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8.9 Electronically mediated interviews and focus groups 217

8.9.1 TELEPHONE
Telephone interviewing seems straightforward enough: simply pick up the phone, call,
and talk. Focus groups require conference call support, but numerous commercial and
freely available services can provide these services easily. However, it would be a mis-
take to assume that the ease of initiating communication means that the rest is smooth
sailing. Before conducting phone interviews, you may want to consider a few concerns
that make these interviews qualitatively different from face-to-face discussion.
Your first practical decision may involve recording. Inexpensive tools for record-
ing telephone calls are readily available, but they should only be used as appropriate.
There may be local or national laws that dictate appropriate behavior for recording
phone calls: for example, you might need to inform participants and get their explicit
consent.
The dynamics of a telephone interview are likely to be somewhat different from
what they would be if you were talking to the same person face-to-face. Phone con-
versations lack the nonverbal cues that inform in-person conversations: you may not
be able to tell if someone is bored, tired, or distracted. In fact, you probably won't
have any information about what the other person is doing: you might be conducting
a phone interview with someone who is cooking dinner, doing dishes, or attending to
other distractions instead of paying attention to what you are saying.
That said, the lack of direct face-to-face contact may, in some situations, prove
advantageous. Particularly if the conversation involves sensitive topics, interviewees
may be willing to make some comments over the phone that they would not make
in person.
Conference calls for focus groups pose different problems. When you have mul-
tiple unfamiliar people on a call, it's hard to keep track of who is speaking. Asking
participants to state their name before each comment may work, but it quickly gets
tedious. As anyone who's participated in a conference call knows, simply getting a
chance to speak can often be a big challenge.

8.9.2 ONLINE

Computer-mediated interviews are generally conducted via email, instant- messaging,
chat, or online conferencing tools. An email interview might involve an extended
exchange of messages, as interviewers send questions and interviewees respond.
Instant-message or online conferencing interviews and focus groups are closer in
spirit to traditional face-to-face interviews, with questions and respondents coming
in near real time.
Recruiting challenges in online interviewing include the usual problems associ-
ated with online research: you may or may not know who you are talking with (see
Chapter 14). Identifying suitable participants for non-face-to-face interviews may
require some extra effort in building relationships with potential interviewees and
externally validating their identities and suitability for your work. However, respon-
dents can also be anonymous, which may be useful if you are discussing illegal or
otherwise undesirable activities.