How to build rapport in online space: using online chat emoticons for qualitative interviewing in feminist research

Abstract

PurposeThis study draws on the author's experiences building rapport through online chat for data collection for the author's doctoral dissertation. The author contacted ten Korean women via online chat to recruit and faced the most challenging situation; building rapport. As the Millennial generation is known as being tech-savvy or digital natives, the author actively used emoticons (pictorial representations of facial expressions using characters) with potential interviewees and completed ten interviews. Therefore, this paper offers a new qualitative interviewing method in feminist research.Design/methodology/approachThe paper briefly reviews the works of literature on interviewing women on sensitive topics and building rapport before the interview. Then, the author introduced using emoticons to create rapport during the data collection process and how a non-traditional approach positively impacts the interviewer and interviewee before, during and even after the interview.FindingsWomen participants' responses and behaviors differed after building a rapport through an online chat. They were willing to share their personal stories and memories with the interviewer even though the interviewer did not ask.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides a stepping stone for developing an account of the new qualitative methodological approach, specifically feminist qualitative research.Originality/valueFew studies have described how qualitative researchers create a rapport in virtual space, specifically using emoticons. Also, this study suggests a new methodological approach since nonverbal communication in online chat is inevitable when interviewing people in qualitative research.

Beyond Reactionary: Sage Practices for Intentional Reflexivity in Online Qualitative Data Collection

“…After the declaration of a pandemic, research followed other social trends to find ways to persist and retain its rigor within almost exclusively online contexts. Researchers have examined some of the constraints of online research in qualitative inquiry and found that overtly and mindfully incorporating tenets of embodiment may serve as avenues to respond to the tangible and visual limitations of online qualitative data collection (Coffey & Kanai, 2023;Park, 2023;Perry, 2023;Vaughn et al, 2022). Embodiment within qualitative research examines the lived experiences of individuals with special attention to their expressions of body and spirit including their physical presence, mental and emotional being, and connections to others and their environment (Helps, 2023;Zaragocin et al, 2021).…”