Verbatim transcription is crucial for the reliability, validity and veracity of data collection in any type of interview.

1. How to Interview in Healthcare Research for Transcription
Verbatim transcription is crucial for the reliability, validity and veracity of data
collection in any type of interview.
Depending upon the underlying research methodology, there could be variations in the
purpose, process and technique of interviewing in healthcare research. However,
verbatim transcription is crucial for the reliability, validity and veracity of data
collection in any type of interview. Creating an exact written record of interviews is an
effective method to manage interview data compared to other options. Let’s take a
look at the different research methodologies, interviews based on them and the
importance of transcribing research interviews in verbatim.
There are mainly three types of research methodologies – pure qualitative, mixed
methods and pure quantitative. As their names suggest, pure qualitative explores only
qualitative aspects (values, meanings, beliefs, thoughts and more) and pure
quantitative takes into account only quantitative aspects (data collected are
transposed into numerical rather than verbal data) throughout an investigation. Mixed-
method frequently uses qualitative data in conjunction with the quantitative data to
provide a sense of validity and completeness of a concept. This method doesn’t
necessarily require verbatim transcripts since analysis techniques identify common
ideas from the data. Different types of research interviews based on these
methodologies are given below.
• Informal Conversational Interviews – This type of interview comes under
pure qualitative methodology, which involves unstructured, exploratory, in-
depth interviews and open-ended questions.
• Interview Guide Approach – This approach is based on mixed-method in
which topic areas are specified earlier on an interview guide while the
researcher may change the wording or order of the questions depending upon
the participant.
• Standardized Open-ended Approach – This approach also comes under
mixed-method and uses open-ended, pre-specified questions. However, the
interviewer won’t change either the wording or order.
• Scripted Interviews –This type of interview uses pure quantitative
methodology and involves fully structured interaction with equal stimuli for all
participants and closed-ended questions.
Benefits of Verbatim Transcription
• In the case of research strengthened by theoretical framework, closeness
between researchers and the text is crucial for research design and

2. methodology. Verbatim record of interviews allows researchers to thoroughly
understand their data and facilitates efficient data analysis.
• Quality verbatim transcripts can help in developing an audit trail of data
analysis by supervisors or independent persons.
• The researchers who have participated in the verbal and nonverbal exchanges
with the interviewees can transcribe their own interview data from written
transcripts for further analysis.
Need for Transcription Services
Verbatim research transcription is a time-consuming process as it is complex and
loaded with technical dilemma. Human errors can occur during this process such as
misinterpretation of content, class and culture differences, as well as language errors.
Researchers will need to cross-check the audio recordings frequently to ensure the
accuracy of the transcripts. This will consume a lot of their time that is dedicated for
research. This is where the importance of transcription services comes in.