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This workshop is different from the other course workshop in that it is a tutorial that is contained on another website. Follow the link below. This tutorial was created as part of the CSU Information Competence Work Group project and covers the informational interview. While you should review the entire tutorial, you do not have to complete any of tutorials tests or assigned tasks.
Once you have taken this tutorial, you need to make at least one comment below (100 word minimum) that directly address the slides content for workshop credit, ask questions, etc. While you are not quizzed on this workshop, you are responsible for using this information for your course projects. This is stuff you need to know.
(Transcript available on request)
Cardinal Rules of Interviewing
1. Do not waste the interviewees time.
The interviewer must be fully prepared for the interview. This includes having an interview schedule (written out questions and follow-ups); be punctual, and avoid obvious or common questions which leads to...
2. Only ask questions whose answer cannot be discovered in any other way.
The interviewer needs to do his/her homework. This means doing background research both on the topic and the individual. For example, if you are interviewing someone about their experiences in Iraq, you will need to know background information on the war, military and Iraqi culture, and anything else that will give you the knowledge to ask informed and insightful questions. The only exception is to clarify information gained from another source or that was unclear. It is also helpful to talk to "cultural informants" or people who are familiar with the same scene/culture/experience as the interviewee. To use the same example, you could talk with someone who had served in the military or in Iraq to gain insights and fine-tune your questions. By illustrating that you did your homework, you signal to the interviewee that you respect them and care about their experiences.
3. Always get informed consent.
An interviewee must know exactly what you are going to do with the information you gather from him/her. This should be explicitly laid out for them. There should always be a consent form that the interviewee should sign that indicates they know how this information is to be used and that they agree to be recorded. The interviewee should get a copy (Interviewee_ConsentForm.docInterviewee_ConsentForm_156i.doc ).
4. Always record your interview.
Sometimes this is impossible, but not having a recording is a serious set-back to collecting good data. You will always take notes, but recording will allow you to engage more directly with the interviewee and will capture many things you will miss that could prove important. Most laptops will record voice without an external microphone. Garage Band is particularly effective. Always test your gear and make sure the interview knows you will be recording. Do not set your up laptop between you, set it off to the side where you alone can see the screen.
Make sure to check the interviewing section on the Assignments page for details on what you need to do to use this method on your project.
This workshop tutorial was very interesting and will be very useful too for our Observational Research, and that could be very helpful for other classes, not only for this one. Besides the modules shown at the Conducting the information interview, i also think that the 7 applications given about how to work on that interview. All these steps are clear and seem to be easy to follow. This workshop gives more than we need to know. i have a question, how do i get the interviewee consent form?
I thought this tutorial will defenitly come in handy for the project. I tend to interview a number of people and know that the guidlines described in the turorial and the rules listed above will really help. i think one of the more important parts of interviewing someone is defenitly making sure that you know the background information of the person you are interviewing and the reasoning behind the question. That way when I interview someone, my questions will be direct and too the point and won't be too vague so that I can get a thorough answer. I enjoyed this workshop and it will be useful in the future.
I thought that this workshop was very interesting. I know I will be able to use a lot of the material presented here to do my research project. I also think that this workshop will also help in many of my other classes. One thing that I thought was really helpful in the module section of this tutorial was in module 2. This section talked about the need to do research on the topic before the interview. I never really thought about this because I always figured that conducting the interview itself was the research. Another module that I found interesting in this workshop was module 5 conducting the interview. The reason I found this interesting is my main fear of conducting an interview is how to get it started. But the module talks about “breaking the ice” which I found to be very helpful. This module also gave some helpful insights into what types of things to remember such as rapport, and formality level. This workshop will definitely help me out with my research not only I this class but in other classes as well.
