Manual (on) Transcription

Transcription Conventions, Software Guides and

Practical Hints for Qualitative Researchers
3. Engl. Ed.
January 2015

How to cite this Edition:

Dresing, Thorsten/Pehl, Thorsten/Schmieder, Christian (2015): Manual (on) Transcription.
Transcription Conventions, Software Guides and Practical Hints for Qualitative Researchers.
3rd English Edition. Marburg Available Online: http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/transcription-practicalguide.htm (Access: dd.mm.yyyy).

Editors & Authors

Dr. Thorsten Dresing, Thorsten Pehl
dr. dresing und ehl GmbH
Deutschhausstrae 22A
D-35037 Marburg
Germany
Christian Schmieder
www.squaremethodology.com
1015 Grant St. Apt#1
53711 Madison, Wisconsin
USA

3. English Edition January 2015

2. English Edition February 2013
(1. English Edition March 2012)
(1. German Edition July 2011)
Marburg: Self-published
All rights reserved.

The manual can be downloaded for free:

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Cover design:
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ISBN 978-3-8185-0497-7

Manual (on) Transcription 3rd Edition

Contents
Preface

Qualitative Interviews

Why should one conduct qualitative interviews?

Conducting Successful Interviews

Common issues

17

Transcription: The challenge of producing a text

21

Rules are necessary!

21

A system for simple transcription

27

A complex transcription convention: GAT2

34

Transcription conventions in conversation analysis

37

How long does it take to transcribe?

39

Useful tips

41

Remarks concerning anonymization

42

Expecting and avoiding transcription errors

44

Can speech recognition software do my work for me?

45

Use transcription software not iTunes

46

Step-by-step guide for f4 (Windows) and f5 (Mac)

47

Time stamps are useful!

50

Qualitative data analysis with f4analyse

51

Tutorials / Practical Hints

65

How to choose a recording device

65

Hints for recording & handling files in particular situations

65

Recording telephone interviews

74

Recording phone conversations with Skype

76

Converting audio files

81

Noise Removal

82

Trimming audio files

84

Data security and recovering deleted data

85

Cited works / References

89

The authors

92

Preface

Preface
Dear reader,
This handbook is intended for everyone who wants or needs to conduct, transcribe and analyze qualitative interviews. It aims to provide
basic guidance for those wondering: How should I go about this?

The book was originally written because we felt that an accessible and
practice-oriented introduction to the field of transcription didnt exist
yet was urgently needed. Since its first edition we have significantly
expanded the manual, providing an overview of the steps necessary
for a research project from interview preparation to transcription to
the new chapter in this edition: interview analysis.

Well show you how to prepare your interviews and how to record
them. In the second part of the manual youll learn about the best
methods for writing down your interviews. It is important to us to convey how that can be done in methodical, rule-governed and technically
correct ways. Part Three is devoted to data analysis. Well provide an
overview of general steps in qualitative analysis no matter what methods are applied, as well as show how this can be done with the help of
the QDA-Software f4analyse.
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd Edition

Finally, we have compiled a number of useful tips, e.g., on how to reduce noise and distortions in your recordings or on how to recover deleted data. But lets get right to it now. We wish you good luck with
your interviews, their transcription and exciting insights for your research projects.

Thorsten Pehl und Thorsten Dresing

Marburg, January 2015.

Why should one conduct qualitative interviews?

Qualitative Interviews
Why should one conduct qualitative interviews?
If you are operating on a tight schedule you better set aside this guide
right now. Planning, conducting, transcribing and analyzing qualitative
interviews takes a lot of time. The preparation, conduction and transcription alone usually takes 10 to 15 times the duration of the actual
interview. The time required for the subsequent analysis depends on
many factors. Kuckartz et al. suggest a minimum of 60 times the interview length for a simple and rather descriptive qualitative study.1
Hence, students simply wont have the time for large sample sizes or
representative studies.
So why in the world should one go through the trouble of investing
that much time into a qualitative project with interview data?
Wouldnt it be much easier and more efficient to conduct a quantitative survey?

This time calculation includes all relevant steps: development of research question,
development and testing of question guide, conducting interviews, transcription, casebased analysis, category-based analysis and completion of study report (cf. Kuckartz et al.
2008).
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Yes and no. Let us introduce three arguments that demonstrate in

what ways and in which areas your research can benefit from the analysis of qualitative interviews.2 This will help you decide whether qualitative interviews are useful for your particular research topic and
whether you want to embark on the exciting journey into qualitative
interviewing.

Generating Information and Learning New Things

Imagine a situation where there is not a lot of information or

knowledge available on your research topic. In such a case generating
and testing hypotheses is difficult if not impossible. In order to gain a
first impression of the topic you might have to talk to contemporary
witnesses or other people involved. That is exactly what the research
group Aumeister experienced in 1976 as its members looked into the
professional situation of teacher trainees for the first time. Only in the
course of many conversations with the trainees a phenomenon that
later became known as practice shock was able to emerge. This approach requires fundamental openness and a great deal of curiosity.3
When we speak of qualitative interviews we assume that qualitative analysis will be
applied. While hybrid forms exist, such as the quantitative analysis of qualitative data, we
dont refer to them in the following chapters (cf. Kuckartz 2012: 13ff.; Bernard/Ryan
2010: 4-7). Furthermore, we limit our guide to qualitative interview data although
qualitative analysis can be applied to a variety of other types of data, e.g., pictures, news
articles, music, videos etc., however (cf. Kuckartz 2012: 13ff.). See also Mayring/GlserZikuda/Ziegelbauer 2005; Reichertz/Englert 2011; Mikos/Wegener 2005.
3 Ones own openness is of course limited by socialization, experience and
2

Why should one conduct qualitative interviews?

In qualitative research presuppositions or hypotheses do not shape

the analysis, but the opposite is the case: an essential feature of qualitative interviews is that they contribute to the generation of hypotheses and development of theories.4

Fewer Facts, More Meaning, Diverse Facets

Qualitative methods of analysis are used to investigate complex processes, social phenomena and the construction of meaning. Here are
two example research questions: How do graduates deal with unemployment? or What do unemployed graduates problem-solving
strategies look like?

It is not about answering concrete characteristic attributes such as

How many graduates are unemployed? or How many graduates
end up working in under qualified positions?

Basically, you are interested in questions that cannot be answered by

looking at a scale. Interviewees might elaborate, ponder, add background information and search for explanations instead of giving a
straight answer. It is likely that exciting new information will emerge
as a by product rather than in direct answers to your questions. In
presuppositions (cf. Kuckartz 2012: 29ff.; Kelle 2007).
4 Cf. Lamneck 2010, 80ff.
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

this vein, no member of the Aumeister group mentioned above asked

the young teachers straight out: Are you suffering from a practice
shock?

Not only will you learn how your interview partners evaluate certain
topics, you will probably also learn how the people in question arrive
at that evaluation and which other aspects they regard relevant in connection to it. Thus, interview data does not only provide answers concerning what an interviewee says, but also why and how the person
expresses motives, presuppositions and patterns of argumentation.
The interview enables you to understand why an individual tells a story
a certain way (as opposed to a different way). Structures of communication as well as constructions and interconnections of meaning thus
become comprehensible and analyzable. Qualitative analysis can uncover aspects of a topic that had been deemed irrelevant or had not
even been considered previously. From here, conclusions and interpretations can be generated and ideally bundled into theoretical concepts.

More consistency
Perhaps you have at some point filled out a long written survey without experiencing much involvement. Lets say someone is interested
why you live in Paris and hands you a survey to fill out. It is somewhat
8

Conducting Successful Interviews

obvious that the choice between prefabricated answers such as Its a

great city or I was assigned to move here will produce different information in terms of both content and attitude than a conversation
starting with the question So, how did you end up studying here in
Paris?

Due to the communicative nature of a conversation the interviewee

will (have to) produce more stringent narrations. The interlocutor can
directly indicate whether he or she understands or not. It is also possible to ask concrete questions about additional details that might have
surfaced only in the course of the interview. Furthermore, interview
partners non-verbal cues and signals can be perceived and included in
the analysis. Good examples for such signals are periods of silence or
reluctant answering behavior. Paying attention to such contextual
data helps to avoid false conclusions or misinterpretations.
If you need further arguments in favor of qualitative approaches, see
Kuckartz et al. (2008, 66p.) for a detailed elaboration on the added
value of qualitative analysis.

Conducting Successful Interviews

By now you might be excited to do qualitative interviews. The preparation is quite manageable: You need to find interview partners, you
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

have to plan how you would like to structure your interview and you
need the necessary technical equipment, e. g., an audio recorder. But
what questions are you going to ask? How do you best phrase them?
And what should you expect from an interview situation generally?
Lets start by taking a closer look at the questions you can ask.

Asking good questions

No matter the type of interview5, one question always will come up:
How do I ask the right questions? In terms of topic and content you
will have to answer this for yourself, but we can give you some important advice on the phrasing of questions.
Just ask several questions right at the beginning, repeat them in different words a couple of times only to then offer an example answer and
close with Thats right, isnt it?

But seriously: there are things you should consider, both when developing your interview guide and during the actual interview.

In order to choose the methodologically suitable type of interview we recommend you

consult Lamneck (2012, p. 321ff.). It offers a practical overview of the different types and
characteristics of interviews, e.g., problem-centered interviews, expert interviews, focus
groups, narrative interviews, etc. Based on the suitable interview type and your research
question you then develop a guide and questions for your survey. For us, a guided
interview is not its own methodological species, but rather an umbrella term for all
interviews in which the interviewer uses a cheat sheet for support.
5

10

Conducting Successful Interviews

The purpose of questions in a qualitative interview is to outline the

topic to the interview partner and to create narrative incentives. Thus,
ask simple questions. A question is simple when it is comprehensible
and similar in style to the interviewees everyday life, and if it only inquires about one aspect.

Kruse (2014, 222) mentions some very good aspects that are useful in
formulating questions that wont just produce monosyllabic answers
like Yes and No, but that will animate the interviewee to elaborate.
Our suggestion: First generate your own questions, write them down
and then critically assess them using the following checklist:

Dos

Donts

Questions stimulating narrations: Please Closed questions: Were you happy / satisdescribe
fied with this or did this bother / dissatisfied
you?
BETTER: How did you experience this?
How satisfied were you with this?
Follow-up questions: What happened Yes/no questions: Did you accept the job?
then?, What else does that make you think
BETTER: What happened after you got
of?
the job offer?
Processes-oriented questions: How did Asking for justifications: Why did you do
that come about?
this?
BETTER: How did it come about that you
..?

