Interviewing Tips
Collect background information. Talk first
with friends and family members of the interviewee in order to get an idea of
important life events. Your interview subject may not always mention
significant incidents. Do background research from books and newspapers -
enough to generate questions you will need to ask about the topic.
Obtain recording equipment. Learn to use it before you go to
your interview. A digital
recorder is best. A good cassette
tape recorder is OK, but then a separate microphone is good, since built-in
microphones pick up machine noise. Select a 60 to 90 minutes tape (30-45
minutes per side) - not longer. Be
extremely familiar with your recorder before you begin. Test the equipment
by doing a brief practice interview with a friend in advance.
Arrange the interview in a quiet location where you will not
be interrupted. Turn off phones. Place the microphone (or recorder)
as close to interviewee as possible.
Prepare brief, open-ended questions. Anticipate that you should
talk less than 20% of the time. You want interesting stories and descriptions,
not just answers to questions. Work from an outline, not formal questions.
Keep in mind the larger purposes of oral research. Try to focus on issues that might
be common to a broader community, social, ethnic, religious or occupational group.
Give, on tape, a brief introduction to the interview. Include the location, date, names
of interviewee and interviewer, and a brief statement of purpose.
Encourage the interviewee to answer freely. Provide adequate time for
responses. This sets a conversational tone for the interview. Allow for changes
in the order of information or events. Fill in gaps as the interview progresses
and organize the information later. The important thing is to put the
interviewee at ease.
Eye contact and a pattern of concentrated listening are vital to the oral history
interview. Let the interviewee know that you're listening. Lots of interviewers
will nod silently or simply say "uh-huh" or "I see".
Pay close attention to your interviewee's answers. Many new interviewers are so
worried about the next question that their minds are racing ahead rather than
attending to the subject at hand. Don't worry if your questions are not worded
beautifully; in fact, sometimes it's better if they're not, because that gives
the interviewee the message that her/his answers don't have to be worded
perfectly, either.
Ask for examples and
descriptions. If the interviewee mentions something briefly
that sounds like it might be interesting to hear more about, ask a follow-up
question like: “Can you give an example of that?” or “Can you
describe what that was like?” or just: “Can you tell me more about that?”
Do not interrupt. Do not be concerned with following a set, preconceived order of topics.
Your interviewee may introduce a topic that you had not planned to discuss. If
she/he skips a subject you want to explore further, remind yourself to return
to it later in the interview. You can write short notes during the interview to
track topics & ideas.
Do not feel compelled to interrupt silences. Give the interviewee time to
answer each question fully or finish her/his train of thought. Silence is an
integral, important part of the oral history interview process.
Do not let the tape run out at the end of your cassette. Take the time to stop the interview
and turn the tape over rather than just continuing to talk while the tape is
off.
After
interview, label the tape(s): Include names of the interviewee and
interviewer, date and place of interview. For digital recordings, include your name as part of the file
name.
If possible, take some photographs of the interviewee
after the interview is completed.
Before submitting your tape, write your name & length of recording on tape, rewind tape to start of interview.
LSCI 110:
DIGITAL ORAL RESEARCH PROJECT
Last updated: 3-19-08 by