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04_data-interviews.qmd
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---
title: "Interview Data"
---
Interviews entail direct exchanges between investigators and participants, facilitating a thorough exploration of subjects' experiences, perspectives, and opinions. Through the use of open-ended questions and probing techniques, researchers can uncover richer and more nuanced insights by delving deeply into firsthand narratives that illuminate the research phenomenon. This depth of understanding is often unattainable through other research methodologies.
## Interview Techniques
There are three primary types of interview techniques:
- *Structured:* In this approach, the interviewer follows a set of predefined questions in a specific order. Although this format offers less flexibility, it ensures that all respondents receive the same questions in the same manner and order, leading to more consistent data collection and easier comparison of responses.
- *Semi-structured:* This method focuses on exploring a few issues in moderate detail, allowing researchers to expand their understanding to some extent. Semi-structured interviews offer the advantage of maintaining objectivity while enabling participants to share their perspectives and opinions. Researchers typically develop an interview guide with targeted open questions to steer the conversation.
- *In-depth/unstructured:* This approach aims to delve into a person's subjective experiences and feelings regarding a specific topic. Such interviews are commonly employed to explore emotive subjects. Researchers craft an interview guide with selected open questions, but participants have more influence over the direction of the conversation compared to semi-structured interviews. In-depth interviews prioritize participants' lived experiences and are frequently utilized in phenomenology studies.
It is beyond the scope of this course to cover interview techniques and the actual process of data collection, best approaches to choose one technique over another or strategies for developing interview protocols and conducting interviews. For that we recommend Gubrium & Holstein's (2001) handbook listed below.
## Transcription Considerations
Transcription is an essential process that converts spoken data into written text, capturing the nuances of participants’ responses during interviews or discussions. This detailed record is crucial for researchers as it provides a complete and accurate account of the data, enabling thorough analysis. In academic research, two most common types of transcription are verbatim and intelligent:
- *Verbatim Transcription:* This method includes every utterance, such as filler words or what some call response tokens (“um,” “uh,” “you know”), involuntary vocalizations such as coughing, sneezing, burping, sniffing, laughing, and even non-verbal cues (gestures and face expression) when the interview is film recorded, ensuring that every detail of the conversation is translated into text. This approach preserves the exact way participants express themselves, which can be important for analyzing language use and speech patterns.
- *Intelligent Transcription:* This approach focuses on the core content of the conversation by omitting filler words and redundant elements. It presents the dialogue in a more readable format while retaining the essential meaning, making it easier to interpret and analyze the main points of the discussion.
To assist this process, researchers can leverage dedicated transcription programs such as [Express Scribe](https://www.nch.com.au/scribe/index.html?ns=true&kw=express%20scribe&m=e&d=c&c=692007039289&ag=1367072385&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2ou2BhCCARIsANAwM2GY4db0uKnr067lx7WaZTzm7rSO6fyH3a799j3g5kNeQZkCqj843F0aAoocEALw_wcB){target='_blank'} that allows easy control of playback speed and navigation through audio segments or even use automatic transcription services such as [Otter.ai](https://otter.ai){target='_blank'}. Regardless of the chosen tool, we advise researchers to be cautious about technologies that automatically upload recordings for transcription. These recordings will likely contain sensitive and personal information that could be compromised if not handled properly. Therefore, we suggest you:
- Verify if the transcription company encrypts your data during transmission and at rest. Most services do, but if you find one that doesn’t, it’s wise to consider another provider.
- Prioritize security and privacy when evaluating new technologies. Check the transcription service's privacy policy and terms of use to understand who can access your data, including potential access by employees or third parties.
- Do not let your project data linger online. After you download your transcripts and store them in a secure location, please be sure to delete them from the transcription service's website. This helps protect your information from unauthorized access in case the service experiences a breach.
Transcription represents verbal narratives in written text, which can affect how data are conceptualized. Instead of being viewed as a behind-the-scenes task, this process allows in-depth reflection and honoring the research process and participant’s voice. (Oliver, Serovich & Mason, 2005).
While automated transcription and third-party services can expedite data processing, researchers might prefer to transcribe interviews themselves. Depending on the project's scope, manual transcription can be an effective way to ensure confidentiality and privacy, maintain better control over data quality, and become more familiar with the content. This hands-on approach allows researchers to observe subtleties in language, tone, and expression that may be missed in automated transcriptions, leading to deeper insights into participants' thoughts and feelings.
{width="350"}
We won't have time to cover the transcription process in detail, but here is a good [guide](https://www.msvu.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/GuideTranscribing.pdf){target='_blank'} with things to remember when you are transcribing audio recording.
## What to Do with Recordings After Transcription?
What's the next step once your transcriptions are complete and the data is in text form? Should you keep those audio recordings or dispose of them? While some research teams opt to delete the recordings right away, others suggest keeping them for potential future use or inspectionability.
Audio recordings are considered highly identifiable private information. Accents, speech patterns, and vocal signatures can reveal participants' identities. Therefore, in addition to obtaining formal consent from participants before recording, it's crucial to disclose how the recordings will be handled, who will have access to them, and the procedures for their eventual destruction.
The question of whether to destroy audio or video recordings remains debated. Some advocate for retaining these recordings to ensure that the original data can be reviewed in case of misconduct allegations and for historical value. Still, special consideration must be given to studies involving vulnerable populations, and ethical guidelines should be followed to balance transparency with privacy. Also, considerations should be made about costs and technical requirements for retaining data indefinitely and maintaining its persistence. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to data retention, researchers should consult with local IRB for recommended practices and follow promises made to research participants in agreed protocols and informed consent.
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**Recommended/Cited Sources:**
Bailey, J. (2008). First steps in qualitative data analysis: transcribing, *Family Practice*, Volume 25, Issue 2, April 2008, Pages 127–131, <https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmn003>
Gubrium, J. F., & Holstein, J. A. (Eds.) (2001). *Handbook of interview research*. SAGE Publications, Inc., <https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412973588>
McCrae, N., & Murray, J. (2008). When to delete recorded qualitative research data. *Research Ethics*, *4*(2), 76-77. <https://doi.org/10.1177/17470161080040021>
Oliver, D. G., Serovich, J. M., & Mason, T. L. (2005). Constraints and Opportunities with Interview Transcription: Towards Reflection in Qualitative Research. *Social forces; a scientific medium of social study and interpretation*, *84*(2), 1273–1289. <https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2006.0023>
Resnik, D. B., Antes, A., & Mozersky, J. (2024). Should Researchers Destroy Audio or Video Recordings?. *Ethics & Human Research*, *46*(2), 30-35, [https://doi.org/](https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmn003){.uri}[10.1002/eahr.500205](https://doi.org/10.1002/eahr.500205 "Link to external resource: 10.1002/eahr.500205")