Framing the telephone interview as a participant-centred tool for qualitative research: a methodological discussion

Abstract

This paper discusses telephone interviewing as a qualitative research method and defines qualitative telephone interviews as participant-centered. In a research project which consisted of internet based recruitment, emails sent to set up interviews and an analysis of 39 qualitative interviews conducted over telephone, I contend that being interviewed over the phone may result in more honest data as people have become more accustomed to ‘virtual’ communication, serving to benefit to both the participant and researcher. By merging feminist research methodology with traditional forms of semi-structured interviewing, data collected over the phone can be used when dealing with traumatic or sensitive topics and can result in rich data. Thus, this paper contributes to an ever-evolving conversation regarding the utility of telephone interviewing.