Qualitative research delves deep into understanding the phenomenon under investigation. This type of research often involves collecting data through audio or video recordings (e.g., interviews, focus groups), which are then transcribed into written form. However, transcribing such data is a nuanced process that requires specific skills and domain knowledge. It involves making judgments about the level of detail to include (e.g., deciding whether to include non-verbal aspects of interaction), interpreting the data (e.g., distinguishing between “I don’t know” and “I don’t, no”), and accurately representing the data (e.g., transcribing sounds like ‘hwarryuhh’ as ‘how are you’).

At Thesis PhD, our transcribers undergo rigorous training and are briefed thoroughly for each project. They engage in close observation of the data, listening carefully and repeatedly to ensure they capture the nuances accurately. Our time and budget estimates are based on factors such as the length of the audio and the complexity of the content (e.g., speech overlaps, background noise, accents or speech styles, and unique utterances) involved in the transcription process.