Transcription according to Dresing and Pehl

From years of experience with many thousands of transcripts, we have developed our own simple and extended transcription rules from abtipper on a scientific basis. These are a very good reflection of the various requirements of simple or extended transcriptions.

Sometimes, however, it is important that certain other standardized guidelines are adhered to. These include, for example, the Dresing & Pehl transcription rules. We are of course also happy to create transcripts according to these rules:

We offer you a transcription according to the simple rules of Dresing & Pehl for a fixed price of 1.60 Euro / audio minute plus VAT (=1.90 Euro incl. VAT) - including proofreading.

We offer you a transcription according to the extended rules of Dresing & Pehl for a fixed price of 2.40 Euro / audio minute plus VAT (=2.86 Euro incl. VAT) - including proofreading.

When ordering, please indicate in the field for special requests that you would like a transcription according to Dresing & Pehl’s simple or extended rules.

Evaluation of Dresing and Pehl's transcription rules

The Dresing & Pehl transcription rules have a similar history to the abtipper rules: they were developed by the provider of the f4 and f5 transcription programs on the basis of years of experience and customer feedback.

Advantages of the Dresing & Pehl transcription rules:

  • High practical relevance for a wide range of applications
  • Pragmatic approach without unnecessary and complicated rules for rare special cases
  • Short set of rules that does not require a long familiarization peri

Disadvantages of Dresing & Pehl’s transcription rules:

  • Some rules are too complex and not always necessary for a simple transcription system (e.g. marking of accented passages)
  • Only a few specifications for coding (e.g. no formatting specifications at all)

Conclusion: Good suitability for scientific use.

Comparison of the transcription rules of Dresing and Pehl with those of abtipper

The most relevant similarities and differences between our transcription rules and those of Dresing & Pehl are presented below.

In the first table, the differences between the simple rules of Dresing & Pehl and the rules of scientific transcription of abtipper are discussed.

The second table presents the differences between the extended rules of Dresing & Pehl and the extended rules of abtipper.

The third table shows the differences in coding and formatting.

(Note: The information on Dresing & Pehl’s transcription rules refers to their „Praxisbuch Interview, Transkription & Analyse“ in the 3rd edition from September 2013).

Simple transcription - Transcription rules

Simple rules from Dresing & Pehl compared with the

Scientific rules from abtipper.de

Literal transcription, i.e. not phonetic or summarizing. Dialects are translated into High German as accurately as possible. If no clear translation is possible, the dialect is retained, e.g: „I’m going to the Oktoberfest this year.“

Word slurs are not transcribed, but rather approximated to written German. For example, „hamma“ becomes „haben wir“. The sentence form is retained, even if it contains syntactic errors, for example: „bin ich nach Kaufhaus gegangen“.

Word and sentence breaks as well as stuttering are smoothed out or omitted, word doublings are only recorded if they are used as a stylistic device for emphasis: „This is very, very important to me.“. However, „complete“ half sentences that are only missing the completion are recorded and marked with the termination mark /.

Punctuation is smoothed for the sake of readability, i.e. a period rather than a comma is used when the voice is briefly lowered or the emphasis is ambiguous. Units of meaning should be retained.

Pauses are marked by three ellipses in brackets (…).

Signals of comprehension from the person not speaking, such as „mmh, aha, yes, exactly, um“ etc. are not transcribed. Exception: An answer consists only of „mhm“ without any further elaboration. This is recorded as „mhm (affirmative)“ or „mhm (negative)“, depending on the interpretation.

Words or utterances that are particularly emphasized are indicated by CAPITALIZATION.

Each speaker’s contribution has its own paragraphs. There is a free, empty line between the speakers. Short interjections are also transcribed in a separate paragraph.

Timestamps are only included as standard in the extended transcription. This is also included in the required minimum scope for simple transcription. As an option for +0.20 €/audio minute net (= 0.24 € incl. VAT), this is also possible at all points.

Emotional, non-verbal expressions of the interviewee and the interviewer that support or clarify the statement (such as laughing or sighing) are noted in brackets when used.

Unintelligible words are marked with (unv.). Longer incomprehensible passages should be marked with the cause (unv., cell phone noise) or (unv., microphone noise). If you suspect a wording but are not sure, the word or part of the sentence is put in brackets with a question mark (Koryphäe?). In general, all incomprehensible passages are marked with a time marker if no time marker is set within one minute.

The interviewer is identified by an „I:“, the interviewee by a „B:“. If there are several interviewees, the abbreviation „B“ is assigned a corresponding identification number or a name (e.g. „B1“, „Peter:“).

