Tips on Transcribing Interviews
Transcription is the process of turning a sound recording into a typed document. It is used frequently with interviews because a sound recording is the easiest and most accurate way to preserve the content of an interview. If you are preparing to transcribe an interview from a piece of audio, there are a number of things you can do to help make the process easier.
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Interview Environment
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If you are a professional transcriptionist and are given recordings to work with, you have no control over how the recordings are made. However, if you are the person doing the interviewing as well as the transcribing, make your own job easier by conducting your interviews in quiet places that are free from background noise. Test your recording equipment prior to the interview to be sure that everything is working and that the microphone is placed to pick up the conversation clearly. Digital recorders are best for sound quality. If it is a telephone interview, avoid using a speaker phone.
Hardware
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A high quality digital dictaphone should be adequate for most interview needs. If the interview is being recorded with video, be sure to use an external microphone rather than depending on the integral microphone in the camera. When doing the transcription, use headphones. This will make words much clearer and easier to understand. Use a recorder with a prominent pause button, as you will be using it frequently. If you do a lot of transcribing, invest in a foot pedal control that allows you to pause the recording with your foot without removing your hands from the keyboard. You can also transcribe using voice recognition software, listening to the recording and repeating it through the microphone in your headset.
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Confirmation
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If there are sections of the recording that are indecipherable due to hardware failure or mumbling, try to contact one of the people who were present to clarify. This may be inconvenient for them, but it is preferable to publishing something that is incorrectly transcribed. If you are not the original interviewer, send the completed transcript to the interviewer for confirmation and corrections.
Multiple Subjects
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Interviews are sometimes conducted with more than one subject at the same time. This can be problematic for the transcriber, particularly if several people's voices sound similar or if people interrupt one another. If you have access to a video recording, this can help in determining who said what. Prefacing each comment in the transcription with a name or initials is much more important when dealing with multiple subjects.
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References
- Photo Credit female interviewer image by Peter Baxter from Fotolia.com
