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Transcription Quality as an Aspect of Rigor in Qualitative Research

University of Toronto

The importance of ensuring that interview or focus group transcripts are close to "verbatim" accounts of what transpired is widely acknowledged, but seems more often a tacit assumption than an empirically verified assertion. In fact, there appears to have been rather little discussion in the literature regarding the need to routinely review the quality of transcripts before undertaking the analysis of textual data in qualitative research. Establishing the trustworthiness of the transcripts would appear to be a fundamental component of rigor in qualitative research, although it is rarely mentioned in this context. In this article, several potential sources and types of threats to transcrip tion quality are reviewed. A number of suggestions are made for minimizing (avoiding, detecting, and remedying) these, although it is acknowledged that "error" itselfis socially constructed and open to multiple interpretations. It is suggested that an assessment of the trustworthiness of transcripts be routine practice in qualitative research.

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