Hi Alex, I am writing for Sociology. I'm aware of several articles that defend the use of Instant Message, and several that point out the weaknesses, but haven't been able to find one that says they are categorically NOT interviews. Here are some citations I use in the paper: Traverse, Max. New methods, old problems: A sceptical view of innovation in qualitative research. Qualitative Research. 9:161 Enochsson, Ann-Britt. 2011. “Who Benefits from Synchronous Online Communication?: A Comparison of Face-to-Face and Synchronous Online Interviews with Children.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences: 15-22 Markham, Annette N. 2013. Remix Culture, Remix Methods: Reframing Qualitative Inquiry for Social Media Contexts. In Denzin, N., & Giardina, M (Eds.). Global Dimensions of Qualitative Inquiry. Left Coast Press. Hesse-Biber, Sharlene and Amy J. Griffin. 2013. “ Internet-Mediated Technologies and Mixed Methods Research: Problems and Prospects. “ Journal of Mixed Methods Research 7(1):43-61. Beneito-Montagut, Roser. 2011. “Ethnography Goes Online: Towards a User-Centered Methodology to Research Interpersonal Communication on the Internet.” Qualitative Research 11(6):716-735 I could certainly also include some older stuff (like Hine's virtual ethnography or Miller and Slater's book), but I the more recent stuff pretty much subsumes those texts. Thanks!! Jenny ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alex Leavitt" <alexleavitt@gmail.com> To: "Jenny Davis" <jdavis4@neo.tamu.edu> Cc: "AoIR-L" <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2013 1:03:17 PM Subject: Re: [Air-L] IM interviews not interviews? It'd be helpful to know 1) what you've cited so far in defense of them, and 2) what disciplinary audience you're working with (eg., anthropology journal reviewers would react to IM interviews different from psychology journal reviewers). There are a number of papers that pop up from a simple Google search – https://www.google.com/search?q=instant+message+interviews+method – that seem to agree that IM really isn't that different, though it'd seem adequate to map out the area and cite a fair amount of people in a few sentences as justification. Alexander Leavitt PhD Student USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism http://alexleavitt.com Twitter: @alexleavitt On Sun, Aug 18, 2013 at 6:46 AM, Jenny Davis < jdavis4@neo.tamu.edu > wrote: Hi all, Long time lurker and responder, first time inquirer. I am working on an R&R for a paper in which I use both FtF and IM interviews. I am aware of the literature that talks about the strengths and weaknesses of IM as an interview mode, but one of the reviewers says that IM does not constitute an interview at all, but merely a question/answer session. I want to address this critique adequately. Is anyone familiar with specific articles/books that make this argument and/or push back against it? Thanks!! Jenny L. Davis Assistant Professor Department of Sociology & Anthropology James Madison University email: Davis5JL@jmu.edu Twitter: Jenny_L_Davis Blog: Cyborgology.org _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/