First steps in qualitative data analysis: transcribing.

Family Practice, 2008

Qualitative research in primary care deepens understanding of phenomena such as health, illness and health care encounters.
recordings of interviews, focus groups or talk in consultation), and these are usually transcribed into written form for closer study.
Transcribing appears to be a straightforward technical task, but in fact involves judgements about what level of detail to choose (e.g.
Representation of audible and visual data into written form is an interpretive process which is therefore the first step in analysing data.
Different levels of detail and different representations of data will be required for projects with differing aims and methodological approaches.
This article is a guide to practical and theoretical considerations for researchers new to qualitative data analysis.
Data examples are given to illustrate decisions to be made when transcribing or assigning the task to others.