Product FAQs

Babbletype transcript products

• How do you calculate your time comparisons?
  Most people can read casually at about 250 words per minute. But when studying or doing serious analysis that rate drops to about the same pace as people speak at — about 125 words per minute. We use that rate to calculate approximately how long it will take to do analysis on a given transcript format.

• Why are your shorter products more expensive?
  Our summarized products take more time and skill to produce, and in some cases require multiple editorial passes to create. PureAnswer is created from an original PureResponse transcript in a separate step, and PureResult is created from a PureAnswer transcript in yet another step. But the additional cost is much less than the value of the time you save.

Babbletype translation products

• Do you also offer text-to-text translation?
  No. We specialize in audio-to-text translation services for market research, and are not a full-service translation firm. Contact us and we’ll be happy to refer you to translation specialists who can do this work for you.

• Do you only translate from foreign language to English?
  We offer translation from foreign languages to English or direct foreign language transcription (for example, Spanish to Spanish transcription) only. Contact us and we’ll be happy to refer you to translation specialists who can do other types work for you.

• How accurate are your translations?
  Babbletype translations are interpreted translations intended for use in market research applications. They contain all relevant content from the recording, but are not a direct translation of every word spoken.

• Can Babbletype translations be used for video time-code matching?
  No.

PureSpeech transcripts

• Who should order PureSpeech?
  PureSpeech is a specialized format, full of breaks, repetitions and interruptions in the way people really talk. It’s challenging and time-consuming to read. If you don’t already know you need a full verbatim transcript with all the um’s, ah’s, etc., left in, we recommend you not order it.

• What’s left out of PureSpeech?
  The only things left out are background sounds, media, speech, etc., obviously not part of the actual event being recorded.

• Why does PureSpeech cost more than PureText?
  PureSpeech is longer and takes much more time to transcribe than PureText.

PureText transcripts

• Who should order PureText?
  If you want a “clean” verbatim transcript that contains everything that was said in a recording but which is still readable, order PureText. If the recording you need transcribed is not a market research event like an interview or a focus group, order PureText.

• What is not included in PureText?
  PureText captures everything that the speakers in an event actually ended up communicating, but excludes speech-related artifacts that really don’t contain any meaning. Stutters, mis-started sentences, meaningless repetitions, word crutches and active listening are not captured.

• What’s a word crutch?
  Words like, um, uh, so, well, you know, like, etc., are word crutches when they are used as pauses when someone is thinking.

• What‘s active listening?
  Often when a person is speaking, the listener will say basically meaningless things like, “I see”, “Right”, “Got it”, “Uh huh”, etc., simply to acknowledge the speaker, communicate that they heard what the person said, and to tell them it’s okay to keep talking. These minor statements made by the listening during another person’s speech are called active listening.

PureResponse transcripts

• Who should order PureResponse?
  PureResponse is a specialized format for market research applications only. It should only be ordered for formal interviews and focus groups containing clearly defined interviewers and respondents. Since PureResponse summarizes the interviewer’s speech, it should only be ordered when the interviewer is following a discussion guide and what they are asking is already well known.

• Are there times when an interviewer should not order PureResponse?
  PureResponse is best used when a guide is being followed, and the interviewer’s exact wording in an interview is not material. If you are conducting a very free-form, back-and-forth conversation rather than an interview, don’t order PureResponse. If you want to hear the full dialogue, including introductory and after-end-of-interview content, don’t order PureResponse.

• How are probes treated?
  Probes are additional questions an interviewer asks to have a respondent flesh out their answer more fully. For minor probes asking for additional information, the probe is edited out and the respondent’s answer is captured as if the respondent had answered the question completely without the need for a probe. The respondent’s speech may be edited slightly to ensure that the answer’s context is clear. Additional questions asked by the interviewer which are too long to be simple probes are captured in the text, and the respondent’s answer is treated as a separate answer.

PureAnswer transcripts

• Who should order PureAnswer?
  PureAnswer is a specialized format for market research applications only. It should only be ordered for formal interviews and focus groups containing clearly defined interviewers and respondents. Order PureAnswer when you want to see a summary of the interviewer’s questions and the respondents’ answers in the shortest possible form, along with relevant quotes only. Since PureAnswer includes a full PureResponse transcript as well, there is no risk of respondent data loss, since you can always refer to the longer transcript.

• How much faster is PureText to read?
  An hour-long PureResponse transcript takes about 45 minutes to read, since the answers and relevant quotes are intermixed. PureAnswer is about 1/3 as long. You can read the full question and answer content of a PureAnswer transcript in about five minutes. Reading the quotes will take another 10 minutes.

• Why do I also get a PureResponse transcript when I order PureAnswer?
  PureAnswer transcripts are produced in a separate production step, starting from a PureResponse transcript.

PureResult transcripts

• Who should order PureResult?
  PureResult is a specialized format for market research applications only. It should only be ordered for formal interviews and focus groups containing clearly defined interviewers and respondents. Order PureResult when you want to be able to jump directly to the results of the interview and the most relevant quotes immediately, without any need for data mining or preparation. Since PureResult includes both PureResponse and PureAnswer transcripts, you can drill down to any level of detail later if the need arises.

