Fast Insights: Qualitative Analysis of SOUND-BITES

This post shows how to convert SOUND-BITES pilot interviews into auditable themes using secure transcription, TDF-based coding, and cross-segment analyses. Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that automates transcription, supports TDF coding, and produces thematic and cross-segment reports.

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The qualitative analysis will deliver acceptability and feasibility findings and inform program refinement for the SOUND-BITES pilot. The SOUND-BITES pilot (Tang et al., published 14 July 2026) embeds otoscopy and tablet-based hearing screening into Meals on Wheels home visits and pairs audiology students with volunteers to collect optional 1:1 interviews about acceptability and feasibility, the protocol is explicitly mixed-methods with qualitative interviews feeding the primary endpoints and informing program refinement.

• Original protocol: PLOS ONE
• Why it matters: early qualitative signals will determine whether SOUND-BITES scales across 22, 000+ Meals on Wheels clients in NSW
• Evidano context: automate transcription, code with TDF, and produce thematic and cross-segment reports via Evidano

The study trained volunteers and Master of Clinical Audiology students to deliver otoscopy and tablet audiometry and collected optional 1:1 interviews four weeks after the program. SOUND-BITES trains volunteers and Master of Clinical Audiology students to deliver otoscopy (Arclight) and tablet audiometry (Sound Scouts) during home visits, and consenting clients and volunteers may take part in an audio-recorded interview (phone or Zoom) about four weeks post-program.

• Interview timing: ~4 weeks after the hearing check
• Transcription workflow in protocol: intelligent verbatim transcripts in Word, manually checked against audio, returned to participants for corrections, then imported into NVivo
• Coding approach: deductive content analysis mapped to TDF domains
• Saturation benchmark referenced: 9–17 interviews (Hennink & Kaiser, 2022)

This checklist shows how to process a pilot tranche (for example 20 interviews) and produce stakeholder-ready themes in two weeks. Follow these steps to ingest, transcribe, code, analyse and report a pilot tranche rapidly.

• Day 1: Ingest audio files and metadata (site, volunteer, student, date) into Evidano.
• Day 1–2: Run automated transcription with the clinical custom dictionary and apply PII redaction.
• Day 3: Import existing TDF codebook and run AI-assisted coding with batch validation.
• Day 4–6: Run cross-segment frequency and co-occurrence analyses (site, referral status, volunteer vs student).
• Day 7: Curate 20–30 stakeholder-ready quotes linked to themes and participant metadata.
• Day 8–10: Produce visual report (co-occurrence network and hierarchical code tree) and an executive brief.
• Day 11–14: Iterate with one researcher and a Meals on Wheels representative; export final deliverables for funders and the ethics file.

Prioritize an analysis pipeline that pairs reliable transcription, reproducible coding mapped to frameworks such as the TDF, and cross-segment metrics to inform scale decisions for a community hearing pilot like SOUND-BITES. Start with a 2–4 week pilot tranche to stress-test your transcription and coding workflows, use AI tools to reduce turnaround and free your coders for interpretation, and Try Evidano for free to see this pipeline on your data and accelerate time-to-insight for funders and partners.

• Start with a 2–4 week pilot tranche (20–30 interviews) to stress-test transcription plus coding workflows.
• Use AI tools to reduce turnaround and free your coders for interpretation and implementation recommendations.
• Try Evidano for free to operationalize secure transcription, TDF mapping and cross-segment reporting for stakeholder-ready deliverables.