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Open questions: reflect upon your own Suggestive and judgmental questions: In
concepts contained in the questions!
Turkey you must have grown up rather traditionally. How did you feel about this after
Provocative questions: use only sparsely you migrated?
and in a goal-oriented, conscious manner;
use only toward the end of the interview or
if the interview dynamics seem stagnant.
Brief, comprehensible questions

Complicated questions, cascading questions, multiple-choice-questions

Answerable questions!

Questions transcending the participants

knowledge: What did your boss think
about this?
Directly or indirectly asking the research
question itself: How would you describe
your concept of fatherhood?

Soft questions: Please, tell me a little bit Questions that sound like written lanabout your experience with online shop- guage or asking quick like a shot / meping.
chanically

Modal particles: kind of; like; a bit; avoid

verbs in the subjunctive!
Ask for facts at the end of the interview

Premature questions on facts ruin the

narrative dynamics

Participants have the speaking privilege.

Participant determines when or if the in- Interviewer ends the interview: Thank
terview is over: Is there anything you did you for your time, I will get back to you if I
not have the chance to talk about, but which have further questions.
is important to you?

12

Conducting Successful Interviews

Practice interviewing!
Your interview guide provides the structure of your interview. But how
does your interview partner, who isnt familiar with your methodological considerations, react? Are you able to ask the questions in a natural and fluent way without focusing too much on your guidelines? Test
interviews are helpful in determining whether and how you yourself
and your interviewees are handling the questions and the interview
situation. Plan on doing test interviews and recording them. Also, think
about a few feedback questions for your test candidates that you
can go over together later in order to reflect upon your test interview
(e.g. How did you feel in the interview situation? or Where would
further explanation have been helpful?).

Initial pointers on research ethics

All participants should receive some preliminary information about
your research project, the institution you and your research are affiliated with, and information concerning the duration and location of the
interview. You should also include clear statements concerning anonymity (To what extent will the interviewees be identifiable, and what
measures are taken to prevent this?) and confidentiality (Who will see
the data? For how long? Where will it be stored? For how long, and in
which formats?)
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Be aware of your institutions requirements concerning the informed

consent form (e.g. Institutional Review Board (IRB) or other ethics
committees), and thoroughly inform yourself about best practices at
your institution, in your field, in the countries in which you generate
your data and work with your data, and also keep in mind ethical requirements of publishers or journals in which you intend to publish
your research. (On the construction of informed consent forms, cf.
Seidman 2006, for a critical discussion of informed consent forms and
ethical practice, cf. Punch 1986).

Mastering the beginning of an interview

You lay the foundation for a positive interview atmosphere when you
first contact your participants. A good way of winning your interviewees trust is to introduce and explain your research project to them.
This includes information on how you will treat the data you collect.
Issue a confidentiality agreement that specifies how you will ensure
the anonymity and confidentiality of the collected data. It should contain agreements on exclusively anonymized data use as well as on the
appropriate attention to data security.
The beginning of the interview poses the best chance for creating an
open and friendly atmosphere. Explain to your interview partner why
you are conducting the interview and how it will take place. Get him
14

Conducting Successful Interviews

or her on board concerning the interview topic and acknowledge his

or her willingness to participate. Its all right to talk about your research topic in general, but do not go into detail about concrete research goals or interim results.
It is quite unusual for most people to have an intense conversation
with a stranger. This is why interviewees frequently make mistakes
due to the unfamiliarity of the situation. Hopf (2006) names seven typical problems. We have converted them into practical advice:

1. Only ask if you are genuinely interested.

2. Avoid leading questions, mirrored feedback or interpretations.
3. Hold back as much as possible and do not try to steer the
conversation in a particular direction. Assume the role of a talk
show host. It is your job to initiate the conversation, but the
guest always remains in the focus of interest.
4. Do not judge or comment on your interview partners statements! Even if its hard, avoid empathetic comments such as
Oh, how sad. Signal your interest by nodding, affirmative
noises like uh-huh and an occasional I see instead.
5. Let your interview partner finish talking. Remain silent from time
to time even after the interviewee has finished in order to allow
him or her to express tentative ideas or slowly developing
thoughts. Include such breaks in your schedule and dont be
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

afraid of silent moments.

6. You dont have to follow your guidelines chronologically. Its
better to pursue topics as your interview partner brings them up
during the conversation.
7. Avoid bringing up topics twice. If some of your questions have
already been answered accidentally, dont read them out again
just because they are in your guide.

Preparing the recording equipment

Interviews are usually recorded for later analysis. While notes can certainly be useful, they are insufficient for most methodological approaches. Digital recording devices work well for recording interviews
(for detailed recorder reviews and recommendations see www.audiotranskription.de). For interviews with only one participant, using a
smartphone can be a stopgap solution. However, since you will probably spend many hours listening to you material, we recommend making a clear, high quality recording a priority. The crackling and chirping
of a mediocre recording might not bother you during a quick listen, but
will become annoying after the first few hours of transcription.

16

Common issues

Check how and if your recorder works. Do so before the interview and
make a few test recordings. This will spare you from having to deal
with malfunctions, empty batteries or other technical problems during
the interview. For further information see the detailed chapter on digital interview recording on p. 46 in this handbook.

In addition to your recording device you should also bring pen and paper for making quick notes during the conversation. After the interview you should write down your impression of the participant and
how you experienced the interview. Document as well which parts of
the conversation you consider essential, where you deviated from
your guidelines and any contextual information you consider important.

Common issues
Even if you are well prepared, equipped with interview guidelines and
technology, excited and highly motivated during your first interviews,
you will probably be confronted with a number or problems even the
best preparation cannot avoid. We have compiled a list of them here,
which we hope will make it easier for you to deal with these difficult
situations.
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Interviewee is very emotional It is possible that the person interviewed reacts much more emotionally to your questions than expected. In this situation it is important to just listen and let the interview partner talk. However, feel free to end or pause the conversation.
Your interview partner should discuss deep emotional issues with appropriate people, not with you. You may and must set boundaries
here.

Coaching / therapeutic setting It happens that the interview partner turns to you for advice or asks you questions back. You should
think about how to react and where to draw the line. Otherwise an
interview can easily turn into a therapy session.

Answers are too long, or too short Your exertion of influence in

an interview is a balancing act and a fundamental problem of
qualitative interview research. Keep in mind that your role is to define
the topic. Therefore it is legitimate to interrupt your interview partner
if he or she deviates too much from the topic. Phrases like Im
interested in what happened with X. Can we go back to that? enable
you to bring the conversation back to topic in an appreciative manner.
Continually reserved answers can mean that the topic is emotionally
18

Common issues

charged. Do not consider this a disturbance, but rather an expression

by your interview partner. When you are sure that it is more than
initial shyness, bring it up (meta-communication). Thus you can check
the connection with the topic. Say, for instance: You seem reserved.
Im not sure if that has to do with the topic? Can you tell me something
about this?

Disturbances / Interruptions Of course there will be all kinds of

disturbances a cell phone ringing, a door opening, a coughing fit,
someone having to use the restroom, you going over time, the phone
connection breaking down; and in the end you realize that the recorder malfunctioned. Stay calm. A simple disturbance probably wont
be a big deal. In the worst case it may affect your and your interviewees concentration, but the interview can be continued. Should
your recording equipment fail, make notes of what you still remember
(good thing you brought that pen and paper). For work-intensive or
especially significant interviews that cannot be repeated, play it safe
and use a second recording device.

Language / technical terms Think about how you want to deal with
linguistic particularities. Do you both speak the same language and if

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

not, do you understand each others languages well enough to understand semantic aspects? What do you do with technical terms or slang
you dont understand?6

Role Conflicts Depending on your research question and your interviewees situation or position, role conflicts may emerge. Depending on whom youll be interviewing, you should be prepared for certain
role conflicts and how youll deal with them. 7

Thus prepared, your first interviews should go well. Once they are
stored on your computer as digital audio files, the next step awaits:
transcription.

Cf. Liamputtong (2008) for an introductory collection of essays on methodology issues

in cross-cultural research.
7 Cf. Bogner et al. (2009) for role conflicts in interviews with experts; cf. Odendahl/Shaw
(2002) and Hertz/Imber (eds., 1995) for interviews with elites.
6

20

Rules are necessary!

Transcription:
The challenge of producing a text
Rules are necessary!
Transcription (lat. trans-scribere = to rewrite) is the transfer of an audio or video recording into written form. A transcript usually originates
from simply typewriting the recorded content. Typically, conversations, interviews or dictations are subject to transcription.

Verbal statements are ephemeral and what we remember from conversations is often sketchy. Transcription aims at overcoming this
problem by supporting memory. In a transcript, speech is registered in
writing and therefore made accessible for analysis. One the one hand,
one wants to represent speech in as much detail and in as multifaceted
a way as possible in order to provide the reader with an accurate impression of the conversation and thus facilitate its reconstruction. On
the other hand, too many details and too much information can make
a transcript difficult to read. There is thus a tension between the opposing poles of accurate representation and practical limitations.
21

Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

The transcription process is obviously paradoxical: with the aspiration

to accurately represent the multi-faceted verbal discourse, you create
a written text that is a linear, one-dimensional document. Ultimately,
producing a transcript is a dilemma oscillating between realistic representation and practically possible presentation or compression. Hence
the challenge of transcription lies in knowing this discrepancy and in
dealing with it as adequately as possible with regards to your methodology and topic.

Anyone transcribing or working with transcripts should be aware that

a transcript will never be able to fully represent the interview situation. Too many elements factor into communication and it is impossible to transcribe them all. Even a transcript closely guided by phonetics
neglects non-verbal aspects such as odor, room and time setting, visual
aspects, facial expressions and gestures. As one cannot include everything, one must focus on certain aspects. These aspects will vary depending on your research objective or intended use of the transcript
or situation, respectively.

