Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research

Authors

  • Raymond Opdenakker Eindhoven University of Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-7.4.175

Keywords:

interviews, computer mediated communication (CMC), face-to-face interview, e-mail interview, MSN messenger interview, telephone interview

Abstract

Face-to-face interviews have long been the dominant interview technique in the field of qualitative research. In the last two decades, telephone interviewing became more and more common. Due to the explosive growth of new communication forms, such as computer mediated communication (for example e-mail and chat boxes), other interview techniques can be introduced and used within the field of qualitative research. For a study in the domain of virtual teams, I used various communication possibilities to interview informants as well as face-to-face interviews. In this article a comparison will be made concerning the advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face, telephone, e-mail and MSN messenger interviews. By including telephone and MSN messenger interviews in the comparison, the scope of this article is broader than the article of BAMPTON and COWTON (2002). URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0604118

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Author Biography

Raymond Opdenakker, Eindhoven University of Technology

Raymond OPDENAKKER studied labour- and organisation psychology. He is an external PhD candidate at the Eindhoven University of Technology. The title of his PhD research is "The strategic momentum in virtual teams".

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Published

2006-09-30

How to Cite

Opdenakker, R. (2006). Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-7.4.175