What Is Data Transcription Really? Understand Qualitative Data Transcription to Get Ahead

What do you think of when you hear the word “data”? Most people might immediately think of measurements, statistics, and rows of numbers. You might think of computers or even robots collecting and calculating information and spitting out answers based on cold, unchanging facts.

Actually, that is just one of a few different types of data. Quantitative data is the type of data that can be expressed in numbers and precisely measured, like temperature or population size. But that’s not the only type of data that scientists and other professionals use in research.

A second type of data is known as qualitative data. Qualitative data is subjective, open-ended, and less precise in how it is measured or analyzed. This type of data is expressed in words, rather than numbers. Qualitative data analysis describes qualities or characteristics, and may be expressed through opinions or preferences.

For example, companies may use qualitative data to understand the decisions or preferences of different consumers or consumer groups. Medical scientists may look at qualitative data to understand how or why patients make certain health decisions.

Why use transcription for qualitative data?

Qualitative research is more about exploring an idea or a topic instead of finding specific, concrete, objective answers. Since qualitative research focuses on individuals, groups, and cultures, its data can’t be measured with tools like thermometers and scales. Instead, qualitative data is measured with questionnaires, observations, or interviews. All this can make qualitative data more difficult to record and copy compared with quantitative data.

Qualitative researchers are focused on understanding a person’s opinion or why people behave in certain ways. This means that researchers may conduct and record focus groups, group discussions, individual interviews, or observations of a person or group of people. They may capture and preserve the resulting data with video or audio recordings.

These interviews and other events create important data. However, that data is usually unstructured and needs to be sorted through and organized before researchers can make sense of it.

This is where qualitative data transcription is incredibly important. Transcription creates a text-based version of any original audio or video recording. Qualitative data transcription provides a good first step in arranging your data systematically and analyzing it.

Transcription is vital for qualitative research because it:

• Puts qualitative data and information into a text-based format
• Makes data easier to analyze and share
• Allows researchers to become more immersed into the data they collect
• Helps researchers create a narrative with their data
• Makes patterns easier to find
• Helps preserve the accuracy and integrity of the data
• Lets researchers focus on their observations instead of worrying about note-taking

Once data is transcribed in a text format, it can be put into a spreadsheet or similar type of document, or entered into a qualitative data analysis tool. After data transcription, a qualitative researcher can read through and annotate the transcriptions, then conceptualize and organize the data to conduct inductive or deductive analysis. From there, it is a lot easier to make connections between different observations or findings, and then write them up in the form of a study, report, or article.

Using Rev Transcription for Qualitative Data Analysis and Research

If you’re a researcher, you know how time-consuming each step of the process can be. Qualitative analysis and research involves a lot of hard work that generates a lot of data to be recorded, organized, and analyzed.

If you’re looking for any way to shorten or speed up the process without sacrificing the integrity of your research, hiring someone else to transcribe your recordings is vital. Using a professional outside transcription service can help you streamline your process, save time, and ensure that you preserve the quality and usability of the original recordings you capture.

Rev’s transcription services not only help you capture more value from your recorded audio and video, but also offer a smooth, easy, online experience. Our human, native English-speaking transcriptionists can capture the details of your interviews, conversations, and observations, so you can put more attention where it’s needed.

It’s easy to get started with Rev transcription:

1. Securely upload files from your computer or paste a URL from the web. Add any notes, like a glossary or speaker names, that you think may help the transcriptionist.
2. Choose your payment method. Rev.com transcription starts at $1 per audio minute, although you can add features like verbatim transcription or rush delivery.
3. Let our 50,000+ professionals get started transcribing your files. We promise 99% accuracy or better, 100% guaranteed. You’ll get your transcript back as a document you can view and edit with our tools, then share with anyone.

No matter the day of the week, we provide quick transcription turnarounds. Standard delivery is at least 12 hrs for most files under 30 minutes, although the exact time will depend on the length of the recording and the quality of the audio.

Here at Rev, we require our transcriptionists to meet rigorous quality standards before working on customer files. We also have a team of reviewers that works with the transcriptionists to ensure that your files are ready for delivery.

Concerned about your data confidentiality? You don’t have to be. Rev also has a strict customer confidentiality policy that keeps files private and protected from unauthorized access. All Rev professionals have signed NDAs and strict confidentiality agreements, and can only complete work on our secure platform. Have your own NDA you want us to sign? We can do that too; just contact us.

Start streamlining your qualitative research process and capture more accurate data faster by trying Rev today.