Interviewee Agency in Online Qualitative Research: A Reflection on the Innovative Use of Online Platforms

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 10:50 am
  In Roundtable Session: Spatial Innovations in Grounded Theory, Case Study, and Ethnography (Table 23)

Abstract

In the context of increased global dependence on online communications, we present reflections on a case study on EFL teachers’ experiences with the move to emergency online teaching that employed multiple online platforms/modalities to collect data over an extended period. From a perspective of interviewing as social practice (Talmy, 2010) and aligned with a relational approach to interviewing (Josselson, 2013), we discuss making online discourse continuous, using visuals as interview stimulators, and affording participants personalized flexibility through communication tools, all while co-constructing meaning with interviewees. We argue that the use of multiple online platforms/modalities according to these perspectives can empower interviewee agency and thereby lead participants to better explicate their experiences and interviewers to better contextualize data.

Authors

• Dongni Guo, University at Albany - SUNY

• Roberto Lima de Moraes Ramos, University at Albany - SUNY

• Carla Meskill, University at Albany - SUNY