Janet Salmons

Any kind of research interviews can be conducted online-- but you have to be able to create a defensible rationale for the choices you make. I hope to help with that process; a big focus in the book is on alignment of theory, epistemology, methodology and method. Alignment is important in any research design but essential for a proposal that includes e-research. Why? Because it will undoubtedly receive more scrutiny. (See the new discussion thread for more about this.)

That said, some types of interviews work best in some types of technologies-- and that will be our focus next week.

Ability to record and save the interview is crucial so that is a decision point when you make your selection. Some options allow you to record, others require use of another tool that records whatever is happening on your desktop. Nellie and (the other) Bronwyn have suggested Audacity and Tipcam. My own feeling is that the fewer different kinds of technology tools, the fewer chances there are for things to go wrong.

In the scope (no pun intended!) of this seminar we will of course not be able to go into every aspect-- such as analysis of visual data-- but I hope it is a start!

Janet

Ahmad,

Welcome. Sounds like an interesting research project. I hope you will find some approaches here that fit your intended study. Also, given the interest and experience of people participating in this seminar, perhaps you could find someone else in a similar situation who would be willing to practice online interviewing with you.

Janet

Welcome Brian!

Interesting comments. At this point many deployed military members keep in touch with families via desktop videocalls. In fact, their use of these tools has pushed the webcam market. So I think in terms of military students, you might find less resistance than you may have thought.

I hope you find some approaches here (and in my book) that will be useful in this important area of inquiry.

Janet