Torsten Pieper is an experienced qualitative researcher with Mayfair Research, Ltd. His company was contracted to conduct a series of twenty employee focus groups in five countries.

Focus-group results will be used to complete a training needs assessment for a large industrial manufacturing firm. The budget submitted in the initial proposal, prepared by a former employee of Mayfair, covered only the cost of collecting the data, not transcribing participant comments, and also did not include preparing a report. When Pieper presented the budget for transcribing the twenty focus-group sessions, the client said it was too much and suggested Pieper transcribe either half the focus-group sessions or only selected portions of all the focus groups. What should he do? How could Pieper develop criteria to select which focus groups to transcribe or which portions?

Should he hire some less expensive individuals to transcribe the responses?