Propriety, process and purpose: considerations of the use of the telephone interview method in an educational research study

While the use of the telephone has increased as a means of collecting research data in a range of areas, there are few examples of studies where telephone interviews have been conducted to collect qualitative data. The field of educational research is no exception to this. This paper focuses on a st...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Higher education 2011-07, Vol.62 (1), p.17
Main Authors: Glogowska, Margaret, Young, Pat, Lockyer, Lesley
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:While the use of the telephone has increased as a means of collecting research data in a range of areas, there are few examples of studies where telephone interviews have been conducted to collect qualitative data. The field of educational research is no exception to this. This paper focuses on a study carried out in Higher Education (HE) investigating student withdrawal. It explores the ethics of interviewing by telephone a group of former students; issues that arose in the carrying out of the research, particularly relating to the quality of the data; and the impact of the study's purpose on its conduct. The paper discusses the value of telephone interviewing to collect qualitative data and offers some practical suggestions for future use.
ISSN:0018-1560
DOI:10.1007/sl0734-010-9362-2