Introduction
Research is often no longer performed in isolation, either in one research institution or one country. Universities are now an integral partner in almost every research collaboration worldwide. Journalists are now conducting interviews all around the globe, and research performing institutions are partnering with communities to perform research that is relevant and beneficial to them. Within this framework, there is a crucial need for effective communication in order to yield successful research results. One of the solutions that can address communication challenges is transcription for global research.
Research that has been documented in order to perform data analysis is typically recorded by researchers during interviews, focus group discussions, symposiums, lectures, and in both scheduled and unscheduled conversations. The management and analysis of a large volume of data captured in spoken form can be problematic. Several obstacles can impede research collaboration and affect the quality of research results, such as the presence of interpretations and omissions, as well as various forms of poor documentation.
Accurate transcripts provide a number of benefits. They allow recorded interactions to be translated into precise written words. They also allow for easy referencing, reviewing, and sharing to different users. There are several different uses for transcripts, including reporting, and aids in the improvement of communication. This article will primarily illustrate how professional transcription services may be utilized to communicate and collaborate within the field of modern research. It will also bring to the forefront the benefits of professional transcription services to research-active institutions and researchers, indicate some limitations of transcription for global research services that institutions and organizations will need to address, and provide suggestions that may aid in overcoming these limitations.
- The Growing Importance of Transcription for Global Research
An increasingly interdependent world necessitates the importance of accurate and thorough documentation of collaborative research across national borders. Global research partnerships bring together individuals from different countries and cultures and speak different languages. In these partnerships, the accurate documentation of research data becomes essential.
Transcription preserves the accurate, interpretable record of verbal dialogues. It eliminates the need to rely on imperfect memory or notes. Researchers are able to access a complete record that is also searchable of all recorded conversations and interviews.
Why Accurate Documentation Matters
The outputs of research are dependent on the inputs of research and the accuracy of those inputs. Incomplete inputs of research can result in erroneous conclusions and a flawed analysis.
For researchers, transcripts provide the following advantages:
- Capture participants’ comments verbatim
- Reduce the chance of mistakes
- Allow for consistency across different segments of the research
- Enable data-driven conclusions
- Allow for the documentation of the research
Transcripts perform the above functions and more for research conducted across several countries and time zones, providing a shared frame of reference for the diverse research subgroups.
The Digital Research Paradigm
The current research paradigm has changed the way we collect and produce research to an almost endless supply of archived data (i.e. interviews, focus groups, webinars and virtual research). The transcripts have the ability to produce archived data in such a way that it can be easily incorporated into research management and qualitative analyses software.
2. Transcripts as an Aid in Research
From the initial planning to the final publication and presentation of research, transcripts of archived data aid research collaboration by providing accurate accounts of meetings and interviews in the absence of participants.
Thanks to transcripts, researchers are able to:
- Review meetings
- Check their readings
- Share their work
- Maintain consistency across analyses
Transcripts also enable researchers to perform analyses in a fraction of the time it would take to listen to the recordings in order to respond to research questions, identify key themes, and prepare reports of findings.
Increasing Transparency and Accountability
Research must be conducted rigorously and ethically for it to be credible. One method to hold researchers accountable is by providing accurate transcripts of recordings.
One example is how transcripts of qualitative research allow for the citation of research participants’ exact words during the coding process and analysis of research themes. This citation gives researchers a way to verify the credibility of the research findings.
Facilitating Interaction Within and Between Different Cultures
Conducting research across multiple countries and cultures may involve working with research participants who speak varying languages or who use research-related terms that are specific to their country or culture.
Transcripts:
- Simplify interactions
- Consider cultural and social modifications
- Support different interpretations
- Enable researchers to understand participants and each other
This helps ensure the research is thorough and accurate.
3. Primary Functions of Transcription in Research and Academia
The focus of transcription is primarily outside of qualitative research. It is of great importance to a variety of other fields of research and academia.
Academic Research Interviews
Researchers often conduct interviews that may result in hours of recorded data.
Transcripts allow researchers to:
- Prioritize and focus on the findings in a more timely and effective manner
Transcripts lead to analyses that are both timely and dependable. For instance, an educational leadership doctoral student may conduct thirty interviews with school administrators. Having these interviews professionally transcribed would mean both faster coding and more dependable analysis.
Focus Groups and Community-Based Research
Focus groups are based around having many participants in the community and having large discussions. Even with note takers, it becomes difficult to capture everything.
