Using Visual Timelines in Telephone Interviews: Reflections and Lessons Learned From the Star Family Study

Area of Science:

• Qualitative Research Methods
• Health Psychology
• Sociology of Health

Background:

• Visual timeline methods are established in face-to-face qualitative research with vulnerable groups.
• Their efficacy in telephone interviews remains largely unexplored.
• The STarting a family when you have an Autoimmune Rheumatic disease (STAR Family) study aimed to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the feasibility and benefits of using visual timelines in telephone interviews.
• To understand how visual timelines empower participants in sharing sensitive life experiences.
• To identify best practices for adapting visual timeline methods for remote qualitative data collection.

Main Methods:

• The study involved 16 telephone interviews with women participating in the STAR Family Study.
• A visual timeline activity was incorporated into the interviews.
• Thematic analysis was conducted on interview data, field notes, and researcher reflections.

Main Results:

• 11 out of 16 women completed a version of the visual timeline activity.
• Six key themes emerged: adaptation of the tool, interview dynamics, participant control, and disclosure of sensitive experiences.
• Visual timelines facilitated interviewee autonomy and elicited rich, detailed narratives.

Conclusions:

• Visual timeline methods are feasible and effective for generating rich data in telephone interviews.
• Participant autonomy and ownership of data are crucial considerations for this method.
• Further exploration of visual methods in remote qualitative research is warranted.