Online interviewing with interpreters in humanitarian contexts

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Recognising that one way to address the logistical and safety considerations of research conducted in humanitarian emergencies is to use internet communication technologies to facilitate interviews online, this article explores some practical and methodological considerations inherent to qualitative online interviewing. Method: Reflections from a case study of a multi-site research project conducted in post-conflict countries are presented.  Synchronous online cross-language qualitative interviews were conducted in one country.  Although only a small proportion of interviews were conducted online (six out of 35), it remains important to critically consider the impact upon data produced in this way. Results: A range of practical and methodological considerations are discussed, illustrated with examples.  Results suggest that whilst online interviewing has methodological and ethical potential and versatility, there are inherent practical challenges in settings with poor internet and electricity infrastructure.  Notable methodological limitations include barriers to building rapport due to partial visual and non-visual cues, and difficulties interpreting pauses or silences. Conclusions: Drawing upon experiences in this case study, strategies for managing the practical and methodological limitations of online interviewing are suggested, alongside recommendations for supporting future research practice.  These are intended to act as a springboard for further reflection, and operate alongside other conceptual frameworks for online interviewing.

KEYWORDS:

• Qualitative interviews
• online interviews
• Internet communication
• research methods
• cross-cultural
• humanitarian emergencies
• post-conflict
• research ethics

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the interpreter involved in conducting the online interviews. We would also like to thank the research participants engaged in this study for providing feedback about their experiences of online interviewing that provide the foundations for this article. Finally, thanks go to the in-country organization hosting the researcher who provided technical support for conducting online interviews in a challenging context.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In all interview extracts, R = researcher, P = participant and I = interpreter. When participants are speaking in their native language, this is indicated by a time stamp (e.g., #3.12–3.46#). This was felt to be in line with the studies phenomenological epistemology, ensuring the native spoken word was not written out of transcripts and emphasizing the three-way construction of data involving translation by an interpreter.

2. For a full methodological discussion of the role and impact of the interpreter in interviews conducted in this study, please see Chiumento et al. (2017).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [ES/J500094/1].

Notes on contributors

Anna Chiumento

Anna Chiumento Having recently completed her PhD at the University of Liverpool, Anna Chiumento has an interdisciplinary background with a specialist interest in applying empirical ethical approaches to unpack the practice of research ethics in global mental health. She is also involved in community-based research into mental health interventions in low-resource global settings, including humanitarian settings; and capacity-building efforts that aim to enhance the implementation research skills of researchers and practitioners from low- and middle-income countries.

Atif Rahman Atif Raman is a professor and chair of child psychiatry at the University of Liverpool. As a child and adolescent clinical academic he works to develop and test community-based complex interventions, with a specialist interest in addressing the mental health needs of women and children in developing countries, including humanitarian settings.

Laura Machin Laura Machin is a senior lecturer with research interests in the social and ethical aspects of medicine, adopting an interdisciplinary and applied approach. She has a long-standing interests in reproductive medicine, research ethics, including interviewing on sensitive subjects, and healthcare decision-making by practitioners and patients.

Lucy Frith Lucy Frith is reader in bioethics and social science at the University of Liverpool. Her research sits at the interface of bioethics, medical sociology and health services research and focuses on improving health-care decision-making and policy, with a particular interest in the intersection between ethics and social science and empirical bioethics methodologies. She has published widely on a range of issues in bioethics and social science.