Step 1: Focus on the carrier. The key word is that a virus or viral vector physically delivers the DNA into the cell.
Step 2: Name the process. Genetic transfer mediated by a bacteriophage or viral vector is termed transduction, the mechanism by which DNA is shuttled from one bacterium into another inside a viral particle.
Step 3: Separate the rest. Transcription is DNA-to-RNA synthesis. Lysogenic conversion describes new traits a host gains once a prophage is incorporated. Transformation is the direct uptake of free DNA without any vector. Only one involves a virus as the courier.
The viral courier mechanism gives the answer.\[\boxed{\text{Transduction}}\]