After reading the articles, I found myself pondering many
questions in relation to the data transcription process. The first question came to
my mind regards four different types of transcription (verbatim, Jeffersonian,
gisted and visual) mentioned in the Paulus, Lester and Dempster ‘s
chapter. It is claimed in the chapter
that the researchers’ theoretical stances influence the transcription styles they used in the study.
I am quite curious about the foundation of each transcription style and how
they relate to researchers’ stances. Also the chapter presents two types of
gisted transcription: the condensed and the essence transcript. I would like to
learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of gisted transcription, and
to what extent they may influence the trustworthiness of the conducted
research.
My second question is related to nonverbal utterances in the
qualitative research. Last year, I
conducted an interview study and one of the participants started to cry while
telling me her experience when she was a teacher. I knew her crying has a meaning and
represents her very deep feelings. And her tears were more powerful than verbal
words in terms of conveying the message.
Laughing, crying, voice tone, body language,-all- are important parts of
qualitative data, and consequently important parts of data analysis. I wonder how we can analyze or include
nonverbal data using digital tools, and how we can represent the feelings of
participants in the research.
My third question is about Johnson’s discussion on hiring
transcriptionists. Due to the fact that
transcription takes very long time, many researchers hire transcriptionists.
May be researchers can save time using digital tools, however learning and
using a software also requires an investment of time, energy and money. I am very confused about how I should act a
researcher to present my study more accurately, keep participants privacy and
prevent ethical dilemmas. Should I
transcribe the data myself using software programs, or hire transcripts?
Naime, you are asking such important questions around transcription, many of which we will return to next week. First, it is important to keep in mind that transcription is part of the analysis process and depending upon your methodological and analytical approach, you may give greater or lesser attention to things such as nonverbal communication. Second, if you do hire a transcriptionist, they should sign a research agreement and this should be written within your IRB protocol. We'll definitely come back to these issues next week!
ReplyDelete