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Is verbatim transcription of interview data always necessary?

Halcomb EJ, Davidson PM

College of Social and Health Sciences, School of Nursing, Family, and Community Health, University of Western Sydney, Penrith DC, 1797 NSW, Australia. e.halcomb@uws.edu.au

Verbatim transcription of interview data has become a common data management strategy in nursing research and is widely considered to be integral to the analysis and interpretation of verbal data. As the benefits of verbal data are becoming more widely embraced in health care research, interviews are being increasingly used to collect information for a wide range of purposes. In addition to purely qualitative investigations, there has been a significant increase in the conduct of mixed-method inquiries. This article examines the issues surrounding the conduct of interviews in mixed-method research, with particular emphasis on the transcription and data analysis phases of data management. It also debates on the necessity to transcribe all audiorecorded interview data verbatim, particularly in relation to mixed-method investigations. Finally, it provides an alternative method to verbatim transcription of managing audiorecorded interview data.

Published 3 February 2006 in Appl Nurs Res, 19(1): 38-42.
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