Transcribing Expert Interview

Research projects are done using various methods, as well as by different individuals. Sometimes companies hire researchers to conduct research for them, and in some cases, they opt for their own employees who already work in the same field the research carried on. In other words, employees become researchers in their working area. They are called expert researchers because they have more in-depth insights into the issues and may have more effective results with the research. It is worth mentioning that experts might not be specialists in the research field and can still be experts if they have proper knowledge about the area.

One of the most widely used data collection methods in research is an interview. Transcripts usually go hand in hand with interviews because it is easier for interviewers to skim through a transcript rather than listening to audios. Transcripts are even more helpful in expert interviews. Let’s look at some of the perks transcripts bring for expert interviews:

• Listening to audio for hours consumes a lot of time, so transcribing makes the data collection process more comfortable and prevents countless hours or even days spent listening and analyzing the audio.  Modern technologies let the experts utilize software tools such as Voicedocs designed for transcribing audio/videos automatically that saves both time and money.
• As mentioned above, expert-researchers have a vast knowledge about the research topic. When they have a transcript in front of them, it is easier for them to distinguish between valid, reliable data and information that is not useful. In contrast, regular researchers may have difficulty in this regard.
• Transcripts are usually long text files because interviews typically last more than ten minutes. They usually are filled with a lot of words, but with expert-researchers, interviews are more to the point because they know the exact information they want to get from interviewees. It results in shorter audio and transcript, which is easier to check, edit, make notes and draw conclusions.