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Author(s) -
Foster Geoff
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8535.1994.tb00094.x
Subject(s) - computer science , interview , task (project management) , software , data science , scope (computer science) , data collection , world wide web , sociology , social science , anthropology , economics , management , programming language
Extended descriptive text documents, such as transcripts of interviews, are a source of data which is gaining in importance as phenomenographic approaches to qualitative research become more widely used as computer software is developed to aid the task of analysis. This article describes a trial of a method of data gathering using electronic mail over international computer networks which might present real advantages over face to face interviews in terms of labour of transcription, since the information arrives already in a form readable by analytical software. Additional advantages are the widening of geographic scope, by the elimination of the need for researchers to travel to meet respondents; and the freedom for‘interviewing’to be done at times convenient to both parties. There are, however, a number of issues arising which need to be taken into account if the technique is to be fully effective.