Christina Gomez
I took away plenty of information from this workshop to gain a greater understanding of professional interviews and the growing resources available to conduct an interview. With the emergence of technology we can interview in many different ways other than only f2f. "Information interviews include surveys and polls, investigations, medical case histories and journalistic interviews". I can agree that I do engage myself everyday in interviews at home alone when I an on the internet and entering various sites such as facebook. Simply by engaging on facebook I happen to participate in surveys and polls or reveal data that people can use. The Seven models are very helpful because I appreciate templates that I can follow to keep myself organized. The applications I felt were designed to make you think before you act when interviewing I found this another organized format thats vital. To sum up the workshop what I got out of this was structure and guidance that create an "effective interview".
This workshop was extremely interesting and really helped me understand the interviewing process. I especially liked the modules because they all referred back to each other, with Module four relating how to structure the interview is like Module 2 in researching the topic and Module 3 selecting the interviewee. With this simple tactic of relating everything back to each other, I found it very easy to keep up and fully understand what was being stated. Also, I learned a lot in Module 5 with conducting the interview. After reading the textbook and taking notes from above and Prof. Coopman's advice, I have a feeling that I have the preparation stages under control, but the actual interview process needs a little reviewing. I loved this module because it went step by step of how to conduct the interview from the opener (breaking the ice) to the conclusion (ending on a positive note). I have to say that I learned a lot from this workshop because it was so interactive and relevant to our own research project right now. I am very appreciative for this workshop and will definitely refer back to it when I'm preparing to conduct interviews with my interviewees. Also, special thanks to Coopman for his straight forward instructions they are definitely helpful because they are so clear and straightforward. I think I will have a great interviewing experience with these few resources at my disposal. So thank you!
This workshop was extremely helpful in the sense that the information presented in this workshop was completely relevant to the work that we are currently doing in our participant observation assignments. I really liked how the modules presented the information in a clear manner, and addressed many different aspects of proper interviewing techniques, as well as the application sections which allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the material presented in the modules. I also really liked how the modules provided us with a list of databases and search websites to aid us in finding background information on our topics prior to interviewing. I also found the list of questions that was provided for us in regards to measuring the relevance of the information presented to us in works taken from the internet.
-Jason Steib
Correction**: I also found the list of questions that was provided for us in regards to measuring the relevance of the information presented to us in works taken from the internet to be vital to any researcher in the background check/literature review phase to be helpful.
-Jason Steib
This week’s workshop was very detailed and informative. There was a lot more information in this workshop than our past workshops. The links on this site works well with the information provided. The organization and structure made it easy to take notes for quick reference. When I started reading this workshop, I thought that there was not going to be that much information, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that amount of information. The information provided on the site expanded my knowledge on the interview process. I did not realize how much was involved in the interview process itself. The detail is necessary and can make or break the tone of the interview. When I took the pretest, I missed 6 questions. In the post test I missed 1. I think that my understanding of the interview process has increased significantly. One concept that I took away was the structuring of the interview process. I was not aware of all the types of questions there are. Determining the types of questions is a process in itself and took me by surprise. Another take away was in regard to module 5. The text states that conducting the interview is like a speech. I think that this comparison makes the concept easier to understand. I enjoyed reading all of the information available and significantly increased my understanding of the interview process.
I might be finally figuring this stuff out. (Just in time for my office visit, huh Professor Coopman ?) This workshop helped tremendously towards that end. I easily grasp the more concrete aspects of interviewing, such as knowing who and why you want to interview, and what about. However, in learning some of the different questions asked, especially the great list that I will keep as part of my interviewer's guide in module #4, my eyes began to open on the whole qualitative-quantitative differences, which, if anyone has been paying attention, has been giving me trouble all semester. So, if I get this straight, in quantitative research, you know what you are looking for, and go out and count how many of them there are. But in qualitative, it is exactly the opposite, and therefore proceeds backwards. You kind of know what you are looking for, but as it is not objective and you cannot definitively define it, you instead go and gather the information, and THEN try and make sense of it. It is like the difference between picking up gold nuggets on the ground that are easily seen and countable, or panning for gold and separating the dirt (useless) from the gold (useful) data that you seek. You do not know where the gold is, or if there is even any, until you start digging around. And this digging around and panning for gold is the research process, one method of which is interviewing. Is that somewhere along the right track, Professor ?