Leaving out or including, or transforming certain aspects of recorded speech may radically change the content a transcript conveys to
its readers (especially if they do not have the chance to listen to the
22

Rules are necessary!

recording, or if they have not been present in the recording situation).

An example: A researcher asks a manger whether there will be any job
cuts the following year. The manager takes ten seconds to think, rubs
her chin, looks down and softly replies Nope. If the transcript only
recorded No instead of including pause length and facial expressions, the reader would probably come to quite a different interpretation.

In simple transcripts, paraverbal and non-verbal elements of communication are usually omitted. Dialect and colloquial language is approximated to standard language. The focus of simple transcripts lies on
readability. It is easier to learn to produce such a transcript and the
transcription takes less time. These transcription conventions prioritize content. Well-known conventions like those by Kallmeyer and
Schtze (1976) and Hoffmann-Riem (1984) focus on this goal.8

A detailed transcript based on a complex set of transcription rules is

necessary if the subsequent analysis does not merely focus on the semantic content of a conversation. In such cases, prosodic elements
(e.g. intonation, primary and secondary emphasis, volume, speed and
pitch) are included. If necessary, a phonetic transcription is added, e.g.

See Dittmar (2004), Kuckartz (2008; 2010) and Dresing & Pehl (2010) for detailed
overviews of transcription systems.
8

23

Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

in dialect research) and non-verbal phenomena are documented in a

more complex way.9
To illustrate the difference between a simple and a more detailed transcript, we have included two short transcript passages below. They
originate from the same recording, but they have been transcribed according to different conventions.10

9 While simple transcripts can be easily produced in word processors and specialized pro-

grams such as f4, more complex transcriptions need partitures in order to represent an
increased amount of complexity. Transcriptions in partiture also call for specialized data
analysis software in order to be produced and managed (eg. ELAN or Transana).
10
Excerpt
from
GAT
fine
transcript,
cf.:
http://www.mediensprache.net/de/medienanalyse/transcription/gat/gat.pdf, p. 35
(accessed on 08/16/2010).
24

Rules are necessary!

Simple transcript
Complex transcript
S1: ...or whether they'll get divorced S1: =<<dim> or WHEther they'll get
after all.
divorced `after all.>
S2: Hm. (...)

S2: hm,
(- -)

S1: This is still. (...) . It is a transition.

S1: <<pp> this is still - > ((breathes

out for 2.1 sec)) <<p> t'is a ` transition.>

S2: Our former neighbors, they are

a good example for this. (...) Married for thirty years (...) the last kid
was finally out of the house, took
off to study, (...) left, you know, to
Berlin.

S2: our former neighbors ` they

are a good example for this
(- - -)
err (- - -)
married for THIRty years hh
the last kid (.) `finally outta-the
HOUSE,
took off to STUdy, (-)
LEFT, =you know, h
to berLIN, h

You have probably noticed that the simple transcript allows faster access to the content of the conversation. It dispenses with intonation
details, which makes the transcript easier to read. The detailed transcript on the other hand provides the reader with a better impression
of the speakers themselves by including intonation and vernacular.
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Participant 2, for instance, comes across as dedicated and interested

due to the repeated use of strongly emphasized syllables. This aspect
does not become as clear in the simple transcript, whereas the
speakers frequent breaks and thus delayed speech are more apparent
there.
You should decide how and what to transcribe according to your research method, your research expectations and pragmatic reasons.
You should not just start transcribing.
Ask yourself first:
For what kind of analysis do I produce my transcript?
What information should the transcript therefore include?
Is it important to include emphases?
Is it important to represent vernacular or dialects? And so on..
Clearly defined rules do not only make your transcripts comprehensible to the scientific community, but also to you yourself as you typewrite and read them later.

26

A system for simple transcription

A system for simple transcription

Kuckartz et al. provide deliberately simple and quickly attainable transcription rules which considerably smoothen speech and set the focus on content (2008, p. 27).

We have applied this system in many extensive research projects, each

of them involving several transcribers at a time.11 Through the feedback from transcribers, editors and researchers who have processed
hundreds of interview hours, we have specified the transcription rules
and added a few suggestions in order to ensure consistency, and to
obtain a better basis for the subsequent analysis.

The system is subdivided into three parts:

1. Transcription rules
2. Tips for consistent notation
3. An example transcript

We presently provide transcription services. We collaborate with 40 transcribers on

various qualitative research projects, which has further informed the development of the
transcription system over the past few years.
11

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

The underlying transcription rules

1. Transcribe literally; do not summarize or transcribe phonetically.

Dialects are to be accurately translated into standard language.
If there is no suitable translation for a word or expression, the
dialect is retained.
2. Informal contractions are not to be transcribed, but
approximated to written standard language. E. g. gonna
becomes going to in the transcript. Sentence structure is
retained despite possible syntactic errors.
3. Discontinuations of words or sentences as well as stutters are
omitted; word doublings are only transcribed if they are used for
emphasis (This is very, very important to me.) Half sentences
are recorded and indicated by a slash /.
4. Punctuation is smoothed in favor of legibility. Thus short drops
of voice or ambiguous intonations are preferably indicated by
periods rather than commas. Units of meaning have to remain
intact.
5. Pauses are indicated by suspension marks in parentheses ().
6. Affirmative utterances by the interviewer, like uh-huh, yes,
right etc. are not transcribed. EXCEPTION: monosyllabic
28

A system for simple transcription

answers are always transcribed. Add an interpretation, e.g.

Mhm (affirmative) or Mhm (negative).
7. Words with a special emphasis are CAPITALIZED.
8. Every contribution by a speaker receives its own paragraph. In
between speakers there is a blank line. Short interjections also
get their own paragraph. At a minimum, time stamps are
inserted at the end of a paragraph.
9. Emotional non-verbal utterances of all parties involved that
support or elucidate statements (laughter, sighs) are transcribed
in brackets.
10. Incomprehensible words are indicated as follows (inc.). For
unintelligible passages indicate the reason: (inc., cell phone
ringing) or (inc., microphone rustling). If you assume a certain
word but are not sure, put the word in brackets with a question
mark, e.g. (Xylomentazoline?). Generally, all inaudible or
incomprehensible passages are marked with a time stamp if
there isnt one within a minute.
11. The interviewer is marked by I:, the interviewed person by
P: (for participant). If there are several speakers, e.g. in group
discussions, a number or a name is added to P (e.g. P1:,
Peter:).

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

12. The transcript is saved in rich text format (.rtf file). Name the file
according to the audio file name. E. g. interview_04022011.rtf or
interview_smith.rtf.
You can reach a higher degree of detail by including the following additional rules. You should only choose the rules that are suitable for
your data and scope of analysis. Naturally, it will then take longer to
complete the transcript.

Additional rules
1. Discontinuations are marked by /: I was worri/ concerned.
Word doublings are always transcribed.
2. Pauses are indicated by suspension marks in parentheses,
corresponding to the pause length from one second (.) to three
seconds (), and the (number) of seconds for longer pauses.
3. Affirmative noises und fillers (uh-huh, um, yeah) are transcribed. All the participants utterances, including fillers, are
transcribed.
4. Speech overlaps are marked by //. At the start of an interjection,
// follows. The simultaneous speech is within // and the persons
interjection is in a separate line, also marked by //.
5. Dialects are written as they are spoken.

30

A system for simple transcription

Tips for a consistent notation

These aspects concern notation and help making transcripts consistent
despite several transcribers.

1. Symbols and abbreviations such as percent and meter etc. are

spelled out.
2. Contractions and short forms are transcribed exactly as they
are spoken, e.g. cant instead of cannot or stats instead of
statistics
3. Concerning capitalization, words in different languages are
spelled according to the rules of the English language.
4. Numbers are transcribed as follows:
a. Zero to twelve are spelled out, larger numbers are
transcribed as numerals.
b. Numbers that make short words are also spelled out,
especially round numbers: twenty, hundred, three
thousand.
c. Decimals and equations are always written in numerals.
Thus: 4 + 5 = 9 and 3.5.

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

d. Roughly estimated figures are spelled out, accurate

figures are written in numerals, e.g. The fifty million
Euros in state subsidues.
e. Follow established conventions regarding spelling.
Street addresses, page numbers, telephone numbers,
bank account numbers, dates etc. are never written out.
For instance: on page 11 or 16 Broad Street.
5. Idioms are transcribed literally.
6. If direct speech is quoted in a recording, the quote is put in
quotation marks: and then I said Well, lets see about that.
7. Single letters are always capitalized (B like in bird).
8. Enumerations: one capital letter without parentheses.

32

A system for simple transcription

Sample transcript
I: So, what do you expect from your new field of study in Hamburg? #
00:01:010 #
P: Well, first and foremost I want to learn a lot of new things about
criminology and the legal branch. Well, my major was educational science, and my minor subjects were sociology and peace and conflict
studies in MARBURG. And now, I would like to get to know the legal
side of it better, and meet new people and experience new things. And
I also want to (explore?) a completely new profession. #00:01:26-1#
I: Okay, and what you expect regarding collaboration //between teenagers?// #00:02:11-2#
P: //SO far, I dont have// any concrete ideas and for the profession or
for criminologists, there is no, a specific profession or professional (),
how do you say, doesnt exist, well a profession, and then also you can
do a LOT of different things. #00:02:32-4#

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

A complex transcription convention: GAT2

As opposed to the simple notation from the previous chapter, more
complex notation conventions put an additional focus on how something was said. This makes the qualitative analysis of the datas phonetic and phonological features possible. The main difference lies in
the documentation of intonation (emphasis), the exact length of
pauses, overlapping speech, sudden cut-offs and informal contractions, as well as a generally closer representation of what was said,
including vernacular.

The transcription system GAT (Gesprchsanalytisches Transkriptionssystem Conversation Analytic transcription system) is widely
used in German speaking countries (cf. Dittmar 2004, pp. 150 164).
The linguists who developed it in 1997 were motivated by the goal of
unifying and combining existing systems. While the GAT introduced in
1998 distinguished between basic and fine transcripts, the advanced
version GAT 2 introduced in 2009 allows for finer distinctions ( cf.
Gesprchsforschung (10/2009), pp. 353 402). A rudimentary minimal
transcript is followed by a basic transcript, which can be expanded into
a fine transcript, according to the projects requirements.

