09/02/2012
The Industry Production Standard (IPS) guildelines state that a single-voice interview can be transcribed by a "model operator" at a 4:1 ratio. In other words, people talk about four times as fast as one can type! Time variances do occur for several reasons, including all of the conditions below:
*How clearly people speak (dialect, incomplete sentences or thoughts)
*Number of speakers on tape
*Number of "talkovers/crosstalk" (more than one person talking at the same time)
*Background noises (recorded in restaurant, car, airplane, etc.)
*Volume (not enough usually)
*Background noises due to recording problems or battery in recorder going "dead"
*Proximity of speaker to recording device - often results in inaudible areas
(All of the above require "backing up" the tape to relisten)
