Transcriptions: First Step to Qualitative Research

Qualitative research, particularly those conducted in the field of primary care, aims to understand the most common of human phenomena, along with their complexity, in the fields of health and illness. Typically, these studies involve data comprising of written texts, including field notes and relevant documents, and audible and visual data, including interview recordings.

How Transcriptions Help

Most scholarly articles and authors describe transcription as a straightforward technical task. A transcriptionist would also take audio and spoken words into words on paper. However, this is not mere note-taking. Transcribing notes also requires interpretation, representation, and reduction (if necessary), not only to get the words down and make them readable, but also meaningful and relevant to the research.

Vital Skills and Characteristics of a Translator

Like most careers, professional translators offering certified translation services have passed through stringent challenges and further honed their skills upon taking a language degree. What sets most of these professional translators apart from other careers, however, is that their motivation behind taking up translating as a career is more personal rather than career-driven.

Common Skillset

Having the knowledge of another language is not enough to become a professional translator. Aside from a personal-oriented goal of translating, professional translators have also honed their oral and written communication skills, which always comes in handy when they interact with other people. They also have mastery of at least one foreign language, and they have also had experience of living abroad for some time, wherein they had to deal with other people coming from various backgrounds, countries and languages.