The transcript is saved as a Richt Text Format (.rtf file). The file is named according to the audio file name (without ending wav, mp3).

We offer you a transcription according to the simple rules of Dresing & Pehl for a fixed price of 1.40 Euro / audio minute plus VAT (=1.67 Euro incl. VAT) - including proofreading.

We offer you a transcription according to the scientific rules of abtipper for a fixed price of 1.40 Euro / audio minute plus VAT (=1.67 Euro incl. VAT) - including proofreading.

When ordering, please indicate in the field for special requests that you would like a transcription according to Dresing & Pehl’s simple or extended rules.

Advanced transcription - Transcription rules

The following table compares the transcription according to the extended rules of Dresing & Pehl with the transcription according to the extended rules of abtipper. In both cases, these rules apply in addition to the simple rules described above:

Word and sentence breaks are marked with /: „Ich habe mir Sor/Gedanken gemacht“. Word doublings are always noted.

Pauses are marked by ellipsis in brackets depending on their length. Here (.) stands for approximately one second, (..) for approximately two seconds, (…) for approximately three seconds and (number) for more than three seconds.

Comprehension signals and filler sounds of the interviewer („mhm, yes, aha, ahm“ etc.) are transcribed. All statements made by the interviewee are transcribed. This also means filler sounds such as „mhm“ and „ähm“.

Speaker overlaps are marked with //. A // follows the beginning of the interjection. The text that is spoken at the same time is then within this // and the other person’s interjection is in a separate line and is also marked with //.

Dialects are written as they are spoken.

We offer you a transcription according to the extended rules of Dresing & Pehl for a fixed price of 2.20 Euro / audio minute plus VAT (=2.62 Euro incl. VAT) - including proofreading.

We offer you a transcription according to the extended rules of abtipper for a fixed price of 2.20 Euro / audio minute plus VAT (=2.62 Euro incl. VAT) - including proofreading.

When ordering, please indicate in the field for special requests that you would like a transcription according to Dresing & Pehl’s simple or extended rules.

Finally, the following table shows the differences in coding and formatting between the two methods. These are the same for all transcription rules.

Coding and formatting according to Dresing & Pehl compared to

Coding and formatting according to abtipper.de

Characters and abbreviations are written out in full, for example percent, meter and so on.

Word shortenings such as „runtergehen“ instead of „heruntergehen“ or „mal“ instead of „einmal“ are written exactly as they are spoken.

English terms are treated according to German spelling rules in upper and lower case.

Second person pronouns of address (du and ihr) are written in lower case, polite pronouns of address (Sie and Ihnen) are written in upper case.

Numbers are shown as follows:
1) Numbers zero to twelve in continuous text with names, larger numbers in digits.
2) Other numbers with short names are also written out, especially round numbers: twenty, one hundred, three thousand
3) Decimal numbers and mathematical equations should always be written in numerals. So: „4+5=9“ and „3,6“.
4) If the numbers are only approximate, write the number name, if they are exact, write the number form. So: „The fifty million euros in state aid“.
5) Where there are fixed conventions in favor of one spelling, follow them. House numbers, page numbers, telephone numbers, account numbers, dates or similar are never written out in full.

1) Identical
2) All numbers from twelve are shown as a digit.
3) Identical
4) No differentiation, rule 1 applies in all cases.
5) Identical

Further questions and answers

✅ What is Dresing and Pehl?

Dresing and Pehl are transcription rulesguidelines for the structured transcription of audio and video files. These rules specify the procedure, structure and format of the transcription. There are simple and extended transcription rules from Dresing & Pehl. On request, professional transcription services such as abtipper.de can carry out the transcription according to these Dresing and Pehl rules.

✅ What are Dresing and Pehl’s simple transcription rules?

With Dresing & Pehl’s simple transcription rules, as with all simple transcription systems, the focus is on transcribing the content-relevant aspects. Non-verbal signals that are not relevant to the content, e.g. stuttering, are omitted in this type of transcription. With Dresing and Pehl’s simple transcription rules, a time marker is placed after each speaker change. This is not the case with other transcription systems only optional.

✅ What are Dresing and Pehl’s extended transcription rules?

Dresing and Pehl’s extended transcription rules are mainly used in linguistic research. In these rules, everything is noted, including short pauses, all stuttering, ehms and hms. A time stamp is also inserted after each change of speaker.

abtipper.de is the market leader for the transcription of audio & video files. Our advantages: