Researching Life Stories and Family Histories by Robert Lee Miller

Author:Robert Lee Miller [Miller, Robert Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Research, Reference
ISBN: 9781446235577
Google: Lb5FIQEZJcMC
Publisher: SAGE
Published: 1999-09-22T03:35:33+00:00

Interviewing – General points15

The ability to carry out an effective interview is not something that is conferred automatically. Becoming a good interviewer is a skill that can be learned, but it requires practice. A good interview, particularly an interview conducted within the narrative approach or an unfocused initial interview, may resemble a casual conversation but one must remember that the format of the interview really is mimicking a conversation. There are constraints present in even the most unstructured interview. The topic of the conversation has a goal, albeit this goal may be the very general one of hearing the story of a person’s life as they care to tell it. The two protagonists are likely to be strangers to each other. While the ‘standard’ prohibitions against the interviewer injecting their own feelings or opinions into the conversation may be relaxed in some styles of narrative interviewing, the focus of the interview will remain fixed upon the interviewee. These considerations lead to some general points that can be made about conducting life history interviews.16

The interviewer must not succumb to the temptation to hijack the interview as a platform for their own ideas. You should not argue with the respondent, attempt to convert them to your own opinions or monopolize the interview with your own life story or assertions. To put it baldly, the interview is not about the interviewer. If you come to dominate the interview so that the majority of the information is in fact about you or your own opinions, the interview will be useless. If you succeed in browbeating the interviewee so that he/she is silenced or gives way to your opinions, the information you are collecting will be positively misleading (Thompson 1988).

One can of course tactfully query or express disagreement with some of the respondent’s opinions or assertions (either by saying that ‘some people’ might feel differently or, in some styles of interviewing, disagreeing yourself). The goals of these challenges to the interviewee’s stance are not, however, to change their position or force them to adopt the ‘right’ (that is, your) viewpoint, but rather to clarify anomalies or to advance the interview. For instance, if the respondent is putting forth an opinion that many would disagree with, pointing this out can be a legitimate means of taking the interview further, but browbeating them into abandoning their views is not. As Thompson points out, the key point is respect for the interviewee: ‘There are some essential qualities which the successful interviewer must possess: an interest and respect for people as individuals, and flexibility in response to them; an ability to show understanding and sympathy for their point of view; and, above all, a willingness to sit quietly and listen’ (Thompson 1988: 196).

Some general rules to keep in mind when interviewing:

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