6 Reasons to Use Qualitative Research Transcription Services

When conducting qualitative research, a market research transcription company can help you record, review and analyse your data. Whether you are conducting in-depth interviews, focus group sessions or using one of the other many qualitative research methods, having a written record of what has been said is very valuable. Below, we share six reasons why you should use qualitative research transcription services for your research projects and how they can help you gain high-quality, actionable insights.

Why use qualitative research transcription services?

A market research transcription company can offer excellent value to a research project when providing data transcription services. Here are six example of how:

1)      It provides a written record.

Transcribing audio from an in-depth interview, focus group, or other types of sessions provides market researchers with a raw, written data source to easily access or review any details from the session. A written record can be stored on a searchable database, so the information can be retrieved in the future as and when required.

2)      It supports more accurate and efficient analysis.

Transcribing interviews or discussions is a reliable way of maintaining data integrity. Relying on the researcher or moderator leading the session to recall every detail is not infallible. Recording the session removes this requirement. Then, a transcriber can capture every detail of the recorded audio in written format (if it is appropriate for the analysis -see point 3 for alternatives to this method).

Afterwards, researchers can annotate the text and organise it appropriately. They can also extract exact quotes from the transcript. Data from the written record can be inputted into a spreadsheet or an appropriate data analysis tool, from which researchers can identify patterns and draw conclusions efficiently.

3)      A market research transcription company will use specialist transcribers.

Partnering with a specialist market research transcription company means that the transcribers working on your research projects will be experienced and skilled in the task. As well as being able to transcribe more quickly, they will understand how to adhere to the specific brief of the project and make informed judgements where required.

For example, a specialist transcriber will know how to add time codes to your transcript, identify and appropriately label the speakers in the session, and follow other specific project requirements that make the analysis process more manageable.

Furthermore, data transcription is not simply a mechanical process where the transcriber objectively records the audio. Instead, a transcriber has to make subjective decisions around syntax, word choice and grammar, whether to correct mistakes or edit grammar and repetitions. Spoken language is structured differently from written text, and an experienced transcriber will understand how to replicate the spoken word in text format while preserving data integrity.

Transcribing audio can be carried out in one of three main ways: verbatim transcription, intelligent transcription or edited transcription. These different types refer to the level of editing carried out during the transcription process.

Depending on your preferred method, a transcriber will decide how much contextual information to include, such as interruptions, crosstalk and inaudible segments, and how best to represent slang, colloquialisms and accents.

4)      It allows researchers to focus on the session.

It is essential that the leader of a session can focus on the task at hand, ensuring the conversation is led in the appropriate direction and that the correct research protocols are followed. Having to scribble notes or worry about remembering what was said detracts from these responsibilities. Recording the discussion and then engaging qualitative research transcription services to create a written record removes this requirement for note-making.

5)      It is more time- and cost-efficient.

Transcribing audio to text can be a lengthy and highly tedious task. For those without experience in transcribing, it can take over eight hours to transcribe one hour of audio.

This time can be reduced by around half by engaging with a market research transcription company. The industry standard for experienced transcribers to transcribe one hour of audio is approximately four hours. Sometimes this can be faster, or if the audio is challenging (due to clarity, speakers talking over one another etc.), it can take longer.

Therefore, working with a qualitative research transcription services provider makes sense from both a time- and cost-efficiency perspective.

6)      It can be carried out in different languages.

Working with a multilingual market research transcription company, such as Mission Translate, means that your research sessions can be transcribed from and to any language. This capacity enables better access to other global markets, as the sessions can be conducted in the native language of the participants and then transcribed and translated into the source language.

You can read more about the different types of bilingual transcription and their benefits in our previous blog.

Mission Translate specialises in providing high-quality language support for the market research sector, which includes qualitative research transcription services. If you have a transcription requirement and want to know more, please get in touch with our team.