I enjoyed this workshop because I feel that it kind of ironed out any little questions that I might of been confused by from this week's chapter in regards to interviewing. I think the most helpful slides were the ones that talked about making sure that you do some researcher about your topic before your interview and then that way you not only not ask irrelevant questions to your interviewee but you go in with a game plan of what you NEED to ask, or need to have the interviewee clarify. The other slide that interested me what the one on different questions. I have to say that I get most of my data when I conduct interviews is through open-ended questions. I apply it every time I am at work and when I am suggesting a skin care product to a client. By asking one open-end question, I tend to receive lots of data of what they are looking for. Instead of asking tons of specific/detailed questions or yes/no questions that often end of wasting time and sometimes frustrate the client. I could also see it applying to the same case if I was to interview a participant. I definitely think that I would receive more data asking open-ended questions in that situation as well.
Hi all,
I think this workshop is great and will help keep us all on track. It breaks down what we should expect and how we should conduct our interviews; it gives us a great starting point and continues to guide us until we present the report. What i liked most about this workshop is that it shows us some common mistakes we all make and will probably still make but will help us minimize those mistakes and stay on track. I like that it gave clear examples of structuring the interview with the 'phrasing' and 'types of questions' portion of stage 4. Another key aspect from the workshop is learning how to select interviewees; you do not want to waste time asking questions where you already know the answer. You want the interviewee to bring something new to the table, to share their expertise. Overall great workshop which I plan on looking over before conducting an interview.
Hugely important in terms of the amount of information disclosed in this article. Very refined and copious amounts of data and ideas stored within those slides. I found them very useful if a little dry. It did help though when it gives examples of the stated questions in a real interviewing setting; by doing this it helped me put these into a context that worked for me. I feel that this will be an immeasurable resource that I can use to help me out if I have any research and interviewing questions. I would definitely look at this again, although not in full…too long of a read.
-Chris
Essentially this cleared up my issues with interviewing. There are plenty of important facts to know beforehand, and I am sure I have a handle for being able to get the most out of my interviews. Also, the databases that were shown will no doubt be an essential tool to fall back on. My biggest problem with meeting new people, is how to start a conversation, which made the “breaking the ice” segment particularly useful, all the way to a positive conclusion. I now have the instruments I need to ensure my questions are good and that the answers I get are not too vague. I am now anxious to get started.
Though subtle, this workshop was very informative and useful. I like how you broke down the workshop in to four rules and then directed us to the link to go in depth on the subject matter. I came across a lot of good information. I liked the notion that you should know who you want to interview and why you want to as well as what you want to interview them about. I also liked how module 5 referred interviewing to a speech in the way that it is structured with an intro, the body (questions), and a conclusion. In module 2 i saw some information that has been repeated to me throughout my communication courses, that being that a researcher needs to research the topic he is examining or person he is interviewing so that you "don't waste the interviewees time" and can perform a more strategic and effective interview. This workshop was crammed with a lot of great information and for that I thank you.
This workshop, as was the case with most of the workshops already, was a very helpfull tool that I will be able to reference for the remainder of my college career. This one specifically is especially helpfull as I am also in Comm 111P which is an interviewing class in which we are required to conduct many interviews and the seven steps listed in the modules offer information and things to consider that we have no discussed in my other class. This workshop really stressed the importance of puting work in prior to conducting the interview, which is something that has not previously been stressed to me as much as opposed to the importance of the actual face to face interview. I really feel like this website can be an instrumental tool in conducting not only my interviews for this class, but also my seperate interviewing class.
The workshop this week had a lot of useful information. It differed from our previous ones but it gave us simple but effective guidelines/techniques for interviewing. I like how it was pointed out that we should do research on the topic and the interviewee background because it will help out our research as well as showing respect for the person. Simple but effective. The modules were also helpful because it basically just walked us through the whole process. Of course it will be harder when we try but if we follow the basics I think we will be okay. If we keep in mind what our purpose is then we have a good start. So good luck to everyone else out there!
