Transcription Basic Transcription 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of timestamping in a transcript?
- To make the document look more professional
- To allow readers to locate specific audio moments quickly (Correct answer)
- To count the number of words per minute
- To identify the speaker's nationality
Correct answer: To allow readers to locate specific audio moments quickly
Timestamps serve as reference points linking text to corresponding audio positions, making navigation and verification easy.
Question 2: A client requests 'clean verbatim' transcription. Which element should be REMOVED?
- Pauses marked as [pause]
- Filler words like 'um' and 'uh' (Correct answer)
- Proper nouns and names
- Technical jargon
Correct answer: Filler words like 'um' and 'uh'
Clean verbatim removes fillers, false starts, and non-lexical utterances while keeping all meaningful spoken content.
Question 3: Which keyboard shortcut is most commonly used in foot-pedal-based transcription software to rewind a few seconds?
- The left foot pedal pressed once (Correct answer)
- The left foot pedal held down
- The right foot pedal
- The center foot pedal
Correct answer: The left foot pedal pressed once
In standard three-pedal setups, the left pedal rewinds, the center pedal plays/pauses, and the right pedal fast-forwards.
Question 4: What does speaker diarization mean in the context of transcription?
- Correcting a speaker's grammar
- Identifying and labeling who is speaking at each point in the audio (Correct answer)
- Summarizing what each speaker said
- Translating speech into another language
Correct answer: Identifying and labeling who is speaking at each point in the audio
Diarization is the process of partitioning audio by speaker identity, assigning labels like 'Speaker 1' or names to each turn.
Question 5: When transcribing a legal deposition, which style rule is most critical?
- Using informal contractions to match spoken style
- Capturing every word verbatim, including false starts and interjections (Correct answer)
- Summarizing long answers for readability
- Omitting repetitive questions from the attorney
Correct answer: Capturing every word verbatim, including false starts and interjections
Legal transcription requires strict verbatim accuracy because the record may be used as official evidence in court proceedings.
Question 6: A transcriptionist hears a word that sounds like two possible words with very different meanings. What is the correct action?
- Choose the word that appears most often in the recording
- Use context clues from surrounding sentences to determine the correct word (Correct answer)
- Always choose the simpler word
- Mark both options separated by a slash
Correct answer: Use context clues from surrounding sentences to determine the correct word
Context is the most reliable tool for disambiguating homophones or similar-sounding words in transcription.
Question 7: What is the standard way to indicate a non-verbal sound, such as laughter, in a transcript?
- Write 'LOL' in capital letters
- Place the description in square brackets, e.g., [laughter] (Correct answer)
- Use an asterisk before and after the word
- Omit it entirely in all transcript styles
Correct answer: Place the description in square brackets, e.g., [laughter]
Square brackets are the universal convention for annotating non-verbal sounds and contextual notes in transcripts.
Transcription Basic Transcription 3
What is the primary purpose of timestamping in a transcript?