Hermanowicz takes the reader through a twenty-five step-by-step method of how to conduct a great interview, by comparing it with how you would behave on a date. Firstly, you converse as this absence of superficiality will create flow, and therefore have quality to it, especially if sub-questions are used. Unlike if it was just question, answer, question, answer, which would lead to your ‘date’ not opening up.

 

Secondly, listen, an interviewer must have an ‘ear’ for what the interviewee is saying and also what is not being said (body movements and facial expression help with this). Not listening will make your ‘date’ feel that they are unimportant, causing them to close up, and the date will end sooner than you wished.  

 

Thirdly, find out everything that your ‘date’ finds important. This means you have to uncover how people make sense of themselves and how they know themselves and the perspectives they adopt to achieve this self-understanding.

 

Fourthly probe, this is because the only way to find meaning is through detail. To do this interviewers questions must not be overly general, and they must be prepared to ask more specific questions. This is because people are often inclined to be general rather than detailed.

 

Sometimes it is important to remain quiet when your ‘date’ is quiet, also known as the ‘silent probe’. One of the best methods to follow when this occurs, is to re-state or re-phrase the question, then sit quietly until your ‘date’ opens up. Silence beyond a conventional length of time can make your ‘date’ nervous, in which case talking will feel the best way to resolve this.

 

Make sure to persist by asking questions in different ways, which will let respondents open up and convey detailed meaning. Remain respectful, but never use politeness as an excuse to move on. A great date, like a great interviewee, likes to be chased as it shows your active interest.

 

Sometimes it helps to play the innocent, this will appeal to their altruism, making them want to help you when they are put in the position of being a kind teacher. However, never do this more than once or twice during an interview.

 

Do not stay out all night, and do not go home too early, this is something that is difficult to gauge but the meaning and detail achieved through responses are a testable guide. Most respondents will grow tired after ninety minutes, some sooner. So, aim for between sixty-to-ninety-minute interviews, with twenty to thirty main questions, and some ready prepared sub-questions, or probes.  

 

Make sure you word questions clearly, as confusion can create uncertainty, ill-confidence and even annoyance. Therefore, make sure to use general speech.

 

It is important to sequence your moves, and not have a random mix of questions. Asking a question for the sake of it should not be normal procedure, and questions should include the warm up and cool down of the respondent.  Once you have a sequence it helps to divide the conversation into topical stages, by the subject that your questions address. This is useful for the interviewer in analysing, organising and presenting subsequent findings and discussion.

 

An interview needs to be balanced, therefore have a mixture of questions that are easy for a respondent to answer and questions that are sensitive or unflattering for the respondent to answer. Questions need to tap people’s disappointments, let-downs, private worries, dreams and aspirations.

 

An interviewer must be candid, as a great interview uncovers something about an individual in detail, and that often has to come from candor. This knowledge is crucial as it shows you for who you truly are. Candor is made possible by integrity therefore make sure to preserve the integrity of meeting someone new. There must be a sense of equality, however, the interviewer does still have the authority to stop a respondent or to re-direct them, but this does not mean interviewers should be authoritarian.

 

It is vital to show respect to a respondent, regardless if what a respondent says differs from the personal values held by the interviewer. So, never be rude to a respondent, and if they are rude, that in itself is a piece of data which an interviewer must observe respectfully.

 

A great interviewer displays a ‘quiet concern’, therefore it is important to embody detached concern as you do not want to create a bias. However, interviewees are more likely to open up about personal intimacies when they feel ‘cared for’. If an interviewer shows surprise this risks influencing the respondent in unintended ways.

 

To get the right questions it helps to test your questions beforehand, also known as piloting. Questions should elicit the right information, obtain detail and meaning, get people to open up, and be well sequenced and topically organised. Wrong questions cause embarrassment. A great interviewer has a good sense of the questions, therefore it is important to rehearse, as this makes the interviewer seem more comfortable and confident.

 

Do not ‘date’ members of your own family, meaning research should be done on strangers as they are more likely to share their secrets than they are with people that they know. Also if you are interviewing someone you know, playing the innocent never works, and being candid or embodying detached reserve and preserving integrity becomes impossible.

 

Make sure to start off on a strong note, for example call the interviewee in advance to discuss the project further, and answer any questions they have before the interview. It is also vital to end on a positive note, for example sending a thank you note.

 

Sometimes note-taking in an interview is distracting for respondents and interrupts the natural flow of the conversation, therefore you must bring the memory of your date home. Either keep note-taking to a minimum, or write notes straight after. However, what would work better is if you can have a tape-record of the interview. As without a type recording a lot of information can be lost, and normally interviewees are happy to have the interview recorded.

 

Only carry on long-distance as a last resort, as telephone interviews are difficult to manage, as the ability to conduct a meaningful conversation is readily compromised. So it is best to avoid this kind of relationship.

 

Lastly, practice, practice, practice. With repeated performance, habits form around each of these strategies and the techniques of ‘sleeping around’ are cultivated. Although interviewing is among the most central, revealing and enjoyable of methods, it is one that in research is deceptively difficult. Therefore, practice is the key to giving a great interview.

 

Overall, I found this reading extremely helpful, as it gave clear instruction on what to do to conduct a great interview. The two main points I took from it which I had previously not considered were to practice questions in advance and the advice of using a tape-recorder. Hopefully I can take this process and apply it to my weekly task to help avoid any pitfalls. I feel like over time and with practice I should be able to become more comfortable and confident with the interviewing process, and I am excited to try out these methods.