Recording Guidelines

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Transcribing verbatim recordings is difficult and can be an expensive exercise in both time and/or money.

The key to obtaining high quality, accurate verbatim transcripts at an affordable cost is to be aware of the correct process in order to achieve this, before any recording takes place.

The objective of recording data, in most cases, is to obtain a verbatim transcript of exactly what was said. The interviewer needs to be aware of the issues that may impede the quality of the transcript, for example:

• The recording equipment used;
• The chosen environment and venue;
• Background and foreground noises, eg ringing telephones, coughing, sneezing;
• Foreign accents;
• The habits of participants, eg turning away from the microphone, table tapping, chair rocking;
• Muffled, indistinct speech;
• Participants speaking over and interrupting each other; and
• A requirement to identify voices where there is more than one interviewee.

This awareness will result in significantly improved content quality and reduced transcribing time. For interviewers who are paying for a transcription service the improved quality will also mean less transcription costs. Consider the above scenario.