Qualitative telephone interviews: Strategies for success

The use of the telephone in qualitative interviews is discouraged by traditionalists who view it as an inferior data collection instrument. However these claims have not been supported by empirical evidence and qualitative researchers who have used and compared the telephone to the face-to-face mode of interviewing present a different story. This study attempts to build on the limited existing research comparing the issues involved and the data collected using the telephone and face-to-face interview modes. The study evaluates the criticisms of traditionalists in the light of existing research. The study then presents the observations of the researcher based on a research project that involved 43 telephone, 1 Skype and 6 face-to-face interviews. These observations as well as the limited prior research are used to develop strategies for the effective use telephone interviews in qualitative research. The study concludes that for certain studies the telephone if used with the strategies recommended here provides qualitative researchers with a sound data collection instrument