Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Usingemailforaninterviewisquitecommon.Issueswithonlineinterviewing
vary with disciplines, but in general all attempt to reach a broad group of
participants, expedite and streamline the process of interviewing, save on
costs and possibly expedite time to publication. [e.g. White, 2005,
(http://www.webpronews.com/ebusiness/contentandcopywriting/wpn-6-
20050727EmailInterviews.html).
The following is a case example of an interview for a research study on an
onlinecommunity.Notethewayinwhichtheresearchparticipantrespondsto
theinterviewer'squestions,choosingspecificsectionsoftheinterviewandinte-
gratingthemintotheresponse.Thetexthasbeenalteredfromtheoriginalmail
message.Originallyitwouldhaveaquotelevelforeachiterationofthemessage
passingbackandforth,aswellastheusernameandtimeoftheresponse.These
mark-upscandistractfromthemessagecontentsoforpresentationpurposesit
is better to format it as follows.
SAMPLE EMAIL INTERVIEW
Hello:
I trust you had a good break. You had indicated I should contact you
around the 1st of April. Here I am. Are you ready to get started? I hesi-
tated about starting because I am going away for the weekend. But I fig-
ured I could send along the first questions, and if you happen to get to
them prior to my departure, then we can go a couple rounds before I
leave. If not, you'll probably have a reply for me upon my return.
So here goes. Why don't we begin with you telling me a little about why
youjoinadiscussiongroup?Whatareyourmotivatingfactors?Andhow
do you find online groups? through friends? postings? lists? ...
Whenyouhavejoinedagroup(s),doyouevergetasenseof“belonging?”Do
you ever feel like, “I belong here?” If yes, why? What gives you the feeling?
Does something transpire that leaves you feeling like you “belong?” If not,
whatdoyouthinkismissingthatmightenableyoutofeellikeyou“belong?”
I look forward to your response.
=======================================
I joined two groups back when there were only three nursing discussion
groups.Oneisfornursingresearch-itsfirstnamewas[discussionlist]and
the other is the nursing informatics list. I have stayed with both of those
groups. I honestly do not remember how I heard of [discussion list] - the
informatics group. It was the first group I joined that I stayed on. I was
partofthe[discussionlist]groupbeforeandIamnotastatistician,sodid
(Continued)
Search WWH ::




Custom Search