In this article, we report on our qualitative study involving eight individuals hired to transcribe research tapes in university contexts. We consider issues of data analysis and data trustworthiness and the implications for both when transcription is assigned to someone other than the researcher. We explore the challenges transcribers faced completing their work, transcription decisions they made in situ, and the effects of the transcribers' degree of investment in the research on the transcripts produced. We highlight the need for researchers to acknowledge transcription as an important aspect of the research process and take seriously the decision of who transcribes. [published in May 2004]