Transcribe ten minutes of the audio recording from an interview, focus group, or other type of interactive data collection in which you engaged. (Alternatively, you can find on YouTube an audio recording – in the language that you use to collect / generate data – of an interview conducted by someone else relating to the topic of you research.) Play the recording and manually write down what each person says during the first ten minutes of the exchange. Record your observations / reactions:
How long did it take you?
What were the biggest challenges?
What formatting issues immediately occur to you and how would you resolve them?
If you were to use software to help you transcribe, what functionality do you now know it needs to have?
This exercise is designed to give you a sense of the transcription process; to help you decide whether transcribing the recordings from your interactive data collection is something you want to do; and to help direct your technology choices. Think carefully about your answers to the questions, reminding yourself of approximately how many recordings you anticipate you will be dealing with.