Researchers use notes or transcripts to:
- Document what participants said and how they said it.
- Analyze how participants interacted with each other.
- Compare what participants said with what others said.
- Capture how the community speaks in its own words.
Conferences, Seminars, and Lectures
There are large numbers of events held by universities and other institutions that allow us to record and gather knowledge and ideas.
Transcripts of such events will:
- Provide a record of learning that is available to all
- Provide an internal record for the institution
- Capture new ideas that the participants have from this event
- Extend the existing research and the knowledge presented
Journalism and Other Investigative Research
Reporting on the social, political, and scientific issues of our time involves conducting many different types of interviews.
Transcripts of interviews help to ensure:
- Reporting is based on facts.
- The interviewed are portrayed fairly.
- All statements are verified.
- The reporting maintains integrity and the audience’s trust.
3. Benefits of Professional Transcription Services for Research Organizations
Automated speech to text programs are helpful, but neither accuracy nor reliability is guaranteed. For this reason, a professional service is preferred.
Improved Quality of Research
Transcripts provide a means to reduce the errors that come from researching manually or using automated systems.
High quality data results in:
- More comprehensive analysis
- More reliable and valid conclusions
- Greater integrity of the research
Enhanced Effectiveness and Efficiency of Research
Researchers find reviewing video and audio recordings of meetings, interviews, and focus groups to be tedious and slows their research process.
Using transcripts allows the research process to become more effective and efficient by allowing researchers to:
- Identify and locate key pieces of information quickly
- Organize information found in notes and statements
- Draw attention to and emphasize key findings
Improved Research Inclusivity
An increased emphasis on research inclusivity is critical and should be a priority for research institutions.
Transcripts assist:
- Persons who are Deaf and/or hard of hearing
- Persons with limited proficiency in the language
- Persons on remote research teams
- Other persons (students, researchers) who need to interact with recorded materials
Long-Term Research Record
Transcripts provide a research record that is permanent and can be:
- Conveniently stored and accessed for later research
- Shared with research team members
- Retained for later use by the organization
- Challenges and Considerations
Transcription has many pros, but it is equally important to examine the cons.
Sensitive Research Information
Most research contains sensitive information about participants.
It is imperative that the organization provides:
- Safe and secure transfer of research data
- Protection of sensitive information
- Signed agreements to ensure confidentiality
- Upholding the rights and dignity of research participants
Before research data is transferred for the purpose of transcription, the data is the researcher’s responsibility to protect.
Compromise Quality for Price
When a service is offered for a price, the price of the service becomes a consideration. Some organizations may think that using wholly automated transcription is a cost-saving technique.
However, many research studies of a highly specialized nature (for example, studies involving multiple speakers and/or different languages) require a higher degree of accuracy that usually cannot be provided without human assistance.
Language and Cultural Contexts
Most large studies involve research participants from many different countries and in many different native languages.
There is a high degree of specialized language and terminology, local language changes, and slang.
It is often the case that many of the research-related transcription problems can be solved simply by using a research-trained specialist.
5. Advice to Researchers
Once you decide to have a transcription completed, you can increase the level of audio recording by making the following adjustments:
- Use only high-quality audio recording devices
- Reduce background noise
- Distinguish speakers
- Establish uniform guidelines
- Edit the transcripts before analysis for spelling and grammar.
The above measures, in addition to improving quality and reliability of research, save time.
Conclusion
Considered from all aspects of research, perhaps the most important, and most challenging, aspect is the ability to communicate the findings. More and more universities are partnering on cross-disciplinary research. This can include digitally recorded research data. Having an accurate spoken record of research is essential for transcription of international research; it substantially improves the quality of research.
Transcription enhances the quality of research, making it more cooperative and improving the quality of services provided. It enhances the quality of services offered for research, irrespective of the discipline.
When considering the global context of research, some unavoidable challenges, such as budgets, and technical limitations and restrictions surrounding data, have to be considered when dealing with transcription. Most of the time the value gained from global research transcription greatly outweighs the costs. Research teams and institutions will enjoy benefits from global research transcription, including a positive effect on the integrity of research and an increase in the volume of research.
In the global context of research, accurate transcription will be instrumental in achieving a common understanding and will facilitate collaboration. In this context, transcription will no longer be considered an administrative burden, but an essential service.