A minimal transcript can conveniently be produced with the software

f4, as it only transcribes phrases containing emphases, pauses, speech
34

A complex transcription convention: GAT2

overlaps, laughter, etc., while leaving out details like accents and finer
intonations. However, for a basic transcript, f4 reaches its limits in
terms of usability. The free software PRAAT (www.praat.org) is more
convenient and accurate for such transcripts.

PRAAT has the advantage of displaying not only the sound file, but also
an oscillogram and a spectrogram. It also displays a variety of values
extracted from the sound file. This allows users to read accentuations
and the voice pitch and thus complement the subjective auditory impression.

But there is a catch: PRAAT produces a transcript in the Text-Grid file

format, which can only be accessed in PRAAT. The files are absolutely
unsuitable for further processing in a regular text editor.12

Researchers at the University of Freiburg in Germany have developed

and award-winning extensive online tutorial for beginning GAT2 users:
http://paul.igl.uni-freiburg.de/GAT-TO.

The rules and conventions of GAT2 can be learned through a series of

examples and texts.

12 The free application EXMARaLDA (http://www.exmaralda.org/) und its corresponding

partiture-editor are able to import TextGrid files created in PRAAT, and can display them
as text files.
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Here are some examples for transcripts according to GAT2:

Example 1: Every intonation phrase get its owe line
01 A: How about this idea
02

each flower get its own pot

03

hh but not a different fertilizer

04 B: why not
05 A: (-) it would be too expensive otherwise

Example 2: Intonation phrases of a single speaker are strung together

and separated by an |. This transcript uses fewer lines, but can only
with difficulty be expanded into a fine transcript.
01 A: How about this idea | each flower get its own
02 pot | hh but not a different fertilizer |
03 B: why not
04 A: (-) it would be too expensive otherwise

Example 3: A basic transcript13 already contains considerably more

information:
26 S2: an:d !EV!ery time he called the poLICE,
27 and he started ARGuing with the NEIG [bors,=right, ](1.2)
28 S1: [phhh hohoho]
29 S2: and if someone just once used their HORN,
30 he stood out there in NO time;
31 and started YELLing;=
32 =i'll call the poLI:CE

13

Cf. Dittmar (2004), p. 349.

36

Transcription conventions in conversation analysis

Transcription conventions in conversation analysis

Using the transcription conventions developed in the English discourse
on conversation analysis is another quite similar option. The system
of transcript symbols in linguistic conversation analysis is, just as the
more elaborated transcripts in GAT, quite complex (for an overview of
transcription notations, see Jefferson 2004).14 However, Emanuel
Schegloff did compile a more simple transcription convention for the
social sciences based on the notation developed by Gail Jefferson. It is
available on the American Sociological Associations (ASA) website:
http://www.asanet.org/journals/spq/transcriptions.cfm 15
Another list of conventions is available on Charles Antaki's tutorial
website on conversation analysis:
http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/ssca1/notation.htm .

14 This is no coincidence: The conventions developed in GAT are following and modifying

the transcription principles of CA as developed by Jefferson (cf. Selting et al 2009: 353).

15 Note that this website does unfortunately not display the arrows indicating higher &
lower pitch, as well as the sideway arrows indicating relevant lines for analysis. Those
symbols are correctly displayed on Antakis tutorial site.
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Sample Transcript according to Schegloff/ASA

26 S2: .hhh an:d EVery time he called the poLICE,
27 and he started arguing with the neig[bors,=right,](1.2)
28 S1: [((laughs))]
29 S2: and if someone just once used their HORN,
30 he stood out there in no time;
31 and started yelling;=
32 <=i'll call the poLI:CE>

Amongst other details, this transcript features emphases (underlined

text), it indicates louder passages (written in CAPITALS), more slowly
spoken passages (in < >), and different levels of voice pitch (). As
in the case of any transcription notation, you should assess which aspects of the recording are important to you, and then decide whether
to include them into your transcript.
There is a series of educational tools for learning how to transcribe
according to the conversation analysis' transcription notation. Two
great places to start are Emanuel Schegloff's Transcription Project
website:

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/schegloff/Tran-

scriptionProject/index.html .
And Charles Antaki's tutorial website on conversation analysis:
http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/ssca1/notation.htm .

38

How long does it take to transcribe?

How long does it take to transcribe?

Never underestimate the time it takes to produce a transcript! A lot of

times one isnt aware that the transcription of one interview may take
days. This can easily jeopardize the fragile schedule of a research project with a deadline.

The duration of transcription depends on how fast you type and on the
complexity of the transcript. Although it is difficult to pinpoint an exact
number of hours required, it is possible to estimate a reliable time
frame. The fastest transcription speed we have measured was a ratio
of 1:3. That means that it took the transcriber about three hours to
transcribe one hour of an interview. However, the transcriber was able
to set this record speed only because he or she only typed for an hour,
did not proofread the transcript for a second time, while using simple
transcription rules. Applying complex transcription rules takes considerably more time. Some researchers report that it took them between
30 and 60 minutes to transcribe one minute of data (cf. Ehlich & Reede
1994, p. 4 and Lange 2008, p. 48). Bad recording quality also has an
adverse effect on transcription time.

According to our experience and our review of relevant literature, one

should estimate five to ten hours to transcribe and proofread one hour
of interview data according to basic transcription rules (cf. Dresing &
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Pehl 2010, p. 726). As opposed to the purely content-focused systems,

a GAT2 basic transcript already requires partial interpretation. This
translates directly into an increase in transcription time: assuming adequate practice, 5 minutes of audio recording may be transcribed
within 1.5 to 2 hours. Under ideal circumstances, this means a ratio of
1:20. But if one factors in breaks to maintain concentration, one is
closer to a ratio of 1:25. This illustrates that transcribing verbal data is
a time-consuming process. In order to complete a transcription as
quickly as possible, transcription software has proven useful. We further recommend working with key combinations instead of working
with a mouse. Using a foot pedal can lead to a further acceleration of
10-20%. Keep in mind: breaks are necessary. It may sound trivial, but
one cannot transcribe for 8 hours straight; at least not without medical
support. A break of 5-10 minutes per hour in front of the screen is recommended. Thus, more than 6 hours of transcription per day are not
realistically possible without raising the error rate above normal.

An example: you should expect 50 to 100 hours of work for ten hourlong interviews when using a simple transcription system. This translates into 2-4 weeks if you transcribe for 4-6 hours a day thats a
whole month! This is a big chunk of time if you only have three months
to work on your bachelors thesis, for instance.

40

Useful tips

Useful tips

1. Trivial, but crucial: save your transcript from time to time and
make backup copies. If possible, store them on a different device.
2. Qualitative data analysis software like f4analyse or MAXQDA
usually works with paragraph numbers. Transcription and
analysis

software

usually

generate

paragraph

numbers

automatically. Transcripts can also be printed directly from these

programs.
3. Should you work with Word instead, you can still create
paragraph numbers. Highlight the text and click on the
numbering button and the paragraph numbers will appear.
4. Line numbers can also be added in Word at a later point. Open
the file containing the transcript in Word (up to the 2003 edition)
and go to File>Page Layout. Now select the line numbers button.

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Remarks concerning anonymization

Normally, transcribed text must be anonymized. This can be done by
searching and replacing words in a word processor, or directly within
the transcription software f4. For example, simply search for Mr.
Smith and replace it with Mr. XYZ. This is of course only the first
step you will have to read the text carefully in order to identify passages that might compromise your participants anonymity.
It is important to anonymize data as far as possible directly after transcription. Not only does this protect your participants, it also saves
time (and prevents stress) in the long run. Anonymizing data via
search & replace might change the line numbers in your word processing document this would mean that youd have to check all of
your references in your report again if you anonymized after analysis
& writing. Also, qualitative data analysis software does often not feature a search & replace function so youd have to manually search
and anonymize every piece of text within the program, which is much
more painstaking than doing it in a word processor (especially because
the ease of handling tasks of word processing is much lower in QDA
software). Of course you can export your data from QDA software
into a text document and anonymize it in a word processor but then
you suddenly deal with two versions of your data, and you will always
have to cross-check references in your research report.
42

Remarks concerning anonymization

Anonymizing data for your research reports is an important task if

you make mistakes, or if you miss to anonymize only one important
piece of information, the whole effort was in vain, and the identities
of your participants may be revealed. Thus, it is better to do this work
as early as possible: Research projects tend to be more stressful towards the end, when deadlines are pressing it is very exhausting to
do delicate work such as anonymizing at this time. Also, anonymizing
right after transcription gives you the chance to find mistakes or missing anonymizations while you analyze; this is an extra safety net for
you and your participants.

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Expecting and avoiding transcription errors

Every first version of a transcript contains mistakes. These errors are

usually checked and corrected in a second round in which you read
and listen to the interview at the same time. Surprisingly, few mistakes
are pure spelling mistakes. Omitted, replaced or added words are
more problematic. These errors stem from the listeners natural tendency to complete or correct the speakers statements while listening.
This subconscious correction leads to a distortion of the original statement. E. g. without noticing, one transcriber typed black hell instead
of black hole (One wonders if that had anything to do with the transcription work.). Isabelle Chiari (2006) demonstrates that untrained
transcribers produce a mistake in almost every paragraph. Close to
37% of these mistakes lead to a semantic distortion of the statement.
It is therefore advisable to proofread the completed transcript at least
once and ideally several times, or have another person proofread the
text (two man rule). This way, most mistakes are tracked down reliably. If it is not possible to involve a second person, you should proofread the text yourself after some time has passed.

44

Can speech recognition software do my work for me?

Can speech recognition software do my work for me?16

Unfortunately, this is not possible yet. As of today, speech recognition
software is still inadequate for the transcription of interview recordings. We know this because we have run thorough and repeated tests.
Automatic speech recognition of interview or group discussions is
simply impossible with the software currently available. The situation
is exacerbated by the fact that interviews often contain dialect or colloquial language, which speech recognition software is unable to identify. Additionally, the software cannot register breaks or atmosphere.

