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The effects of face‐to‐face versus live video‐feed interviewing on children's event reports
Author(s) -
Hamilton Gemma,
Whiting Elizabeth A.,
Brubacher Sonja P.,
Powell Martine B.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
legal and criminological psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 2044-8333
pISSN - 1355-3259
DOI - 10.1111/lcrp.12098
Subject(s) - interview , context (archaeology) , psychology , face to face , event (particle physics) , applied psychology , video recording , service (business) , medical education , multimedia , computer science , medicine , sociology , paleontology , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , anthropology , biology , economy , economics
Purpose Recent advances in technology have raised a potentially promising service to overcome difficulties associated with remote witnesses: live video‐feed interviews. The efficacy of this mode of interviewing, however, lacks empirical evidence, particularly with children in an investigative context. Methods This study explored the effects of live video‐feed compared to face‐to‐face interviewing on the memory reports of 100 children (aged 5–12). Children participated in an innocuous event and were interviewed 1–2 days later by experienced interviewers. Results Analyses indicated that live video‐feed interviewing was just as effective as face‐to‐face interviewing in terms of the accuracy and informativeness of children's accounts. Video‐feed interviews, however, required a higher number of clarification prompts compared to face‐to‐face interviews. These findings were not influenced by children's familiarity with technology. Conclusions An initial test of live video‐feed interviewing indicates it is a safe and effective method for interviewing children about an innocuous event.