• What’s the difference between PureAnswer and PureResult?
  PureAnswer boils the content of a transcript down to tightly summarized questions and answers, but the question-and-answer structure is still retained. PureResult summarizes each question-and-answer set into an actual written statement of outcome, so that the actual results are immediately accessible. Quotes are also more tightly edited for relevance.

• Why do I also get two other transcripts when I order PureResult?
  PureResult transcripts are produced through a two-step editorial process. Starting from a PureResponse transcript, the editor starts by editing it down to a PureAnswer transcript, then the editor uses the PureAnswer summaries to write the PureResult summaries.

Combined Text transcripts

• Who should order combined transcripts?
  Combined transcripts should only be ordered for formal interviews containing clearly defined interviewers and respondents. They are only suitable for sets of interviews which all use exactly the same discussion guide. Guide compliance during the actual recorded interviews is key, since the guide content is used to frame the questions and answers to be captured. Don’t order combined transcripts if you prefer free-form interviews that do not closely follow the guide.

• What Babbletype formats can be combined?
  PureResponse, PureAnswer and PureResult transcripts can be combined.

• Can I order combined transcripts for transcripts that have already been produced?
  No. We use a different process for transcripts to be combined, so combined transcripts can only be ordered at the beginning of your project.

• How much do combined transcripts cost?
  There is no additional charge for combining transcripts.

• What kind of interviews work best for combined transcripts?
  Combined transcripts are ideal for one-on-one transcripts.

• How are respondents identified in combined transcripts?
  Each combined transcript contains a table of respondent IDs, segments, segment codes, and the date, time and location of the interview they belong to. All respondent answers are coded with the respondent ID and segment code. For example, if the respondent is a neurologist and their interview was number 19 in a series, they might be coded “N19”.

• Can I use combined transcripts for multiple-respondent recordings like dyads or focus groups?
  Multi-respondent recordings tend to vary much more widely from the guide than one-on-one interviews, so in most cases it’s not possible. If you are extremely disciplined in ensuring the guide is followed, you can use combined transcripts. In respondent tagging, we will identify which recording a speaker came from, but not identify respondents individually. As a result, you may see the same respondent tag for multiple answers.

• What happens if the content varies from the guide?
  Minor variations, such as occasional additional questions, are handled by adding the question to the combined transcript. Skipped questions are marked as skipped. If the content varies significantly from the guide, it will be captured in separate PureResponse transcripts and not integrated.

• Can I make changes to my guide in process?
  Minor changes, such as adding or a deleting a few questions, can be handled while still retaining all transcripts in one combined document. Major changes will result in a new combined transcript for interviews using the new guide.

• Can I use concepts in combined transcripts?
  Yes, as long as they are uniquely identified verbally in the recording.

• Can I change the order that I ask questions?
  Within limits. We need to be able to follow exactly where you are in your guide. You should not randomly jump around in your guide, but it is possible to change the order of the sections you are discussing (or the concepts you are presenting), as long as, in the course of the interview you clearly state what section or the concept you are now discussing.

• How many transcripts can I include in one combined transcript?
  There is no limit. We have seen as many as 40 transcripts included in one combined transcript. The deciding factor is that those transcripts must all use exactly the same discussion guide. The usual practice is to include all transcripts from one market segment in a single combined transcript.

• Can I see partial results before all of my interviews are completed?
  Yes. For longer projects, you can request occasional draw-downs of results to date. We limit draw-downs to sets of at least five recordings.

Combined Tabular transcripts

• Who should order combined tabular transcripts?
  Order this format if you have a strong preference for Excel-based analysis and your workflow requires it.

• What’s the difference between combined text transcripts and combined tabular transcripts?
  Combined text transcripts are traditional written documents delivered in Microsoft Word. Combined tabular transcripts explode all responses into separate fields in an Excel spreadsheet. For PureResponse, the content is roughly the same. For PureAnswer, answers are summarized but not grouped, and quotes are included in field comments rather than in footnotes. For PureResult, the answers given are presented in majority to minority order, with percentages of respondents for each answer. The primary benefit of combined tabular transcripts is that you can sort and organize responses much more easily.

• Can I print by combined tabular transcripts?
  Not easily. Combined tabular transcripts can be very large and are not designed to be printable.

Product options

• Why do I need to pay more for near-publication-ready transcripts?
  Our objective is to provide our clients with commercially useful, 99% accurate transcripts at the lowest possible cost. Each level of additional editorial polishing requires additional steps and costs which most clients neither need nor want to pay for.

• Why is there a fee for cassette and WebEx conversion?
  Both of these formats require very time-consuming, minute-for-minute conversion.

• How does your expedite service work?
  Babbletype operates in daily cycles (from 4:30PM Eastern Time each day). Expedited orders placed anytime before 4:30PM will be delivered by 4:30PM the following day. Expediting is only available for English language audio, and is supported in limited quantities for good quality audio only.