The interview sample under the application 1:Determining the purpose was hilarious. Although that can be acceptable for informal settings which is actually being used by journalists or reporters during an ambush interview. For most cases, it does not work that way. As an interviewer, I need to come prepared by showing that I did my research about the interviewee and the topic. However, I would like to know the etiquette for setting up an interview for the CEO. Is it better to call the main number and request for an appointment than sending an email directly to him or her? Should I follow up if I did not get a response?
Comments (19)
uismiguel@... said
at 4:01 pm on Mar 2, 2011
This workshop tutorial was very interesting and will be very useful too for our Observational Research, and that could be very helpful for other classes, not only for this one. Besides the modules shown at the Conducting the information interview, i also think that the 7 applications given about how to work on that interview. All these steps are clear and seem to be easy to follow. This workshop gives more than we need to know. i have a question, how do i get the interviewee consent form?
jstoltz89@... said
at 4:49 pm on Mar 2, 2011
I thought this tutorial will defenitly come in handy for the project. I tend to interview a number of people and know that the guidlines described in the turorial and the rules listed above will really help. i think one of the more important parts of interviewing someone is defenitly making sure that you know the background information of the person you are interviewing and the reasoning behind the question. That way when I interview someone, my questions will be direct and too the point and won't be too vague so that I can get a thorough answer. I enjoyed this workshop and it will be useful in the future.
chewy_g10@hotmail.com said
at 11:35 pm on Mar 2, 2011
I thought that this workshop was very interesting. I know I will be able to use a lot of the material presented here to do my research project. I also think that this workshop will also help in many of my other classes. One thing that I thought was really helpful in the module section of this tutorial was in module 2. This section talked about the need to do research on the topic before the interview. I never really thought about this because I always figured that conducting the interview itself was the research. Another module that I found interesting in this workshop was module 5 conducting the interview. The reason I found this interesting is my main fear of conducting an interview is how to get it started. But the module talks about “breaking the ice” which I found to be very helpful. This module also gave some helpful insights into what types of things to remember such as rapport, and formality level. This workshop will definitely help me out with my research not only I this class but in other classes as well.
Christina Gomez
Andrew Terry said
at 3:12 am on Mar 4, 2011
I took away plenty of information from this workshop to gain a greater understanding of professional interviews and the growing resources available to conduct an interview. With the emergence of technology we can interview in many different ways other than only f2f. "Information interviews include surveys and polls, investigations, medical case histories and journalistic interviews". I can agree that I do engage myself everyday in interviews at home alone when I an on the internet and entering various sites such as facebook. Simply by engaging on facebook I happen to participate in surveys and polls or reveal data that people can use. The Seven models are very helpful because I appreciate templates that I can follow to keep myself organized. The applications I felt were designed to make you think before you act when interviewing I found this another organized format thats vital. To sum up the workshop what I got out of this was structure and guidance that create an "effective interview".
megnance@... said
at 1:09 am on Mar 6, 2011
This workshop was extremely interesting and really helped me understand the interviewing process. I especially liked the modules because they all referred back to each other, with Module four relating how to structure the interview is like Module 2 in researching the topic and Module 3 selecting the interviewee. With this simple tactic of relating everything back to each other, I found it very easy to keep up and fully understand what was being stated. Also, I learned a lot in Module 5 with conducting the interview. After reading the textbook and taking notes from above and Prof. Coopman's advice, I have a feeling that I have the preparation stages under control, but the actual interview process needs a little reviewing. I loved this module because it went step by step of how to conduct the interview from the opener (breaking the ice) to the conclusion (ending on a positive note). I have to say that I learned a lot from this workshop because it was so interactive and relevant to our own research project right now. I am very appreciative for this workshop and will definitely refer back to it when I'm preparing to conduct interviews with my interviewees. Also, special thanks to Coopman for his straight forward instructions they are definitely helpful because they are so clear and straightforward. I think I will have a great interviewing experience with these few resources at my disposal. So thank you!
