6 Steps for Qualitative Research Analysis: How to Analyze an Interview Transcript

How do you analyze an interview transcript? And why is it important for qualitative market research?

Market research interviews are one of the best ways to identify the trends and preferences of consumers.

You gather important information about the consumers’ attitudes towards your product through interviews or focus groups. During the interviews, a participant may have said something so relevant that can enable your company or business to create strategies for success. But how do you get and where can you find all the insights?

From transcriptions

There are many uses of transcriptions in market research. Not only will it save you time and resources, but it will also make it more convenient for you and your peers to review the data at any time. Verbatim transcriptions can also be useful when quoting testimonials about the consumers’ experiences with your product. Their testimonials and direct quotes can also convince a stakeholder to create a crucial decision. Most importantly, the transcriptions will be the main focus of the qualitative research analysis that you will use in developing your new product.

Going back to the main question, how do you analyze an interview transcript for Qualitative Research?

6 Steps to Analyze an Interview Transcript for Qualitative Market Research

1. Reading the transcripts

You first need to familiarize yourself with the data. Reading the transcripts aims to get an initial impression and to explore the data. It helps to get an overview of the collected data by taking some notes or summarizing the ideas.

2. Coding the data

Coding or indexing is basically highlighting words, phrases, or sentences from the transcript. In a nutshell, a code is a description of the idea or feeling that is expressed in that part of the interview. You create a code when something interesting comes up or when a theme or pattern is repeated throughout the transcript. You can also create a code if an interviewer specifically states that a particular insight is important. Different colors correspond to different codes. You can produce as many codes as they can at this point.

3. Generating themes

At this point, it is time to narrow down the codes and create themes and categories. You can combine codes into a single theme. The main goal here is to discard irrelevant codes and focus on potential themes that are useful and make the analysis more credible.

4. Comparing the transcripts

It is crucial to always compare your data because you might have missed something. After one transcript, repeat the process to the remaining transcripts. Review if the themes are really present in the data. You may find new codes as you read other interview transcripts as they emerge, so there is always constant comparison between the data. You may also combine the codes into themes or discard unnecessary codes. The goal here is to be as accurate as possible when you represent your data.

5. Defining the themes

This is where you will come up with the final list of themes that you have generated from the interviews. To define a theme is to describe what is about, what makes it interesting, and how it contributes to the understanding of the data.

6. Writing the results

This is basically a summary and discussion of your analysis. When creating the write-up or report, you should use an objective tone and neutral voice. Begin with an introduction that establishes the research question and approach. Then discuss in the methodology section how you collected the data and conducted the analysis. In the results section, address how each theme came up. And finally, a conclusion that will give your discussion a full circle.

To analyze an interview transcript takes a lot of time, and it can be an iterative process. The last thing you would want to worry about is to take notes and type sentences. So make sure to use a market research transcription service with the expertise to provide you with the most accurate notes and tags that will make your analysis and reporting easier.