He said…she said…

I‘m currently busy transcribing interviews and focus group sessions for my research. All I can say is that it is a painful and tedious job!

In trying to ease the pain, I searched for software that could make it a bit easier. I came across a tool called InqScribe that is really useful. All you need to do is import the audio or video file, hit the play button and you’re away. You can play the audio at a slower rate so that you can type almost at the same speed than the play-back. You can also define shortcut keys, and ’snippets’ which enable you to define trigger keys for each person in a focus group session, for example. Every time a person speaks up, you simply hit the corresponding ’snippet’ key, which then inserts a timestamp and the person’s initials, or name. After this you transcribe what ever the person is saying.

InqScribe has a trial version available, and you can also apply for a 30 day evaluation copy. The biggest bonus is that they offer student and academic discounts!

I recommend this product to everybody struggling with transcriptions.