The Unnecessary Prescription of Transcription: The Promise of Audio-coding in Interview Research

Abstract:Interviewing is a ubiquitous, although time-consuming, method in Outdoor Education research. Typical analysis requires a transcript of the entire recorded interview, on which a researcher creates and attaches codes to substantive sections. Qualitative software technology now allows the researcher to code directly on an audio-file (i.e. audio-coding), thus saving significant time. This article explains the differences between whole-interview transcription and audio-coding, while also comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each. The topic is examined via a detailed analysis of the available audio-coding literature and the author’s own experience with Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) and audio-coding specifically. Although slow in adoption, audio-coding is now a viable and increasingly accepted form of interview analysis within the qualitative research community. Outdoor Education researchers should consider the use of audio-coding as it can significantly speed the efforts of our research while maintaining or exceeding the trustworthiness of our findings. Such increases in efficiency over time could result in more quickly building generalizable claims from increasing numbers of individual cases.