What does “transcription” involve in qualitative research?

Transcription in qualitative research primarily involves converting audio or video recordings into written text. This process is crucial because it allows researchers to have a textual representation of spoken data, which can then be analyzed in depth. Transcribing interviews, focus groups, or any recorded dialogues facilitates a detailed review of participants' responses, nuances in their speech, and the overall context of the conversation. This written format is essential for performing qualitative analysis, as it enables researchers to identify themes, patterns, and insights that may not be as easily discerned from audio or video formats alone.

The other options, while related to qualitative research, do not specifically define transcription. Summarizing findings belongs to the realm of synthesizing existing literature rather than capturing raw data. Conducting interviews in a lab setting refers to the data-gathering stage itself, and analyzing non-verbal cues deals with observational aspects of research, rather than the process of converting spoken words into text. Thus, the act of transcription distinctly emphasizes the transformation of audio or video data into written form, which is foundational for subsequent qualitative analysis.