Evaluation of an electronic interview with multimedia stimulus materials for gaining in-depth responses from professionals

Abstract

In a study of quality mathematics teaching, an electronic interview with multimedia stimulus resources was used with relevant professionals to obtain in-depth data relating to their own beliefs, and their reflective observations and evaluations of mathematics teaching practice. The electronic format enabled presentation of the same questions and multimedia stimulus material to every interviewee. Provision of a personal copy of the interview material, including all the stimulus resources, to the interviewees provided for a richer interview than would have been possible with a face-to-face interview in the more limited timeframe that would have been imposed. The opportunity for interviewees to reflect on questions and edit responses resulted in high quality data and interviewees found the electronic interview convenient and satisfying. Further advantages of the electronic format were the savings in organisation, travel and transcription. We believe that electronic interviews offer great potential to other researchers.