Reflections on the interview process

Throughout the interviews I took parallel notes, recording my own experience, practice and reflection on the process. These notes provided context, clarification and possible codings and themes emerging from the interviews to inform the analysis.

The impact of selecting Skype Chat as an interview environment

Early in the interview process it became clear that some participants were not familiar with “Skype Chat” with several interviews beginning with unplanned video calls to establish a connection with interviewees and explain the format.

Interviewees exhibited varying comfort with real time textual conversation. Familiarity with the format did impact on interview quality: participants comfortable with the format were able to quickly develop meaningful comments and reflections and share these more rapidly than other interviewees.

When participants fell “silent” for long periods of time it was difficult – and disconcerting – not knowing if this was a pause for considering or reflecting upon the question, if the interviewee was confused, uncomfortable or unwilling to answer, or was simply managing an interruption. In such text environments both interviewer and interviewee must choose to consciously type in nods, “ums”, confusion, amusement, if they wish to share these punctuating gestures. Thus participants who chose to explain long pauses by typing indicative comments such as “[thinking :) ]” also proved easier to engage with.

(a) (b)

Figure 3: Icons used in Skype Chat to indicate (a) that another person is typing and (b) that another person is erasing text. These are shown at full size and are the only indications of activity during “silences”.

The Increased Intimacy of the Online Interview

The concentration and honesty necessitated by a two-hour interview is intense and Skype Chat seemed to amplify this sense of intimacy. In a face-to-face setting the interviewee may be more aware of being studied, being seen. The interviewer may be observed for responses, approval around particular answers or topics. The text-only nature of Skype Chat reduced the possibility of scrutinising appearance, body language, or sources of potential bias such as race or class. However the text-only format also made it harder to detect tone of voice and sentence meaning. Overall this interview format afforded a directness, a sense of privacy and security which meant, at times, that interviews felt like an opportunity to listen in on participant’s developing thoughts.

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