The only option for using speech recognition for transcribing interviews is to train the program to recognize your own voice. You can
then listen to and repeat the interview. This means you are sitting in
front of your computer with headphones and a microphone and renarrate the whole interview. But even compared to the hunt and peck
method (100 characters per minute) this does not mean an improvement in terms of time. The time saved is consumed by the proofreading time. According to our tests, using speech recognition software in
this way was still no match for regular transcription.17

16

Go to our website www.audiotranskription.de/spracherkennung for further literature,

comparison tests and additional information on the possibilities and limits of speech
recognition software in academia. (Content in German language)
17

Cf. Dresing, Pehl & Lombardo (2008)

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Use transcription software not iTunes

Even though speech recognition software does not work yet, you do
need some type of software in order to transcribe. The first and obvious choice would be to use a digital music player and a word processor.
But well-known applications like Windows Media Player or iTunes are
not useful for transcribing data. They lack essential features supporting and shortening the transcription process, i. e. slowing down playback speed without distorting pitch, automated intervals for rewinding
when the tape is paused (which enables you to hear the last few words
again after you paused the tape), time stamps, text elements, key combinations or foot pedal controls.

Specific programs for audio transcription were not available during our
PhD research in 2004. Hence, we developed such a program ourselves:
f4. (Unfortunately it came out a bit too late to help us with our own
interviews.)

By now, f4 is one of the best-known transcription programs and has

been downloaded over 450,000 times. For Mac users we have developed the version f5. We constantly improve both programs and make
them available on www.audiotranskription.de.

46

Step-by-step guide for f4 (Windows) and f5 (Mac)

Step-by-step guide for f4 (Windows) and f5 (Mac)

f4 and f5 support you in your transcription, i.e. in typing out audio or

video recordings. The programs facilitate your work by slowing down
the replay speed (without distorting pitch), easy controls using the F4
and F5 keys (hence the name), an automatic rewind after pauses, the
(automatic) insertion of time stamps and text blocks via keyboard
shortcuts. Transcripts produced in f4 and f5 are saved as rtf files (including time stamps), a widely compatible word processing format.
1. Installing the program
Download f4 for Windows or f5 for Mac OS from
http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/. You will also find
detailed instructions on how to install the program on the site.

2. Setting up the software

Open the program. First, set a location for saving backups (you
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

can do this in the preferences menu). Now open an audio or

video file via the file tab or drag-and-drop the desired files into
the main f4/f5 program window. Next, customize the sound
output volume, the replay speed and rewinding/forwarding
intervals. The standard settings normally accommodate most
users; only the replay speed should be reduced when
transcribing passages with fast or overlapping speech.
When transcribing two-person conversations you can activate a
feature that automatically inserts the name/abbreviation of the
alternating speakers. You can suppress this function at any time
by holding down the shift key and the enter-key to create a new
paragraph.

3. Transcribing quickly and conveniently

The F4 key (or F5 key in f5 for Mac) controls the core functions
of our software: starting and stopping the playback and
automatically rewinding the recording in short intervals. The
functions of f4 & f5 can also be operated via the F4/F5 key
when other programs are running in the foreground, such as
continuing to navigate through an audio file while checking
analysis results in a word processing program. Use the F3 and
F5 keys (or F4 and F6 keys on Mac) to rewind or fast-forward
the audio. By using a foot pedal, the programs can be controlled
even quicker. (Also, in both programs, spoken audio remains
48

Step-by-step guide for f4 (Windows) and f5 (Mac)

decipherable while rewinding or fast-forwarding).

4. Time

stamps

inserted

manually

or

automatically

Time stamps are important for orientation within a transcript

and allow for a quick reference to the original audio source. They
are either automatically inserted at the end of each paragraph,
or they can be inserted at any time by pressing the F8 button. In
f4 & f5 as well as in the qualitative data analysis software
MAXQDA or ATLAS.ti, these time stamp references are active
links. In both programs, clicking on the times tamp triggers the
playback of the relevant part of the audio or video recording.
When saving a file in f4 & f5, you can choose whether to save the
transcript with or without time stamps. If you transcribe movies
or movie fragments, you can define a time offset, so that time
stamps do not start at zero, but with the respective time within
the movie.

5. Tutorials - We have created a series of video tutorials which can

be viewed on our website:

www.audiotranskription.de/english/f4.htm

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Time stamps are useful!

We have already mentioned time stamps earlier. But their potential is

so extraordinary, that we would like to cover them in more detail. Time
stamps are simple numbers indicating a respective position on the audio or video track. In f4 and f5, you can click on them directly and the
respective sequence is played right away.

Time stamps enable you to quickly check the transcript for possible errors, ideas about a person or semantic ambiguities much later in the
analytic process. The great thing about time stamps is that they do not
only work in f4 and f5 themselves, but also in some of the programs
researchers use worldwide. These programs recognize time stamps
from f4 and f5 and enable you play back the respective audio sequence
with one click. This makes it easy to check the original recording for
analytical questions, or to review controversial or odd transcript passages. Many times, being able to quickly and conveniently listen to an
original passage provides valuable clues for interpretation, which are
very important! directly grounded in your data. Another advantage
of time stamps lies in their timesaving potential. You can, e. g., create
provisional transcripts first, and when it becomes clear which passages
will be used for further analysis, transcribe only those in more detail.

50

Time stamps are useful!

Qualitative data analysis with f4analyse

Now your interviews are transcribed and available as text files. So how
do you go about the analysis in terms of content? Specifically in the
field of qualitative social research there is a great number of different
approaches and methods of analysis. Depending on your methodological approach, these could consist in reading the text and working with
comments and memos; a researcher might follow a hypothesis by
means of a predefined code tree, identify metaphors, linguistic phenomena, facts, topics, motives and many more aspects this list could
go on and on. Unfortunately there is not one correct way for the evaluation of your data. Rather, you have to choose one that is adequate
for your topic, your research question, your approach and your material. In any case, you have to consult the relevant methodological literature and read up on it.

You may ask yourself what you need in order to start with the analysis
of your interviews or texts. We assume that, at this point, you have
formulated your research question and found an adequate methodological approach. You have developed interview questions, tested
them and have conducted and recorded your first interviews. You have
further chosen a suitable transcription system and started typing your
interviews in f4 (or you have someone else doing it for you). You know
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

which methodological focus you would like to apply to your textual

data and have an adequate schedule with a time budget of total interview length times 100 (cf. Kuckartz et al. 2008, p. 75).

Based on our own experience, we have compiled a few common features of analysis that work across methodologies. We use them here
to show you briefly what a possible and easy approach could look like.
In principle both paper, scissors, markers and sorting boxes, and a QDAsoftware program work. We refer to the QDA-software f4analyse18
here, which we have specifically developed for an easy introduction to
computer-aided qualitative analysis. Below we will show you a suggestion on how to proceed and how to implement the steps using the
transcription software f4 and the features of f4analyse.

Simply put, most qualitative research projects contain five analytical

steps (with different emphases):

f4analyse is a QDA-software that contains essential features for the basic (content)
analysis of textual data. It is easy to use and can be learned easily, too. It is suitable for
many methodological approaches, e. g. Grounded Theory Methodology, qualitative
content analysis according to Mayring (e. g. Mayring 2012), thematic coding or
qualitative evaluations (cf. Kuckartz et al. 2008).
18

52

Time stamps are useful!

- Data Preparation (typewriting)

- Reading and discovery
- Organizing
- Summarizing
- Reflecting and theory development.

Data Preparation - Type what you hear.

This step has already been discussed at length earlier in this handbook.
It entails having chosen adequate transcription conventions, knowing
and being able to apply them. After the transcription, the completed
texts are available as rtf-files.

Reading and discovery highlight relevant passages and comment on

them
Read the completed transcript line by line. In doing so, correct mistakes. Always keep your research question in mind.19 Write down
things that stand out about the whole text or the speaker. Comment
on exciting passages in the margin.

Research questions are usually comprised of several parts. For simplicitys sake we
only speak of the research question in the singular form here.
19

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

If you work with f4analyse, import the texts into the program and record your thoughts in the comment field directly below the text. You
can generate comments or paraphrases exciting passages by highlighting the passage and clicking on memo. Use the field that appears to
note down your ideas, assumptions or things that are conspicuous.
Your notes are assigned to exactly that sequence of words.

While you read your text for the first time, collect notes that sum up
the main points. The best thing to do is to write down this summary as
well, e.g. as a case summary in the comment field. It is the central location for all information relevant to the case, like basic data, memory
minutes, facts and foci.

Commenting is analyzing
Writing is a vital part of your analysis and is a continual process
during your research... It is not a good idea to leave all your writing to what is often called a writing-up stage. Start writing as
early as you can... Writing is thinking... Writing is analysis... In a
very real sense, writing up your notes and writing the final narrative account of your work are, especially in qualitative research, central parts of the analysis itself. (Gibbs 2010)

54

Time stamps are useful!

Organizing develop a system and sort text passages and comments

accordingly.

The next step consists of organizing your comments and highlighted

passages. This is done with the aid of a code system that is divided into
main codes and sub-codes.20 Passages of text are virtually cut out and
pasted into corresponding codes. The code system can be derived in
different ways: in a quantitative evaluation, for instance, one often creates a framework from the guiding questions and supplements them
with the impressions after the first reading. You can then develop further codes by combining the research questions, reading the material,
text interpretations and your increasingly differentiated perspective on
the material (cf. Kuckartz et al. 2008: 36ff.). Berg & Milmeister (2011)
and Mey & Mruck (2011) describe an open coding process within the
context of Grounded Theory, that can be utilized in many research projects.

The person analyzing the data initially highlights all passages pertaining
to the research question, without structuring the text in any other way

Depending on methodology they are also called keywords, indices, labels, topics or
categories (cf. Berg & Milmeister 2011: 308).
20

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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

(text segmentation). In a second step, the text segments21 receive keywords or labels (cf. Berg & Milmeister, 2011). In this process called
open coding, the implicit reasons one had in choosing a certain passage help determining the keywords. In a next step, the quotations
thus generated are interrelated with one another und divided into
main- and sub-categories.

In f4analyse you create a new code by clicking on the plus symbol in

the right code bar. You can change the structure of the code tree at any
time, using your mouse and the drag and drop feature. Each code can
be assigned a different color. All codes of one thread should have the
same color.

With this first code system you can now proceed to assign all relevant
text or comment passages. The principle of reading and highlighting
applies here, too. In f4analyse you highlight a passage and then click
on the relevant code in the code tree. The highlighted text is then assigned to the respective code and underlined in that codes color.

