Describe one or two characteristics/findings about remote interviewing.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Telephone interviewing is quite common (Schmidt & Rader, 1999). However, some key differences between face-to-face interviews and interviews using technologies such as the telephone and videoconferencing may affect the process and outcome of the interview (Chapman & Rowe, 2002). In the case of the telephone, an obvious difference is the absence of visual cues (Silvester & Anderson, 2003). On the other hand, the absence of visual cues may reduce some interviewer biases based on nonverbal behaviors that were discussed earlier in this chapter. Regarding videoconferencing, the lack of a duplex system that allows for both parties to talk simultaneously may change the dynamics of the interview. A hybrid way to conduct the interview is to do it face to face, record both audio and video, and then ask additional raters, who were not present in the face-to-face interview, to provide an evaluation (Van Iddekinge, Raymark, Roth, & Payne, 2006). Face-to-face ratings were significantly higher than those provided based on the videotaped interviews. Further research is needed to establish conditions under which ratings provided in face-to-face and videotaped interviews may be equivalent. One study compared the equivalence of telephone and face-to-face interviews using a sample of 70 applicants for a job in a large multinational oil corporation (Silvester, Anderson, Haddleton, Cunningham-Snell, & Gibb, 2000). Results revealed that telephone ratings (M = 4.30) were lower than face-to-face ratings (M =5.52), regardless of the interview order.