Editor’s note: Laurie A. Sossa is president of MRT Services Inc., a Loganville, Ga., transcription firm.

Much time and consideration goes into selecting a focus group facility, one that will provide top-notch recruiting and state-of-the-art features. It shouldn’t stop there though. Care must also be taken if your goal is to obtain high-quality transcripts.

First, choose a transcription company that offers options in price, content and turnaround time. For example, do you really need a full verbatim transcript? Verbatim transcription includes a full record of everything said by the moderator and the respondents. Much of what the moderator says is contained in the moderator guide and it is often not necessary to include their words in all of the transcripts for each market. 

In addition, a verbatim transcript contains all of the repeated words - whether in the form of stuttering, speech crutches such as um and uh, filler phrases such as “you know” and “so” - that were spoken, thus it obviously takes longer to produce and costs more.

A transcript that edits the moderator’s comments, filters out unnecessary words as noted above and leaves intact verbatim respondent comments can result in a smooth, focused and easy-to-read document that is less expensive to produce.

There are, of course, projects that may require a full verbatim transcription, such as for legal reasons. But if you really don’t need it, don’t end up paying for it. Consider trying a lightly-edited transcript, which won’t take as long to transcribe, costs less, has fewer inaudibles and is basically a neatened-up focus group record.

A high-quality recording is also key, as it can make your transcription more affordable by requiring less time for the transcriptionist to complete.

There are a number of factors that can lead to a poor-quality recording, one that requires a transcriptionist to insert the notation (inaudib...