21

In Grounded Theory, these segments are often called quotations.

56

Time stamps are useful!

In the course of your analysis, some codes will be filled with many different text passages. In that case, check whether the passages can sensibly be structured into sub-codes. Like the first code system, these
sub-codes can be derived from theoretical considerations or from the
data itself. Imagine you have assigned many passages and comments
to the code motivation. Read them and think about how to subdivide
them, for instance as sub-codes instrumental motivation or goaloriented motivation. Then go through all passages and assign them to
these sub-codes. If necessary, further differentiate the sub-codes as
well. With each differentiation your code system becomes more differentiated and more sophisticated.

When you double click on a code in f4analyse, all text passages and
comments assigned to it are displayed. You can create sub-codes by
clicking on the plus symbol in the respective main code. Then highlight
a passage and click on the sub-code.

Summarizing focus the organized data.

After you have read, commented on and coded your textual data along
the lines of increasingly differentiated categories, you can record and

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focus your findings. Do this in case and topic summaries. Your existing
comments, codes and text segments will be a good start for this.

A case summary focuses on a text or an interview, respectively, in concise words; it is mainly descriptive at first, without making specific interpretations or comparisons just yet.22 You can condense an interview
into a case summary and find a heading for it. Heres an example:

Exaple: case summary

Interview2: The skeptical comparator
- reads many magazines before deciding to purchase.
- does not trust the statements of sales staff.
- has been interested in entertainment technology for years.

In f4analyse, write your case summary into the comment field underneath the text. Open the respective interview and record your summary.

Of course every summary or focus already contains an interpretation based on the

perception and selection of the researchers.
22

58

Time stamps are useful!

For topic summaries, you proceed in a similar way; you just do not only
refer to one interview but to a whole topic focusing or condensing a
code and its sub-codes.

In f4analyse you double-click on the respective code and all assigned

text passages are displayed. You can now read them and write topic
summaries into the comment field. Describe your definition of the
code, add anchor examples (i.e. important quotations) or summarize
any passage content in a structured way. The previous differentiation
into sub-codes makes it easier to separate different aspects of the answers.

Scour & derive theory ideas compare, make connections, develop a

theory or connections with a theory.

So far, the texts have been segmented and commented on. Ideas have
been noted down and the thus finely dissected material has been
organized systematically through codes and summaries. The analysis,
literally separating a whole into its components, is now complete.
Now it is all about putting the components in relation to each other
and comparing them. It is possible that the nature of these relations
are determined by the research question, or that completely new ideas
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or hypotheses may have surfaced during analysis that now can or must
be confirmed by the data. The ideas and proceedings for this step are
as manifold as the number of research questions.

f4analyse offers an overview of your material in a distribution list.

Here, the number of codes for each text is listed in a table. Even if
quantitative values do not say anything about text content, you will,
for example, be able to see that some participants have spoken more
about certain topics than others. Especially for a case or topic comparison it is important to go back to the specific statements. You get there
by double clicking on the respective table cell. You can verify your assumptions directly on the material and write down your findings in the
code or text memo. Finally you export your summaries as RTF files, in
order to be able to use them in your research report. In the report you
explain your findings and how they pertain to the research question.

Features of f4analyse

The following section describes the makeup and features of the QDA
software f4analyse.

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Time stamps are useful!

f4analyse has been optimized for small and medium projects with up
to 30 texts, but more comprehensive projects are also feasible. All
texts, codes, memos etc. are saved in a project file and erroneous steps
can be undone. Results like transcripts, codes and memos can be saved
as rtf-files and thus be used for the writing of the research report.

Since the textual data is at the center of f4analyse, it takes up the most
screen space and is displayed in the center. The codes and texts are
visible in the margin at all times. Texts are listed on the left and the
code system is structured hierarchically on the right. Codes can be induced while reading or deduced from prior considerations. f4analyse
offers ample possibilities for comments. Single words, passages,
groups or codes can be commented on and also coded later on.

Switch between views in different work phases. The options are: detailed view, selective view, distribution and search.

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Detailed view

In detailed view, f4analyse displays the text document or all text passages assigned to a code in the center. Double clicking on the respective text or code will open it directly. Clicking on the plus symbol in
the respective column creates a new text or code. You can now read
your text and start to comment and code. Coded passages are underlined in the codes color. Comments on texts can be shown or hidden.
With the comments hidden, you have an unobstructed view on the
original text. When the comments are shown, you can see the original
text on the left und the comments on the right (like in a chat or message protocol), and you can check your conclusions and paraphrases.
What is special is that all comments can be visible at all times, if you
wish, and that they can be coded as well.

The significance of memos for analysis

Not writing memos is the research equivalent of having Alzheimers disease, you may not remember your important insights
when you need them. (Maxwell 2005, 12)

Below the text or code content there is a comment field. For a whole
text, you can write down your impressions of the interview or a case
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Time stamps are useful!

summary. For a code, you can write down your definition with anchor
examples or first ideas for interpretation.

For all those who need to transcribe first, the transcription mode can
be activated with one click in the lower left. Text blocks, playback
speed, wave shape, wind interval and the current time will be displayed (corresponding with the features of f4 mentioned above).

Image 1: f4analyse with opened text, comments and comment field

below.

Selective view
In selective view you can filter the coded text passages and comments
according to different criteria. You only want to read statements assigned to the code motivation from the interviews Miller and
Smith, for instance. All matches are listed with references and can be
commented, condensed, exported or used as a basis for further differentiating the code tree.

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Distribution
Distribution view shows how often respective codes have been assigned. The table contains all texts and groups in the rows and all codes
in the columns. The selection of texts, groups and codes can be modified. The cells contain the absolute frequency, e.g. how often the code
motivation was assigned in interview 1. To read concrete statements
you just have to double click. This facilitates quick access to passages
relevant for the comparison of people or topics. If you should want to
use the matrix in other programs like SPSS or Excel, save it in the CSV
format.

Search
Search enables you to search your texts and/or comments for terms
or combinations of terms. The results are listed as quotations and you
can comment, code or export them as necessary. Of course it is also
possible to assign all references to a new or an existing code, if it seems
to make sense.23

Please note that passages dealing with a certain concept will not come up in a search if
they dont explicitly contain the search term. You will also find passages that contain
the search term, but use the word in a different context.
23

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How to choose a recording device

You can find a complete guide to the program f4analyse as a PDF document on www.audiotranskription.de.

Tutorials and practical Hints

How to choose a recording device
Most qualitative researchers face the same question when preparing
for their projects: Which recording device is best for recording my
data? We had the same issue six years ago, when we (Thorsten Dresing
and Thorsten Pehl) conducted our dissertation projects and started
looking for a recording device for our own qualitative interviews. We
tested all available gadgets ourselves, since no one else could provide
us with a satisfying answer to this question. Ever since then, we have
been testing recording devices and sharing the results with other
researchers on our website http://www.audiotranskription.de/english
. Our website provides an extensive and a consistently growing
collection of recording equipment tests and comparisons of digital
recorders. Today, we not only look for the best devices for interviewing,
we also test and review equipment for recording music, ambient
sound, dictation, nature sounds and more. In order to share more
about our experience testing countless recording devices, we created
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the following guidelines to help others choose a recording device for a

qualitative research project.

Recording quality

Obviously, recording quality itself is an important issue. It is crucial

what gets into the ears. However, there is no device with the best
recording quality. Many devices deliver outstanding recordings, though
with different recording characteristics. Whether these characteristics
are good depends on the recording situation.
Lets say you want to record narrators in order to create an audio book.
This requires a voice recording which is as clear as possible and without
ambient noises. There are devices that do this very well. But the same
devices fail or do poorly when recording the sound of a drizzling rain
or a chirping cricket.
You should always consider in which recording situation (e.g.
interviews, ambient recordings, or music) and recording settings (e.g.
in a studio or outside) you want to use the device. On our website, you
can

listen

to

sample

recordings

from

several

recorders

(http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/fresh-sounds-in-2012).
When listening, you should assess the sound quality with regard for
the following four aspects:
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How to choose a recording device

Voice & detail perception: How good can you recognize &
distinguish between the narrators and the sources of other
sounds? The subtler, yet distinguished the nuances are, the
better.
Noise level: How strong and perceivable is the hissing and
humming background noise, especially during quiet passages?
The less, the better.
Perception of space: How good is the impression of depth and
space? Do you get the feeling that you are immersed in the
recording situation or is the recording unnaturally flat? The more
natural the space perception, the better the recorder is suited
for recording atmosphere and group conversations; the more flat
the recording, the better for recording individual speakers.
Representation of sound pitch (high and low): Are high or low
frequencies emphasized? When recording individual speakers, a
pleasant sonority, or depth of sound, is often preferred, for room
atmosphere recordings, a clear emphasis of high pitches is
preferable.

Suitability for daily use (handling, battery life, craftsmanship and reliability)
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In our opinion, this is a very important issue. Can the device be operated intuitively? Are the important functions easily accessible? Is the
display easy to read? Does the battery last at least for a working day?
How is the recorder designed and constructed? Are there flimsy parts?
Is the recorder made mostly from plastic or metal? Are the buttons
easy to press or do they wobble around? All of these things can be
easily assessed if you hold the recorder in your hand, but product descriptions and photos alone do not provide reliable information. To
compensate for this, we also focus on handling aspects and haptic perception in the reviews.
From our experience distributing recording devices via our website, we
can make a few assertions regarding the reliability of some recording
devices based on those which have been returned to us under warranty for repair or replacement. We have noticed rather clear differences in product quality depending on the brand. Devices made by
Olympus and Sony are very rarely sent back to us (fewer than 1 in
1,000), whereas products by Zoom and Tascam are returned more often. It must be duly noted, however, that this information is not universally valid for all devices and only applies to those we distribute.

