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1. Introduction
The telephone is integral to, and a widely accepted means of everyday communication in both business and private settings. However, as a data collection tool, the telephone remains relatively unacknowledged in qualitative research. Methodical recommendations embody a clear preference for face-to-face interviews. Indeed, the latter are long established as the leading means of conducting qualitative research. The primacy of the face-to-face interview medium remains even with the introduction of computer-mediated communication such as e-mail and chat forums ([31] Opdenakker, 2006; [37] Seymour, 2001).
Researchers openly acknowledge their hesitation in using the telephone for qualitative studies. In a recent article defending the telephone medium in psychological research, [22] Holt (2010) was initially sceptical about its suitability for in-depth interviews. Similar concerns were expressed by Stephens (2007) from a sociological research perspective. [28] Novick (2008) notes a bias against the use of qualitative telephone interviews in health research, indicated by the relatively few studies reported to have used this methodology as well as the limited discussion of this mode of data collection, especially in qualitative research handbooks. On the other hand, there is an increasing interest, use and discussion of internet-based interviewing in qualitative research (such as [27] Morgan and Symon, 2004; [25] Mann and Stewart, 2000; [37] Seymour, 2001).
In contrast, this paper endorses the use of the telephone medium in qualitative data collection using semi-structured interviews. We argue that this method provides good quality textual data on a par with that obtained using face-to-face interview media that can then be examined using qualitative data analysis. Whilst duly acknowledging the previously cited disadvantages of the telephone medium, its particular strengths are emphasized (by way of illustration) in the context of our own organizational study. Additionally, the use of telephone interviewing as a means of gathering particular types of qualitative data is discussed in relation to different standard analytic approaches (e.g. discourse analysis, narrative analysis).
2. Research example in context
This paper draws on the experience of conducting a longitudinal study over a period of one year in the UK. The study examined the factors that influence psychological contract formation and development, where psychological contracts are defined as the employee's "individual beliefs, shaped by the organization, regarding terms of an exchange agreement between individuals...