“The interviews were transcribed”, but how? Reflections on management research

Abstract

Purpose In qualitative research, it is recurrent to conduct data collection through interviews, which must be first transcribed for the data to be analyzed. Although there is a relationship between the stages of the interview and the data analysis, the link between them (i.e. the transcription) seems to be a neglected methodological procedure. This occurs because, in papers, it is generally reported that “the interviews were transcribed”, without any details about the transcriptions conduction. From this methodological gap, this paper aims to discuss the relevance of detailing the methodological procedures adopted in the transcription in research reports in the management field. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes the form of a methodological essay. Findings The discussion focuses on the concepts of naturalized and denaturalized transcription, the relevance of adopting transcription norms and the need for reflexivity in conducting transcriptions – elements that must be explained in research reports to improve the methodological quality. Practical implications This paper explores methodological details that management students and researchers can adopt when performing transcriptions. Consequently, journal editors and reviewers will have more subsidies on the methodological quality employed in researches, which contributes to a better evaluation process. Originality/value This study demonstrates the relevance of a neglected methodological technique – transcription, which needs to be detailed in research reports, to contribute to the increase of methodological accuracy and to provide essential information to readers, allowing them to evaluate the rigor of the research. Thus, it is proposed that transcription should be considered a quality criterion in qualitative research.

Nurse Managers’ perceptions of mentoring in the multigenerational workplace: a qualitative descriptive study

“…The interviews were transcribed verbatim, the written text read and reread to illuminate language and cultural nuances. 44 The data were entered into the NVivo 11 tool to support systematic text-based data organisation, management and analysis. 45 A methodical process of categorising the data was used to identify the categories and themes from the transcribed interviews.…”

Capacidades coletivas em inovações sociais à luz do Ciclo 5C: Uma análise da Rede Paraibana de Bancos Comunitários

“…Finally, the data were processed by the ATLAS.ti software and analyzed using thematic content analysis, in which categories were chosen for this analysis (Bardin, 2011). Thus, the transcripts of the interviews were made in a denaturalized way since it sought to understand the content of the communications and possible inherent deductions, to the detriment of communication details of the subjects' speeches (Nascimento & Steinbruch, 2019).…”

Social incubation: Strategic benefits for social enterprise

“…We recorded and transcribed the interviews. Based on the researchers' reflexivity, we adopted a more denaturalized transcription technique, as it is better suited to the thematic content analysis technique adopted herein (Nascimento & Steinbruch, 2019). Identify which strategic benefits the social incubation process offers for social enterprise.…”

“…Specifically, triangulations of researchers, evidence sources, and data collection techniques ensure research validity and reliability (Bruning, Godri & Takahashi, 2018). Besides, we adopted the treatment of transcription as a quality criterion for qualitative research (Nascimento & Steinbruch, 2019).…”