Recording & file formats

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How to choose a recording device

For transcribing qualitative interviews and group discussions, MP3s

provide an appropriate compromise between file compression, recording quality and flexible (cross-platform or cross-computer) file
handling. Please make sure to use a set (not a variable) bit rate when
generating an MP3 file. The WMA file format is equivalent to MP3s in
terms of sound quality, but it cannot be played on Macs without certain limitations. In principle, uncompressed recordings in PCM-WAV
format can be used, but they barely provide quality advantages in interview settings and consume up to tenfold of the space on your computer or USB stick. A good many other audio and video formats are
easily and quickly converted using free software.
If your data requires more complex processing, such as phonetic analysis or signal analysis, it is important that the recordings are available
as uncompressed WAV files. Also, if your recordings are to be made
available at a later date for linguistic databases, it is preferable to use
WAV format. Archives (such as the LDC in the USA, the ELRA in Europe,
the BAS and IDS in Germany, and the MPI Nijmegen (for ethnological
recordings)) require a file format which is open access and cross-platform, and which can be produced and used free of licensing while
guaranteeing optimal quality. In practice, these demands mostly lead
to using the WAV format. If you are interested in learning how to transform audio files, please refer to the chapter Converting audio files in
this manual
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DSS and DSSPro file formats used in dictaphones are unsuitable for
transcription in the context of qualitative research or linguistic research. The sound quality is substandard and the file format requires
proprietary software and hardware. Please note that converting these
files into MP3s at a later point does not improve the sound quality.

External input
Current audio recorders usually have good internal microphones; for
recording interviews and group discussions no additional external microphones are necessary. However, in certain situations, being able to
connect an external microphone may be a positive aspect when choosing a recorder. Does the device feature a line-in as well as a separate
microphone input (which is preferable)? Does the device offer genuine
inputs for XLR-microphones with phantom power or only a 3.5mm jack
plug? A 3.5mm jack plug can be flexibly used with many types of microphones: for instance with some lavaliere-style microphones or with
the output from a Hi-Fi-system for the purpose of digitalization. XLRmicrophone inputs are vital for professional vocal microphones and for
connecting to mixing consoles. The inch-thick XLR-plugs lock in firmly
and they are suitable for situations calling for more a more sturdy connection.

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How to choose a recording device

Important functions
Long lists of device functions can easily be found in the product descriptions. In the case of recording interviews and group discussions,
automatic level control is a term you should pay attention to. This
means that the recording volume is automatically adjusted by the device. This is important if you dont want to be constantly glimpsing at
the fader controller/meter while recording. The adjustments of this
automatic level control can be perceived as light volume fluctuations.
This is great for interview recordings, however, it is not recommended
for music recordings.

Accessories and cost

For a good interview-recording device you should at plan a budget of
roughly 200 Euros or 300 Dollars. When comparing prices, we recommend that paying attention to the accessories that come with the device because these may explain a higher price range. For recordings
outside, we absolutely recommend a windshield. Even a slight breeze
can make the recording inaudible. The sponge windscreen supplied
with some devices does not always provide effective protection.
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Sample recordings
If you consider these aspects you will reliably be able to choose the
best recording device for YOUR purposes. The necessary information
you need for that can be gathered from our many current (older) comparisons and individual tests on digital recorders. We compile these
test reports with a lot of pleasure and using our ears not on the basis
of frequency measurements or technical data sheets. We listen
blindly to sample recordings as a team and evaluate every recording
individually. Afterwards we discuss, as a team, the results. Thereafter,
we reveal/disclose which devices belong to the respective recordings.
You can retrace our results for each device and even listen to sample
recordings on:
http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/fresh-sounds-in-2012

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Hints for recording & handling files in particular situations

Hints for recording & handling files in particular situations

At www.audiotranskription.de, researchers have repeatedly contacted us with technical questions concerning recording and transcription issues they have come across in their research practice. We have
tried to answer most of them, and we would like to introduce some of
them, all of which come from the collection of tutorials available on
our website. We hope that our technical hints will save you some time
and effort, or even open up some new possibilities, for your research.

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Recording telephone interviews

Telephone interviews are an important and cost-efficient method of
data collection. In the case of phone interviews, the technical task is to
record both speakers in a reasonable quality. However, the recording
quality will always be worse than the recording of a face-to-face interview recorded by a recording device.
With our small phone recording adapter, telephone conversations can
be easily recorded. The cable of the receiver has to be connected to
the telephone by a plug. Detach this plug, place the adapter in between. Now connect the adapters jack plug with the line-in of your
recording device. Now you are ready to record all phone conversations.
Alternatively the adapter can be connected to your computers microphone input, and the telephone conversations can be recorded via recording software. We recommend free programs such as Audacity,
No23 Recorder or RecOnPhone. A noise filter ensures good quality
even in soft-spoken passages. When recording the phone conversation
with a computer, basic knowledge of the control panel may be necessary in order to modulate the optimum recording level.
Another alternative is the telephone adapter (TP-7) manufactured by
Olympus, which we do not necessarily recommend due to its uncomfortable handling and its hygiene issues. If you use this device, the type
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Recording telephone interviews

of the phone (wireless phone, cell phone, phone connected with wire)
does not matter because the adapter is worn in the ear, just like a small
set of headphones.
However, inserting the adapter in the ear is rather uncomfortable, and
due to hygiene reasons it is less suitable if it is to be used by several
persons (e.g. if it is to be rented out by a library or a department).

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Recording phone conversations with Skype

Phone calls can be easily recorded if you conduct your phone
interviews via Skype. There is a series of add-ons and programs which
allow you to record phone conversations as well as conversations with
other Skype users. Youll find a commented list of Skype recorders on
http://www.aboutonlinetips.com/free-skype-call-recorders-3308/
This guide will introduce you to the free Mp3 Skype Recorder, which
as the name suggests saves your conversations as mp3 files. If you
want to try out different programs: We have created two video
tutorials on using two other recorders, wiretap & callgraph. The
tutorials are available on audiotranskription.de (German only).
Although recording via Skype can make the recording of phone/VoIP
data much easier, there is also a range of possible technical issues. The
call quality when using Skype can dramatically diverge, depending on
your internet and computer speed. If you call another Skype user,
his/her internet quality and computer speed will also drastically
influence the call quality. If the connection is bad, you and your
interviewees might sound very choppy, break up, sound somewhat
distant or distorted, and there might be a delay or echo when
speaking (especially if you or your interviewees use speakers instead
of earphones). These technical issues can make interviewees feel less
comfortable with the overall interview situation or leave them
somewhat confused especially if your interviewees are not familiar
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Recording phone conversations with Skype

with VoIP technology and its deficiencies. If you suspect sound issues
you should explain prior to the interview that you are calling from a
computer, and that your voice might sound choppy sometimes, or that
the conversation might break up but that youll call again right away.
Before you start to conduct interviews via Skype you should therefore
not only make sure that you and your interviewees feel comfortable
with the mode of communication but also check if you and the
interviewees are familiar with the technology (and problems)
connected to it. For some additional methodological remarks on Skype
interviewing,

see

http://squaremethodology.com/2011/01/initial-

thoughts-on-interviews-via-skype/

What you need

Skype is free, and it is free to call other Skype users. If you want
to call phones from your computer, you need to buy calling credit
from Skype.
A microphone & headphones (or a headset). We do not
recommend using speakers, because they sometimes create
annoying feedback. (If you interview other Skype users, you
should make sure your interview partners have a microphone &
headphones as well)
Mp3

Skype

Recorder

(free),

download:

http://voipcallrecording.com
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Manual (on) Transcription 3rd engl.Edition

Installing and setting up the recorder

Download the recorder and install it on your computer. Start the recorder, and then start Skype. During the very first start, Skype will ask
you whether you want to allow the recorder to connect with Skype
click on yes at this point. Depending on your firewall settings, a warning might pop up, informing you that the recorder is trying to access
Skype. You will have to allow this; otherwise, the recorder will not be
able to record your calls.
If you want to change the recorders access to Skype at a later point:
You can manage the access of external programs in Skype under Tools
-> Options -> Advanced tab -> manage other programs access to
Skype.

Recorder options
To record a Skype phone call or a conversation with another Skype
user, Skype as well as the recorder have to run.
The recorder functions are pretty straightforward: You can change the
bit rate of the recording, and you can choose whether you want to
record mono, stereo (caller on one channel, called person on the
other) or joint stereo. Furthermore you can specify whether the
program should start on Windows startup, and you can change the
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Recording phone conversations with Skype

folder in which the program stores your conversations (which we

recommend since the default folder is somewhat hidden). The
conversations will be saved as mp3 files.

How to record
The recorder can be set up to start a recording as soon as your
conversation partner picks up (We strongly discourage this setting,
because it might lead to accidental recordings without the
interviewees prior consent). If the recording button has no square
around (click on the recording button prior to the Skype conversation),
the recording will automatically start as soon as the next Skype
conversation starts (note that the recorder is not recording prior to the
call).

If the recording button doesnt have a square surrounding it, the

recording will NOT start on start of the conversation you can start it
manually whenever you want to during the conversation. If the player
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is set up like this and not recording, you will see a red bar on the
bottom of the recorder with the message recording off.

Every time a recording is started, this window will pop up for a short
time (check the bottom right of your screen), indicating that you are
actually recording:

The recording will stop either when you push the stop button or when
you hang up your call. The file will then be automatically saved
another pop-up window will inform you of that. The file will be saved
in the location that is shown on the player.
Before calling your interview partners, you should do some test calls in
order to get acquainted with the controls, and to make sure the quality
is alright.

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Converting audio files

Converting audio files

It is sometimes necessary to convert your recordings, for instance if
you work on a Mac, but your interviews are saved as WMA file; or if
you have an uncompressed recording from a high quality recorder
which leaves you with a file of over 500 MB.
For converting audio files, we recommend programs such as Audacity
(Mac and PC), all2mp3 (Mac ), Switch and xrecord. They are perfectly
able to convert audio recordings into other formats (e.g. mp3). We will
show you how easy file conversion is by example of the software
Switch24:
1. Select audio file
Install and start Switch. Select the files you want to convert or drag the
files into the open program window. It is also possible to select various
audio recordings or a whole folder.
2. Specify the destination and format
On the lower part of the program window specify the preferred output
format, for example OGG or MP3. You can indicate the preferred output folder in the input field above.

24

Free download available at: http://www.nch.com.au/switch/de/index.html

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3. Converting
Upon clicking on the convert symbol (top right), converting begins.
This process can take a few minutes depending on the file size. If you
convert files into MP3s, a window for the codec settings is displayed
first. Click on OK. The conversion is complete when the progress bar
reaches 100 percent. The file will be located in the folder you previously selected.