Jason Steib said
at 3:02 pm on Mar 6, 2011
This workshop was extremely helpful in the sense that the information presented in this workshop was completely relevant to the work that we are currently doing in our participant observation assignments. I really liked how the modules presented the information in a clear manner, and addressed many different aspects of proper interviewing techniques, as well as the application sections which allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the material presented in the modules. I also really liked how the modules provided us with a list of databases and search websites to aid us in finding background information on our topics prior to interviewing. I also found the list of questions that was provided for us in regards to measuring the relevance of the information presented to us in works taken from the internet.
-Jason Steib
Jason Steib said
at 3:06 pm on Mar 6, 2011
Correction**: I also found the list of questions that was provided for us in regards to measuring the relevance of the information presented to us in works taken from the internet to be vital to any researcher in the background check/literature review phase to be helpful.
-Jason Steib
kenuy15@... said
at 5:05 pm on Mar 6, 2011
This week’s workshop was very detailed and informative. There was a lot more information in this workshop than our past workshops. The links on this site works well with the information provided. The organization and structure made it easy to take notes for quick reference. When I started reading this workshop, I thought that there was not going to be that much information, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that amount of information. The information provided on the site expanded my knowledge on the interview process. I did not realize how much was involved in the interview process itself. The detail is necessary and can make or break the tone of the interview. When I took the pretest, I missed 6 questions. In the post test I missed 1. I think that my understanding of the interview process has increased significantly. One concept that I took away was the structuring of the interview process. I was not aware of all the types of questions there are. Determining the types of questions is a process in itself and took me by surprise. Another take away was in regard to module 5. The text states that conducting the interview is like a speech. I think that this comparison makes the concept easier to understand. I enjoyed reading all of the information available and significantly increased my understanding of the interview process.
daren johnson said
at 5:09 pm on Mar 6, 2011
I might be finally figuring this stuff out. (Just in time for my office visit, huh Professor Coopman ?) This workshop helped tremendously towards that end. I easily grasp the more concrete aspects of interviewing, such as knowing who and why you want to interview, and what about. However, in learning some of the different questions asked, especially the great list that I will keep as part of my interviewer's guide in module #4, my eyes began to open on the whole qualitative-quantitative differences, which, if anyone has been paying attention, has been giving me trouble all semester. So, if I get this straight, in quantitative research, you know what you are looking for, and go out and count how many of them there are. But in qualitative, it is exactly the opposite, and therefore proceeds backwards. You kind of know what you are looking for, but as it is not objective and you cannot definitively define it, you instead go and gather the information, and THEN try and make sense of it. It is like the difference between picking up gold nuggets on the ground that are easily seen and countable, or panning for gold and separating the dirt (useless) from the gold (useful) data that you seek. You do not know where the gold is, or if there is even any, until you start digging around. And this digging around and panning for gold is the research process, one method of which is interviewing. Is that somewhere along the right track, Professor ?
ted.coopman@... said
at 11:41 am on Mar 7, 2011
yep.
Rebecca said
at 9:59 pm on Mar 6, 2011
I enjoyed this workshop because I feel that it kind of ironed out any little questions that I might of been confused by from this week's chapter in regards to interviewing. I think the most helpful slides were the ones that talked about making sure that you do some researcher about your topic before your interview and then that way you not only not ask irrelevant questions to your interviewee but you go in with a game plan of what you NEED to ask, or need to have the interviewee clarify. The other slide that interested me what the one on different questions. I have to say that I get most of my data when I conduct interviews is through open-ended questions. I apply it every time I am at work and when I am suggesting a skin care product to a client. By asking one open-end question, I tend to receive lots of data of what they are looking for. Instead of asking tons of specific/detailed questions or yes/no questions that often end of wasting time and sometimes frustrate the client. I could also see it applying to the same case if I was to interview a participant. I definitely think that I would receive more data asking open-ended questions in that situation as well.
mchaidez0785@hotmail.com said
at 10:35 pm on Mar 6, 2011
Hi all,
I think this workshop is great and will help keep us all on track. It breaks down what we should expect and how we should conduct our interviews; it gives us a great starting point and continues to guide us until we present the report. What i liked most about this workshop is that it shows us some common mistakes we all make and will probably still make but will help us minimize those mistakes and stay on track. I like that it gave clear examples of structuring the interview with the 'phrasing' and 'types of questions' portion of stage 4. Another key aspect from the workshop is learning how to select interviewees; you do not want to waste time asking questions where you already know the answer. You want the interviewee to bring something new to the table, to share their expertise. Overall great workshop which I plan on looking over before conducting an interview.
