Online Interviewing in Psychology: Reflections on the Process

Abstract

The Internet is used across a range of disciplines to conduct qualitative research, and qualitative psychologists are increasingly turning to the Internet as a medium for conducting interviews. In this article, we explore the first author's experience of conducting synchronous online interviews using instant messaging or 'chat' software. We highlight the costs and benefits of conducting online interviews and reflect on the development of a rapport with participants within this medium. In particular, we consider how researchers can attempt to make online interviewing less abrupt and more conversational, how researchers can demonstrate 'listening' and how insider/outsider status of the interviewer affects interaction within online interviews.The Internet is increasingly being used within qualitative research across a range of disciplines, and there is a growing literature about 'computer-mediated', 'online' and 'Internet' research methods (see, e.g.

Changing Bodies

“…This synchronous online method of interviewing provided a continuity of discussion not accomplished in alternative text-based interviewing tools, such as open-ended questionnaires, email and discussion boards. We developed the text-IM to encourage an extra level of anonymity between the researcher and the participant that cannot be achieved in face-to-face interviews (for further discussion on this see Pearce, Thøgersen-Ntoumani, & Duda, 2013;Jowett, Peel, & Shaw, 2011).…”

The Use of Online Asynchronous Interviews in the Study of Paraphilias

“…However, synchronous interviews also have a number of disadvantages (Jowett et al, 2011): (i) time zone differences and technical difficulties may interrupt the study or make it difficult to carry out; (ii) interviewees are required to have a certain level of prerequisite knowledge (i.e., may never have used an IM client before); (iii) interviewees can become distracted by other activities on their computer, leading to lengthy interviews (e.g., around three hours); (iv) pauses may be misinterpreted by interviewees as researcher disinterest.…”

“…Synchronous interviews have a number of advantages (Jowett et al, 2011): (i) both parties can engage in real-time conversation, leading to more coherent responses; (ii) there is a quicker response time than in asynchronous interviews; (iii) interviewees are more likely to display speech disfluency (e.g., fillers), which can be useful when employing certain analytic techniques (e.g., conversation analysis); (iv) any ambiguities in the study or questions can be immediately addressed by the researcher.…”

Interviewing When You’re Not Face-To-Face: The Use of Email Interviews in a Phenomenological Study

“…With email interviews, participants must have access to the Internet and be competent in computer use (Egan et al, 2006;Jowett, Peel, & Shaw, 2011).…”