Noise Removal
With the free software Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/),
which supports all common audio formats, it is possible to reduce
noise from an audio recording easily and within a few clicks. The procedure is as follows:
1. Determine the noise profile
Install and start Audacity, open the interview via the the File menu.
You can now see the file in waveform. You can listen to the file by clicking the Play button; a vertical bar indicates the current position in
the file. In order to skip to a certain position, just click on the wave
form. Search for a position where you only hear background noise (for

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Noise Removal

instance, a short conversation break), select the part thats silent except for the noise. Then choose Noise Removal from the Effect
Menu and click Get Profile.
2. Remove noise
Select all of the audio (CTRL + A), choose Effect > Noise Removal
again. This time, select the Noise Removal button. Now click on preview
3. How to get optimal results
In order to optimize the result, you can experiment with adjusting the
noise threshold with a different noise removal level. If you get a satisfactory result, click on OK.
4. Finishing up and exporting
In order to finalize the changes in the audio recording, the project must
be exported. Go to the File menu and choose Export. If necessary,
add metadata to your file and confirm with OK. In the subsequent
window, select your preferred file type (most commonly MP3) and the
saving location.

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Trimming audio files

Sometimes a recording contains unwanted content from before or after the interview itself. For trimming audio files, we also recommend
Audacity for trimming audio files.

1. Selecting a file
Install and start Audacity, open the interview via the File menu. You
can now see the file in waveform. You can listen to the file by clicking
the Play button; a vertical bar indicates the current position in the
file. In order to skip to a certain position, just click on the wave form.
Highlight a selection you want to cut by holding the left mouse button
and moving the mouse.
2. Trimming
You can delete the selected part by pressing the Del key on your keyboard.
3. Cutting and exporting
Would you like to store the actual selection as a separate file (For example; as a sound sample for a transcription service)? Select the File
menu, then Export. Your snippet will now be shown in a new window.
4. Finishing up and exporting
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Data security and recovering deleted data

In order to finalize the changes in the audio recording, the project must
be exported. Go to the File menu and choose Export. If necessary,
add metadata to your file and confirm with OK. In the subsequent
window, select your preferred file type (most commonly MP3) and the
saving location.

Data security and recovering deleted data

Deleting data by mistake is annoying. Whether it is the important interview, the written transcript or any other data; once deleted unintentionally, one can be sure of a surge of adrenaline. Fortunately,
there is a free tool that can help in such a situation: Recuva.
1. Make preparations
If possible you should not save additional data on the drive where the
deleted data is located at least until the recovery is complete, so that
the lost data is not overwritten. Download and install the software
from: http://www.piriform.com/recuva.
2. Using the wizard for recovery
Open Recuva and use the wizard. It is best to search for all file types.
In the next step, make sure that in-depth scan is activated - only then
Recuva can really find most of the data.
3. Searching and restoring lost data

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The search itself can take between ten minutes and several hours (400
GB hard drive approximately takes 6 hours to scan). The search result
is listed in a table, from which you can select single, several or all restorable data and save it onto another drive. After selecting the files,
press the button recover and all the selected data is restored impressive.

An important conclusion

While we were very happy with the results Recuva delivered, we found
out something interesting. You can restore nearly almost all data with
Recuva. Not only data that was deleted an hour ago can be restored,
but also data from a completely formatted hard drive (which had been
used earlier).
Not a problem? But yes! Think about the following situation:
You sell your old notebook, your external hard drive or your USB flash
drive. The buyer has the possibility to restore data with Recuva and
therefore can get into possession of information that was not meant
to be his or hers.
Or: You have a rental recording device. In this case, every subsequent
user can at least recover and listen to a part of previously deleted interviews.

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Data security and recovering deleted data

After consulting computer scientists we realized that empty and formatted storage media are never completely empty. If you deal with
sensitive information such as interviews (which are subject to privacy
policies and informed consent agreements), analysis results, images
and much more, you cannot pass your data storage hardware on to
someone else without making sure that the data is permanently deleted.

Deleting data safely (permanently!)

Overwriting data once should normally do the job. It is also sufficient

to simply delete the sensitive data and then to fill the device to the
brim with useless data manually.25
Repeated overwriting is not necessary in the case of magnetic hard
drives or flash memory drives. In the case of flash drives it might happen that some data is retained in flash cells that only serve as buffers
or as replacement of defective cells.
The probability that something usable remains in these cells is on one
hand very low, and it would, on the other hand, call for a huge effort
to retrieve the data. Our recommendation is to use a special deletion
program. Eraser is a good solution, which is recommended by the
The program H2testw v1.4 provided by the computer magazine ct fills storage
memory completely upon testing hardware and should be able to overwrite all data:
http://www.heise.de/software/download/h2testw/50539
25

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computer magazine ct and the German Federal Commissioner for

Data Protection and Freedom of Information
But if you have *really* sensitive data, you should destroy flash-media
(and of course CDs) physically.

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Cited works / References

Bogner, Alexander; Littig, Beate; Menz, Wolfgang (Eds, 2009): Interviewing experts. Basingstoke.
Chiari, Isabella (2006): Slips and errors in spoken data transcription.
Paper presented at the Proceedings of 5th International Conference
on Language Resources and Evaluation LREC2006, Genova. Genova:
CD.Rom, ELDA 1596-1599, http://www.alphabit.net/PDF/Pubblicazioni/chiari2_LREC2006.pdf.
Dittmar, Norbert (2004): Transkription. Ein Leitfaden mit Aufgaben fr
Studenten, Forscher und Laien. 2. edition. Wiesbaden.
Dresing, Thorsten & Pehl, Thorsten (2010): Transkription. In: Mey,
Gnter & Mruck, Katja (Eds.): Handbuch Qualitative Forschung in der
Psychologie. Wiesbaden.
Dresing, Thorsten; Pehl, Thorsten & Lombardo, Claudia (2008): Schnellere Transkription durch Spracherkennung? [35 paragraphs]. In: Forum
Qualitative
Sozialforschung
/
Forum:
Qualitative
Social
Research,
9(2),
Art.
17,
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0802174.
Ehlich, Konrad & Redder Angelika (1994): Gesprochene Sprache. Transkripte und Tondokumente. Tbingen.
Gibbs, Graham R. (2010): Writing as Analysis, OnlineQDA,
http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/Intro_QDA/writing_analysis.php
Gubrium,Jaber F.; Holstein, James A.(Eds., 2002): Handbook of interview research: Context & Method. Thousand Oaks.
Hertz, Rosanna; Imber, Jonathan B. (Eds.,1995): Studying elites using
qualitative methods. Thousand Oaks.
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Hoffmann-Riem, Christa (1984): Das adoptierte Kind. Familienleben

mit doppelter Elternschaft. Mnchen.
Jefferson, Gail (2004): Glossary of transcript symbols with an Introduction. In: Gene H. Lerner (Ed.) Conversation Analysis: Studies from the
first generation (pp. 13-23). Philadelphia.
Kallmeyer, Werner & Schtze, Fritz (1976): Konversationsanalyse. In:
Studium Linguistik 1 (pp. 1-28). Kronberg.
Kuckartz, Udo; Dresing, Thorsten; Rdiker, Stefan & Stefer, Claus
(2008): Qualitative Evaluation Der Einstieg in die Praxis. 2. edition.
Wiesbaden.
Kuckartz, Udo (2010): Einfhrung in die computergesttzte Analyse
qualitativer Daten. 3. edition. Wiesbaden.
Kvale, Steinar; Brinkman, Svend (2009): InterViews. Learning the craft
of qualitative research interviewing. London a.o.
Lange, Bernward (2008): Imagination aus Sicht von Grundschulkindern. Datenerhebung, Auswertung und Ertrag fr die Schulpdagogik.
In: Mayring, Philipp (Ed.): Die Praxis der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse.
Weinheim.
Liamputtong, Pranee (2008): Doing cross-cultural research: Ethical and
methodological perspectives. Dordrecht.
Odendahl, Teresa; Shaw, Aileen M. (2002): Interviewing elites. In:
Gubrium, Jaber F.; Holstein, James A.(Eds.): Handbook of interview research. Context & method. (pp. 299-316). Thousand Oaks.
Punch, Maurice (1986): The politics and ethics of fieldwork. Beverly
Hills a.o.
Seidman, Irving (2006): Interviewing as qualitative research. 3rd edition. New York a.o.
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Selting, Margret et al. (2009): Gesprchsanalytisches Transkriptionssystem 2 (GAT 2). In: Gesprchsforschung - Online-Zeitschrift zur verbalen Interaktion. (ISSN 1617-1837) Vol. 10 (2009), pp. 353-402.
Skukauskaite, Audra (2012): Transparency in Transcribing: Making Visible Theoretical Bases Impacting Knowledge Construction from OpenEnded Interview Records [66 paragraphs]. In: Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 13(1), Art. 14,
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1201146.

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The authors
Dr. Thorsten Dresing: Education scientist - co-founder of audiotranskription.de,
researcher in the department of educational science at Philipps-University Marburg Germany (Prof. Dr. Udo Kuckartz, 2000-2008). Finished PhD in 2006, lecturer for MAXQDA lecturer since 2000.
Contact: [email protected]

Thorsten Pehl: Education scientist, co-founder of audiotranskription.de, Coach &

consultant for qualitative data analysis, digital recording technology and transcription. Lecturer for f4analyse an QCA.
Contact: [email protected]
Christian Schmieder: Sociologist & Linguist, coach & consultant for qualitative
data analysis software and qualitative methodology. PhD student at UW Madison's Games+Learning+Society Center / Department of Curriculum & Instruction
under Prof. Constance Steinkuehler. Qualitative Research Software consultant at
UW Madison's Social Science Computing Cooperative (SSCC) & Software Training
for Students (STS) program.
Contact: [email protected]

Special thanks go to our whole team at audiotranskription.de, and to Christian

Spengler. Special thanks also go to Jesse Henderson and to the many readers
who helped and supported us in creating this manual.
We wish all our readers the best success with their recordings, transcriptions and
their research. If you have any questions or feedback it would be great to hear
from you!
Marburg (Germany) & Madison, Wisconsin (USA), January 2015

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