How Can Transcriptions Benefit Your Academic Research?

The possibilities of using transcriptions are vast, and many industry sectors use them primarily to support data gathered during fact-finding. Apart from market research, it is also regularly and heavily used on the side of academia for students and fellow researchers to understand and analyze information much more efficiently.

Research begins with a question or a subject study a researcher and their team would want to investigate and the formation of hypotheses to support the research question. Through grant writing, researchers would be able to get funding that would be used for aids and services needed for their research, including hiring transcription companies' services.

Researchers use transcriptions to analyze their research data, which would make its interpretation simpler. Having a transcript helps them read and understand their interview and field notes better and provides accuracy, consistency, and straightforwardness.

Research methods and the value of transcriptions

Researchers rely on the recordings of interviews or interactions they’ve had for documentation, which they then send to transcription companies. Transcriptions are considered one of the most effective ways to backup data and get quick access to information. In an academic setting, data gathering may occur through different methodologies, and taking advantage of university research transcriptions through these different teaching styles or research methodologies would provide convenience for everyone involved in research. 

• One-on-one interviews - This is the most common type of interview and is usually designed to have open-ended questions to collect a richer source of information and to better explore the research subject's opinions and experiences. Transcribing interviews allows the researchers to accurately quote the interviewee and provide them a better frame of reference for their findings.
• Focus group discussions - Focus groups help collect a broad and diverse range of information from many participants with different opinions and backgrounds. A common problem that may arise during this type of interaction would be the recurrence of crosstalks or overlapping of speeches between respondents. Having a transcript on hand for this interaction would help lessen the researchers’ burden and confusion because the speakers will be differentiated and labeled accordingly based on their ideas and responses. 
• Seminars and Lectures - This type of meeting where a group of learners will receive information and training about a particular topic done mainly by a professor or a subject matter expert. Some students prefer to record their lectures during classes. Having their seminars or lecture recordings transcribed would be practical for them to focus more on their lesson by listening and participating more actively during classes.
• Consultations - A type of discussion between two parties usually done before decision making and is generally common between a patient and a doctor. Physicians hire the services of transcription companies to have medical transcriptions of their patient’s crucial information, such as medical histories, progress notes, and insurance claims. This would give physicians more time to make rounds or clinical visits, thus increasing their productivity and visibility around their affiliated healthcare institutions or research hospitals. Transcripts of patient records may also serve as an essential tool to improve or formulate treatment options for both known and new diseases.
• Conferences and meetings - Conferences are formal meetings that commonly occur over several days involving people with shared interests. Having the sessions recorded and translated to meeting minutes may help remind the attendees of the key topics and information discussed. Also, since conferences usually have a massive number of attendees, some may not be able to absorb all the content they need. With meeting minutes and transcriptions on-hand, this would help attendees get accessibility to the materials presented so that they could reference any information that may have been missed or overlooked.

Conclusion

With transcriptions, students and researchers would be able to get more free time or spend it doing other vital tasks or studying other lessons. It also reduces academic fatigue or burnout, and their notes would be more organized and easy to share. 

TranscriptionWing can assist you with your university research transcriptions. Just send us your audio, and we’ll take care of transcribing it for you.