Abstract
Internet based methods of communication are becoming increasingly important and influencing researchers’ options. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technologies (such as Skype and FaceTime) provide us with the ability to interview research participants using voice and video across the internet via a synchronous (real-time) connection. This paper highlights the advantages of using Skype to conduct qualitative interviews and weighs these advantages against any limitations and issues that using this tool may raise. This paper argues that Skype opens up new possibilities by allowing us to contact participants worldwide in a time efficient and financially affordable manner, thus increasing the variety of our samples. At the same time, the use of Skype affects the areas of rapport, non-verbal cues and ethics by creating limitations but also new opportunities. The observations in this paper stem from two different researches, carried out by the authors, on dance (as a form of trans/cultural heritage) and wayfinding (the experience of getting from A to B in various settings). These studies lent themselves to using Skype for qualitative interviews, because of the need to reach an international, varied and purposeful sample. The researchers’ experiences, combined with feedback from participants in Skype interviews, are used in this paper. The conclusion is that, although VoIP mediated interviews cannot completely replace face to face interaction, they work well as a viable alternative or complimentary data collection tool for qualitative researchers. This paper argues that VoIP based interviews offer new opportunities for researchers and should be embraced with confidence.
Highlights
The Office of National Statistics (2015: 1) in the UK found that ‘In 2015, over three quarters of adults in Great Britain used the internet every day, or almost every day’
Skype and other VoIP video methods, we argue, offer a viable option as a research method, for those who feel that offline face-to-face interviews do not suit their specific interview style
We would not argue that interviews via VoIP technologies such as Skype should completely replace in-person interviews
Summary
The Office of National Statistics (2015: 1) in the UK found that ‘In 2015, over three quarters of adults in Great Britain used the internet every day, or almost every day’. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) mediated technologies, in spite of their growing importance in everyday life, have had very limited coverage so far in terms of academic research, with very few articles covering qualitative interviews using video and audio VoIP tools as their main topic (Cater 2011; Deakin & Wakefield 2013; Hanna 2012; Janghorban et al 2014; Seitz 2015; Sullivan 2012). 1. Literature on VoIP as a qualitative research data collection technique is often grouped together with other methods, such as email and online messenger services, services which use the internet as their medium. It is worth noting that the points we raise in this article are of a conceptual nature, focusing on developing justifications for the use of VoIP interviewing solutions in qualitative research (in our case Skype) For reasons of both space and focus, we do not undertake to discuss technical issues in this paper. We conclude by highlighting the opportunities that VoIP tools open for research, in spite of any inherent limitations they may have over conventional approaches
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