Interviewing

Oral history is a collaborative enterprise. Good interviews rest on mutual trust, empathy, and respect. People’s stories are among the most precious resources entrusted to our stewardship. Planning, preparation, and practice will result in good interviews.

Oral history interview

NPS

Planning and Preparation

Plan the research project

• What do you want to find out through oral history interviews?

• What does background research in written primary and secondary sources suggest needs to be researched through interviews?

• Do other archives contain oral history interviews that are similar to those you plan to conduct?

• What do your potential interviewees think is important for you to investigate?

• What is the primary goal of your project?

• Write a short mission statement that describes the purpose of the project, the kinds of narrators to be interviewed, and how the interviews are to be used.

Compose an interview guide

• What topics do you plan to explore?

• See sample interview guides.

Find, select, and contact narrators

• How many people and what cross-section of people need to be interviewed?

• Who are the most important people to be interviewed?

• What are the constraints imposed by budget and personnel?

Conduct a pre-interview

• Explain to narrators why you are conducting interviews and how they will be used.

• Gather basic biographical information.

• Explore the topics that they are particularly well suited to discuss.

• Explain that you will ask them to sign a legal release form giving permission for use of interviews.

Practice using the recording equipment

Plan carefully but prepare to improvise as new opportunities and challenges arise

Interviewing

Setting up for the interview

• Arrive on time and allow a few minutes to visit before and after the interview. Build the trust and rapport that are foundations of good interviews.

• Choose a location for the interview that is comfortable for the narrator and one where you can position the recorder so you can easily view recording levels while maintaining eye contact with the narrator. Take stock of the sonic environment and, if necessary, ask to turn off the radio, TV, or other source of noise.

• Take time to get acquainted and build rapport with the narrator.

Assessment: Before the Interview

Ask Before Each Interview

• How can I make this interview useful for others?

• What divides me from my interviewee in terms of age, gender, race, class, ethnicity, education, political outlook?

• How can I find common ground despite differences, or can I use differences to the advantage of the interview?

• What contributions can I anticipate this person making?

• Are there sensitive topics I can anticipate?

• Have I practiced phrasing questions?

• Is my equipment in order?

Interviewing Techniques

Good interviewing is about temperament as well as technique. Important attributes of an interviewer are empathy, eagerness to learn, and the capacity for respectful listening. Good interviews emerge from trust and respect.

• Remember that you’re there to listen; you are not the subject of the interview. This is the narrator’s story; give them the chance to tell it.

• Begin the interview recording with a simple statement that includes the names of interviewer and narrator, the date, the location of the interview, and the project name. Request the narrator’s verbal consent to conduct and record the interview.

• Start with routine, nonthreatening questions such as basic biographical information: When were you born? Where were you born? Delay more sensitive topics until later.

• Phrase open-ended questions that invite elaboration: For example:

  • What shaped your decision to join the National Park Service?

  • What was your first job like?

• Ask one question at a time.

• Ask questions that begin with who, what, when, how, and why. What happened? Why do you think events unfolded as they did? How did you make the decision to take the new job?

• Be curious. Ask the narrator to explain things to you, to define words and phrases you’re not familiar with, and to describe physical objects.

• Build rapport by showing interest and respect and displaying empathy. Smile and nod your head. Encourage the narrator with your eyes and body language.

• Listen carefully so that you can follow the narrator’s thought processes and you can ask follow-up questions. Follow-up questions encourage more information and deeper reflections and help narrators remember in greater depth.

• Probe with questions such as, “Can you explain?” or “Can you describe the situation in more detail?” or “Can you give me an example of that?”

• Use the two-sentence format as an interviewing technique. The first sentence explains why you’re asking the question and/or shifting topics, and the second sentence is the question itself. For example:

  • Making career choices affects entire families, not just the National Park Service employee. How did your family react when you told them you had the opportunity to take a job at a park in a different part of the country?

Two-question interview technique.

NPS

• Avoid leading questions that suggest “appropriate” answers. For example:

  • Instead of asking, “Did you disagree with the policies of the new superintendent?” ask “What did you think of the new superintendent’s policies?”

• Save tougher questions for the second half of the interview. Phrase sensitive questions delicately. For example:

  • “Some people remember that there was disagreement about the preservation program. What did you think about it?”

• Become comfortable with silences. People need time to contemplate questions and formulate answers.

• Pay attention to body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. Is the narrator tired, upset, or eager to say more about a topic?

