN-7200 digital voice recorder. How do I get them to you? Thanks – Maggie. A recent email from a researcher. And it’s not the first one. If you have recorded your research interviews using the Olympus DP-201, Olympus VN-7200, or the Sony ICDB600 digital recorders, transferring your audio files to your computer is not as easy as copy and paste. Because these digital audio recorders don’t have a USB interface, you have to record the files to your computer. And that’s a time consuming and tedious process. And that’s why we don’t recommend you use this recorder to record your research interviews if you plan to transcribe the interviews or share them. Luckily for you, if you’ve already bought this recorder, this post will walk you through the process of transferring the audio files to… Continue reading…

How to convert your research interviews from wav to mp3 files

Date: November 19, 2015 Author: Isaac Comments: Leave a reply

Once you have conducted your research interviews, it’s time to get them transcribed. First you need to get them to your transcriber. If you recorded your interviews in a wav format, which is what I recommend you do, so that you have the best audio quality possible, their file sizes will be huge. As large as 2GB for an hour long interview. And if you have 50+ interview then you’ll need a lot of storage space. To reiterate, it is imperative to record your research interviews in an uncompressed format (wav) so that you can have the best quality audio for archival purposes. You can record your interviews straight to a compress format, for instance mp3, but you never know what use you’ll have for your data in the future. Maybe you’ll want to perform a conversational analysis. The only downside to wav files is their relatively large size, they are cumbersome to share with… Continue reading…

Dissertation Ethics – Informed Consent

Date: September 3, 2015 Author: Isaac Comments: Leave a reply

Introduction There is general consensus on the importance of informed consent in qualitative research. Most people have the expectation that they will be treated with respect and as autonomous individuals. They also expect that they have the right to make decisions about what will and will not be done to them and about what personal information they will share with others. However, researchers also are aware that there are circumstances in which obtaining and documenting consent in social and behavioral research may be a complex, and often challenging, process. For instance, potential subjects may be fluent in a language but not literate. Researchers may need to deceive research subjects in order obtain scientifically valid data. Asking subjects to sign consent forms linking them to a study about illegal activities could put them at risk of harm. The US federal regulations provide sufficient flexibility to address some of these concerns, particularly for research posing no more… Continue reading…

7 Steps for Managing Qualitative Data

Date: August 25, 2015 Author: Isaac Comments: Leave a reply

Here’s a more concise recent post on how to manage qualitative data. This post presents an overview of the unique challenges for managing a qualitative research database and includes 7 steps for aiding the creation of an orderly and coherent database. These steps will assist greatly in ensuring that your research study is successful, that analysis is credible, and data is not compromised. Quantitative databases versus qualitative databases Quantitative data is cleaned up and recorded before analysis takes place. However, with qualitative data cleanup and analysis proceeds in tandem. In small research projects the primary researcher often handles transcription and achieving this tandem process is less problematic. In large-scale research, however, there is a division of labor involved which means data preparation is separated from analysis. Thus, developing a rigorous database management protocol is essential for two reasons. First, standardized transcripts prevent the production of incompatible data products. Second, it reduces the chance that analysis… Continue reading…

Interview Transcription: 5 interesting facts

Date: August 19, 2015 Author: Isaac Comments: 5 Replies

1. The word transcription – defined by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary as “the act or process of making a written, printed, or typed copy of words that have been spoken” – has been in common use since the 17th Century (first known use was in 1598). It probably originated from the Latin word transcribere (trans- ‘across’ + scribere ‘write’). 2. Did you know that normally we speak at a rate of 150 to 170 words per minute? That’s on average 10,000 words an hour! 3. A professional transcriber can type between 80 and 100 words per minute. However, based on a clear audio, a 1 hour interview takes between 4 and 6 hours to transcribe. 4. Not so long ago (in fact when I started transcribing I used one of these dinosaurs), transcibers used cassette tape transcription machines to transcribe interviews and audio recordings. These relics were used to transcribe interviews recorded on “huge” analogue… Continue reading…

Confidentiality or Non-Disclosure Agreement for Transcription Services

Date: August 12, 2015 Author: Isaac Comments: Leave a reply

Non-disclosure agreements, also known as Confidentiality agreements or simply NDAs, are made to guarantee that information, which one party discloses to another party, is not disclosed to a third party and only used for a specific purpose outlined in the agreement. In your research project, non-disclosure agreements are an extension of your informed consent process. If you’re going to share the data you’ve collected, as part of your dissertation research, with other members of your team; research assistants, transcribers, coders et. al., you need to enter into a confidentiality agreement with them to guaranteed your research subjects confidentiality. This is required by most IRBs (Institution Review Boards). Signing a non-disclosure agreement with your transcriber allows you to share your interview and focus group recordings. It is, important, however to ensure that the transcriber has taken steps to maintain data security before signing a contract. What are some of the questions you should ask your transcriber… Continue reading…