Eleanor McLellan, Kathleen McQueen, Judith Neidig Ysabel Carlos

The inapproriate or inadequate preparation of transcripts from audio or digital recordings can delay or negatively affect the analysis process. (MacQueen and Milstein 1999) This article focuses on the preparation if transcribed, audiotaped, structured, unstructured, or semistructured interviews for QDA. Mergenthaler and Stinsons 7 Principles for developing transcription rules: 1. Preserve the morphologic naturalness of transcription 2. Preserve the naturalness of the transcript structure 3. The transcript should be an exact production 4. The transciption rules should be universal 5. The transciption rules should be complete 6. The transcription rules should be independent 7. The transciption rules should be intellectually elegant

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

DATA PREPARATION
Researchers must decide whether their analysis is best supported by transcription or by researchers notes derived from or supplemented by a review of the audiotapes. (Patton 2002:380-84) Essentially researchers undertake their first data reduction step when they decide what will be transcribed and what will be left out. (Miles and Huberman 1994) For example, a researcher must make choices whether a textual document should include non-linguistic observations, be transcribed verbatim and identify speech patterns, vernacular expressions, intonations, or emotions. In this transcription protocol, an audiotape should be transcribed in its entirety and provide a verbatim account of the interview. (Including elisions, mispronunciations, slang, grammatical errors, nonverbal sounds)

Assist transcribers by specifying what you want included, to ensure that transcripts are prepared in a standardized manner and is consistently prepared.
Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

For ease of readability, transcripts are formatted identically and support either manual or computer-assisted coding: Arial, size 10, 1-inch margins (top, bottom, right left), left-justified text **For some analyses, it may not be necessary to transcribe the whole interview. Only those related to the research question or theory. The level of transcription should complement the level of the analysis. (Drisko, 1997) What to include should always be driven by the research question that an analysis attempts to answer. Always identify the interviewer and interviewee. Assign a speaker label (i.e., source ID) to further assist in navigating through hard copy or electronic versions of the transcript.

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

TEXT FORMATTING
1. 2. 3. 4. Arial, size 10 One-inch margins All text shall begin at the left hand margin (no indents) Entire document should be justified

LABELLING FOR INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS

Example: Participant ID: Interview Name: Interviewee Category/Subgroup: Site/Location: Date of Interview: Interviewer ID: Transcriber:

LABELLING FOR FOCUS GROUP TRANSCRIPTS

Site: #Participants: Focus Group Sample: (e.g., women, men) Focus Group Interview No. Date of Interview: Facilitator ID: Recorder ID: Transcriber:

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

The transcribers should insert a single blank line between the file labelling information and the actual interview transcription. A double pound sign ## shall precede and follow each participant identification label (i.e., source ID) A single hard return shall be inserted after the Source ID. The individuals response/comment shall begin on the next line.

SOURCE ID

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

Audiotape changes
Transcriber should inidicate when the interview is recorded on a new tape and include info verifying that the second side of the tape is blank as well as the total number of audiotapes associated with the interview. Type in UPPERCASE LETTERS.

End of interview
Type END OF INTERVIEW in uppercase letters on the last line of the transcript along with info regarding the total number of audiotapes associated with the interview and verification that the second side of the type is blank. A double space should precede this information.

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

SOURCE LABELLING
INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS
Source IDs shall begin with the alpha character that designates data collection site/location followed by the individuals three-digit identification number Example; F100 = Fenway interviewee #100 Interviewer IDs shall begin with alpha character I followed by the location and interviewers threedigit identification number Example; IF002 = Fenway Interviewer #002
GROUP INTERVIEWS Group participants and facilitators shall be assigned a unique source ID.
Example; R500 = Rhode Island focus group participant #500 Group facilitator source IDs must begin with alpha character F followed by a three-digit identification number Example; FR101 = Rhode Island focus group facilitator #101 Focus group recorder (notetaker)s alpha character shall begin with R Example; RR002 = Rhode Island focus group recorder #002
Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

content
Audiotapes shall be transcribed verbatim (i.e. Recorded word for word) including nonverbal background sounds (e.g. Laughter, sighs, coughs, claps) Nonverbal sounds shall be typed in parentheses, for example, (short sharp laugh), (group laughter), (siren in the background) If theres mispronunciation of words, these shall be transcribed as how the individual said them. Transcript should not be cleaned up by removing foul language, slang, grammatical errors, or misuse of words or concepts. If the incorrect word results in difficulties in comprehension of text, type the correct word within square brackets. Example: I thought that was pretty pacific [/specific/], but they disagreed. Filler words such as uh, hm, huh, mm, mhm, yeah, yuhuh, huh, ugh shall be transcribed. Word or phrase repetitions shall be transcribed. If a word is cut off, a hyphen shall be inserted at the end of the last letter or audible sound. Example: He wen- he went and did what I told he shouldnve.

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

INAUDIBLE INFORMATION
The transcribers shall identify portions of the audiotape that are inaudible or difficult to decipher. If the inaudible part is relatively small, the transcriber shall call this inaudible segment. This information shall appear in square brackets.

Example: The process of indentifying missing words in an audiotaped interview of poor quality is [inaudible segment]/ If the part is lengthy, or there is dead air, transcriber should record this information in square brackets plus the time estimate for information that could not be transcribed.

Example: [Inaudible: 2 minutes of interview missing]

OVERLAPPING SPEECH
When individuals are speaking at the same time and it is not possible to distinguish what each person is saying. Place cross talk in square brackets after the last identifiable text and pick up with the next audible speaker.

Example: People may contribute to the conversation, making it difficult to differentiate between one persons statement [cross talk]. Resulting in loss of information.

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

PAUSES Use three ellipses (...) when the speaker pauses between statements or trails off Example: Sometimes, a participant...briefly loses...a train of thought. If the pause is more than two to three seconds. Use long pause between parentheses

Example: (Long pause) an individual ay require additional time to construct a response. QUESTIONABLE TEXT If unsure of the accuracy of a statement, place it inside parentheses with a question mark in front of the open parenthesis and behind the close parenthesis. Example: I went over to the ?(Club on Avalon)? to meet the outreach team. SENSITIVE INFORMATION Replace individuals name with the appropriate interviewee identification label/naming convention Example: My family always reminds me, B3003, think about things before you open your mouth. If the individual provides others names, locations or organizations, and so on, use an equal sign before and after the information. Analaysts will use this to identify sensitive information that may require substitution. Example: wwe went over to =John Does= house last night and ended up going to =O Malleys Bar=.
Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

STORAGE OF AUDIOTAPES
If not actively being transcribed, secure in a locked cabinet.

REVIEWING FOR ACCURACY

Check all transcriptions against the audiotape and revise the transcript accordingly. Listen to each tape against the transcript three times before it is submitted.

SAVING TRANSCRIPTS
Save each file as an individual MS-DOS ASCII text file with a .txt extension or a rich text file with an .rtf extension. Individual interview transcript files shall be assigned the interview name followed by the participant ID (e.g. VaxC071.txt = Vaccine Interview for UIC participant #071) For focus groups, the second character shall be a number designating the focus group number for the site/location. Remaining characters shall designate the sample population. (e.g. CIWOMEN.RTF = UIC focus group #1, women)

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription

BACKUP TRANSCRIPT FILES

Back up files on a diskette or CD. Store in the same location as the audiotapes.

Beyond the Qualitative Interview: Data Preparation and Transcription