• Ask one question at a time. Word questions in clear language.

• Use cues to memory such as artifacts, photographs, and maps.

• After the interview, record field notes and send thank you letter.

• Interviewing is an art; interviewers develop their own style. It’s like a dance during which you’ve got to move with your partner. Interviewing skills will develop with practice and self-reflection.

Interpersonal Relationships and Interviewing

• Interviews are complex social interactions and relationships. We must come to terms with our own biases and assumptions. We also can foster our own capacity for empathy and respect for the richness of people and their stories.

• Differences in race, gender, age, class, and ethnicity can affect interview dynamics. Differences can create barriers and they can also create opportunities to build bridges across the diversity.

As the interview concludes, have the interviewee complete and sign the legal release form.

NPS

Ending the Interview

• As the interview winds down, ask summary questions: What else would you like to talk about? Is there anything I failed to ask you about that you think I should know about this subject?

• Limit interviews to about 90 minutes. Asking questions, listening actively, and remembering thoughtfully are tiring.

• Schedule a second interview if the narrator has more to say.

• Have the interviewee complete and sign the legal release form.

After the Interview

• Record brief field notes that capture immediate thoughts about the interview, the setting, and the interview dynamics.

• Send a written thank you note to the narrator

• Make a copy of the interview recording for use during transcription or indexing.

• Listen to the recording and evaluate the interview and your interactions with the narrator.

Consider This

• As you anticipate conducting your own interviews, what do you worry about and how might you allay those concerns? Which aspects of the interviewing experience do you look forward to?
• What personal traits and interpersonal skills do you bring to interviewing that you think will serve you well? In what ways will oral history interviewing provide an opportunity to grow?

Case Studies

Case Study

Interviewing NPS Employees

Case Study

Interviewing Deaf Narrators

Case Study

Interviewing about Difficult Topics

Resources for Interviewing: Websites and Publications

Introductions to Interviewing

• Donald Ritchie, Doing Oral History, 3^rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014)

• Barbara W. Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan, The Oral History Manual, 3^rd ed. (Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2018)

• Valerie Raleigh Yow, Recording Oral History: A Guide for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 3rd ed. (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014)

Conducting Difficult Interviews

Further Reading

• Shanna Farrell, “Field Notes: More on Interviewing Around Trauma,” https://update.lib.berkeley.edu/2018/10/02/field-notes-more-on-interviewing-around-trauma/; posted on October 2, 2018 by sfarrell

• Arthur A. Hansen, “Oral History and the Japanese American Evacuation,” Oral History and the Japanese American Evacuation,” Journal of American History, Vol. 82, No. 2 (Sept. 1995), pp. 625-639.

• Mark Klempner, “Navigating Life Review Interviews with Survivors of Trauma,” Oral History Review, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer - Autumn, 2000), pp. 67-83.

• Anna Sheftel and Stacey Zembrzychi, “Only Human: A Reflection on the Ethical and Methodological Challenges of Working with ‘Difficult’ Stories,” Oral History Review, Vol. 37, No. 2 (SUMMER/FALL 2010), pp. 191-214. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41440802.

Assessment: After the Interview

Critiquing Interview Skills

Oral history practitioner Valerie Yow offers a checklist for critiquing interviewing skills. Assessing our own interviews helps us improve.

POSITIVES (Add 10 points for each item checked.)

1. Indicated empathy when appropriate.

2. Showed appreciation for the narrator’s help.

3. Listened carefully.

4. Followed the narrator’s pacing.

5. Explained reason for change in topic.

6. Used a two-sentence format when introducing a line of questions that might be problematic for the narrator.

7. Probed when appropriate.

8. Used a follow-up question when more information was needed.

9. Asked a challenge question in a sensitive manner.

10. Requested clarification when needed.

NEGATIVES (Subtract 10 points from the score above for each item checked.)

1. Interrupted the narrator.

2. Kept repeating what the narrator had just said.

3. Inferred something the narrator had not said.

4. Failed to pick up on a topic the narrator indicated was important.

5. Made irrelevant, distracting comments.

6. Ignored narrator’s feelings and failed to give an empathic response.

7. Failed to check the sound on the recorder.

8. Let the narrator sidetrack the conversation with a long irrelevant aside.

9. Asked a leading question.

10. Asked several questions at the same time.

From Valerie Raleigh Yow, Recording Oral History: A Guide for the Humanities and Social Sciences (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2005).