Is this common practice for qualitative studies made by doctoral students?

[Adelaide9216]

Hello,

I came across a doctoral student who won't transcribe her qualitative interviews but will hire someone else (either a MA or BA student) to do it for her. Is this common practice? Is it ethical? What are your thoughts? I had lots of questions when I saw that but did not want to ask her because maybe she knows what she's doing. 

[Meraki]

Yes, this is common practice. There are professional services for this as well. It is a very time consuming process, and typing it all out yourself doesn’t add value to the project, although I would spot check the quality of the transcriptions. 

I should add that one should take care to ensure confidentiality of the informants, which is why a reputable, professional service may be preferred, but RAs assisting with the process should be held to these expectations as well. Be aware of the information in the interviews and who you’re trusting to transcribe them. I wouldn’t hire a random student to transcribe my interviews, but I can’t say it’s unethical without knowing what’s in the interviews and the details of the transaction.

Edited July 1, 2018 by Sangria1700

[Adelaide9216]

Wow. I did not know that. When I took my MSW Qualitative Research Course, our prof stressed that it's good for students to transcribe their own interviews/focus groups because you get immersed in data and will be able to analyze it "better" kinda of?

Thank you for your answer, I was wondering lol.

[Meraki]

I think it's good to get the experience of doing it in the beginning, but I don't think the transcription process is necessary to become immersed in the data. You should read the transcriptions or listen to the recordings numerous times throughout the coding process anyway. Different researchers will have different preferences, but to me, spending weeks or months transcribing dozens (or more) of interviews could be better spent. So yes, it's probably good for students to do it themselves as they're learning the process, but if you do a lot of qualitative work in your career, it will really slow down your productivity.

[E-P]

It may differ in your field.

 

Personally, I'm a believer in the halfway point.  I've done a bit of transcribing for a company (not academia), and they first used temi.com to get a rough transcription, then used me to proofread and edit.  It was way better with English speakers, so if you're interviewing people with thick accents, it may not be the best solution.  It's also probably more trouble than it's worth if you're transcribing them linguistically (ex: If you need to reflect durations of pauses, that sort of thing).  But for most basic transcriptions?  It does quite well.