Utilizing asynchronous email interviews for health research: overview of benefits and drawbacks

BMC Research Notes

Dilani Logan¹  Michelle Amri²  Christina Angelakis³ 

[1] American Institutes for Research, 2800 Campus Drive, Suite 200, 94403, San Mateo, CA, USA;Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, M5T 1P8, Toronto, ON, Canada;Takemi Program in International Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, 665 Huntington Avenue, Bldg. 1, Room 1210, 02115-6021, Boston, MA, USA;School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, V8P 5C2, Victoria, BC, Canada;University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St, N6A 3K7, London, Ontario, Canada;

关键词: Asynchronous electronic interviews;    Qualitative method;    Research method;    Global health research;    Health research;    Qualitative research;    Email interviews;    E-interviews;    Asynchronous computer-mediated communication;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-021-05547-2

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveThrough collating observations from various studies and complementing these findings with one author’s study, a detailed overview of the benefits and drawbacks of asynchronous email interviewing is provided. Through this overview, it is evident there is great potential for asynchronous email interviews in the broad field of health, particularly for studies drawing on expertise from participants in academia or professional settings, those across varied geographical settings (i.e. potential for global public health research), and/or in circumstances when face-to-face interactions are not possible (e.g. COVID-19).ResultsBenefits of asynchronous email interviewing and additional considerations for researchers are discussed around: (i) access transcending geographic location and during restricted face-to-face communications; (ii) feasibility and cost; (iii) sampling and inclusion of diverse participants; (iv) facilitating snowball sampling and increased transparency; (v) data collection with working professionals; (vi) anonymity; (vii) verification of participants; (viii) data quality and enhanced data accuracy; and (ix) overcoming language barriers. Similarly, potential drawbacks of asynchronous email interviews are also discussed with suggested remedies, which centre around: (i) time; (ii) participant verification and confidentiality; (iii) technology and sampling concerns; (iv) data quality and availability; and (v) need for enhanced clarity and precision.

【 授权许可】

CC BY