-Manny
Christopher Harrell said
at 10:36 pm on Mar 6, 2011
Hugely important in terms of the amount of information disclosed in this article. Very refined and copious amounts of data and ideas stored within those slides. I found them very useful if a little dry. It did help though when it gives examples of the stated questions in a real interviewing setting; by doing this it helped me put these into a context that worked for me. I feel that this will be an immeasurable resource that I can use to help me out if I have any research and interviewing questions. I would definitely look at this again, although not in full…too long of a read.
-Chris
Glenn said
at 11:12 pm on Mar 6, 2011
Essentially this cleared up my issues with interviewing. There are plenty of important facts to know beforehand, and I am sure I have a handle for being able to get the most out of my interviews. Also, the databases that were shown will no doubt be an essential tool to fall back on. My biggest problem with meeting new people, is how to start a conversation, which made the “breaking the ice” segment particularly useful, all the way to a positive conclusion. I now have the instruments I need to ensure my questions are good and that the answers I get are not too vague. I am now anxious to get started.
mateoman89@... said
at 11:43 pm on Mar 6, 2011
Though subtle, this workshop was very informative and useful. I like how you broke down the workshop in to four rules and then directed us to the link to go in depth on the subject matter. I came across a lot of good information. I liked the notion that you should know who you want to interview and why you want to as well as what you want to interview them about. I also liked how module 5 referred interviewing to a speech in the way that it is structured with an intro, the body (questions), and a conclusion. In module 2 i saw some information that has been repeated to me throughout my communication courses, that being that a researcher needs to research the topic he is examining or person he is interviewing so that you "don't waste the interviewees time" and can perform a more strategic and effective interview. This workshop was crammed with a lot of great information and for that I thank you.
-MATT LOGAN
Ryan Black said
at 12:03 am on Mar 7, 2011
This workshop, as was the case with most of the workshops already, was a very helpfull tool that I will be able to reference for the remainder of my college career. This one specifically is especially helpfull as I am also in Comm 111P which is an interviewing class in which we are required to conduct many interviews and the seven steps listed in the modules offer information and things to consider that we have no discussed in my other class. This workshop really stressed the importance of puting work in prior to conducting the interview, which is something that has not previously been stressed to me as much as opposed to the importance of the actual face to face interview. I really feel like this website can be an instrumental tool in conducting not only my interviews for this class, but also my seperate interviewing class.
Micah Dela Cruz said
at 12:16 am on Mar 7, 2011
The workshop this week had a lot of useful information. It differed from our previous ones but it gave us simple but effective guidelines/techniques for interviewing. I like how it was pointed out that we should do research on the topic and the interviewee background because it will help out our research as well as showing respect for the person. Simple but effective. The modules were also helpful because it basically just walked us through the whole process. Of course it will be harder when we try but if we follow the basics I think we will be okay. If we keep in mind what our purpose is then we have a good start. So good luck to everyone else out there!
-Micah
Christina Salacup said
at 12:43 am on Mar 7, 2011
The interview sample under the application 1:Determining the purpose was hilarious. Although that can be acceptable for informal settings which is actually being used by journalists or reporters during an ambush interview. For most cases, it does not work that way. As an interviewer, I need to come prepared by showing that I did my research about the interviewee and the topic. However, I would like to know the etiquette for setting up an interview for the CEO. Is it better to call the main number and request for an appointment than sending an email directly to him or her? Should I follow up if I did not get a response?
Christina Salacup said
at 12:44 am on Mar 7, 2011
Oops, it's only 11:42 pm!
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