Certainly, talking with and observing respondents first-hand isextremely valuable, but there are situations in which it is just aseffective, or even preferable, to conduct interviews by telephone. Telephone interviews are commonplace for quantitative studies ofconsumers. The phone has also become a routine way of contactingprofessionals and business executives, who are difficult to recruit forin-person interviews at a facility. At the same time, there is anassumption that consumers cannot be interviewed in-depth by phone.
Telephone interviews offer several advantages over in-personinterviews.
And phone interviewssave energy. A typical schedule of individual depth interviews for six toeight hours on end is usually exhausting and even boring for both theinterviewer and the observers, especially when travel is involved. Interviewers feel fresher and more alert working from their home or office,where they can relax between interviews. This, in turn, can improve thequality of the interviews. In some instances,the phone offers the only practical way to conduct qualitative research.