A Critical Exploration of Face-to Face Interviewing vs. Computer-Mediated Interviewing

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, the internet has dominated the attention of the media, academics and business organisations. It has the potential of being a revolutionary way to collect primary and secondary data, although much more research is needed to learn how to better harness its strengths. This project compares depth interviews collected online with depth interviews conducted face-to-face. Advantages and disadvantages are highlighted, as well as suggested strategies for successfully collecting online data. Major points are illustrated using data from a project in which both data collection techniques are employed. The online interview dataset included some of the strongest and some of the weakest interviews in the investigation. This paper argues that under some conditions online depth interviews can provide a useful complement to the traditional face-to-face interview. Sampling frame problems of non-representativeness, endemic in quantitative online data collection, is not problematic if the researcher is conducting an interpretive investigation. When the researcher's goal is not to quantify or generalise but instead to better understand a particular population, online data collection can complement other datasets, allow data triangulation and strengthen the trustworthiness of the findings.