Theoretical and Practical Reflections on Sharing Transcripts With Participants

The authors explore participants’ experiences of revisiting the interview in written form by reflecting on the interconnections between social research methods and epistemology and the relationship between the transcript and the representation of what participants believe to have occurred within the interview.

Abstract

This article is a critical reflection on the process of creating transcripts and sharing them with interviewees. It relates to two elements of the research process: first, sharing transcripts with research participants and, second, participants' seeing extracts from transcripts in academic writing. The authors explore participants' experiences of revisiting the interview in written form by reflecting on the interconnections between social research methods and epistemology. They also consider the ethical implications of this process. They consider the relationship between the transcript and the representation (re-presentation) of what participants believe to have occurred within the interview. This leads to a discussion of the importance of developing reflexivity with respect to the practice and processes of sharing transcripts.