Richness,rapport,and rigor in digital interviews: Rethinking methodological presence through the “pocket-size ethnographer” positionality

Abstract

As our social world is increasingly digitized, what do sociologists gain by rethinking the privileged status of in-person interviews? This paper challenges the presumption that synchronous, Zoom-mediated interviews are second-best substitutes for in-person interview methods. Drawing on data from three qualitative studies (N = 285), we explore how digital interviews and focus groups can foster rapport, generate rich data, and meet qualitative standards of rigor. Using Social Presence Theory, we develop the metaphor of the “pocket-size ethnographer,” a smaller-than-life, two-dimensional research presence that affords unique opportunities for deep listening, reduces power asymmetries, and democratizes conversations. We argue that the diminished “realness” that researchers take on in Zoom-mediated interviews can paradoxically enhance interpretive richness, and we call for a shift from deficit-centered framings of video-mediated interviews to a quality-centric approach that foregrounds methodological flexibility, rigor, and innovation.