Telephone interviewing is a crucial but not well-documented qualitative research method in sociology.Such aspects as how to conduct a telephone interview and by whom such a method is best used,are illustrated specifically.More importandy,the advantages and disadvantages of telephone interviews are critically exploited.As a relatively cheap,flexible and reliable means of gathering data,telephone interview deserves more attention.Moreover,due to such obstacles as sampling,establishing rapport and recognizing the limitations of data generated,it is best to use telephone interviewing for educational research in conjunction with other data collection methods.