title: Participants' views of telephone interviews within a grounded theory study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To offer a unique contribution to the evolving debate around the use of the telephone during semistructured interview by drawing on interviewees' reflections on telephone interview during a grounded theory study.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The accepted norm for qualitative interviews is to conduct them face-to-face. It is typical to consider collecting qualitative data via telephone only when face-to-face interview is not possible. During a grounded theory study, exploring users' experiences with overnight mask ventilation for sleep apnoea, the authors selected the telephone to conduct interviews. This article reports participants' views on semistructured interview by telephone.
  
  
  METHODS
  An inductive thematic analysis was conducted on data pertaining to the use of the telephone interview in a grounded theory study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data were collected during 4 months of 2011 and 6 months in 2014. The article presents an inductive thematic analysis of sixteen participants' opinions about telephone interviewing and discusses these in relation to existing literature reporting the use of telephone interviews in grounded theory studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, participants reported a positive experience of telephone interviewing. From each participants reports we identified four themes from the data: being 'phone savvy; concentrating on voice instead of your face; easy rapport; and not being judged or feeling inhibited.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By drawing on these data, we argue that the telephone as a data collection tool in grounded theory research and other qualitative methodologies need not be relegated to second best status. Rather, researchers can consider telephone interview a valuable first choice option.
authors.affiliation: The University of Auckland's School of Nursing, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: The University of Auckland's School of Nursing, New Zealand.|The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Merryn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gott
authors.affiliation: The University of Auckland's School of Nursing and the Department of General Practice and Primary Healthcare, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoare
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D066296:Grounded Theory; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008397:Masks; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000451:nursing*; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000451:nursing*; D013689:Telephone
keywords: data collection; grounded theory; nursing research; participant views; qualitative research; telephone interviewing