Technique Isn’t Everything, But It Is a Lot

1. Technique Isn’t Everything, But It Is a Lot 9310006A Wendy 9310030A Maggie 9310046A Irene 9310034A Venus 9310052A Grace Instructor: Mavis Shang Date: April, 23, 2008

2. Listen More, Talk Less • Listening is the most important skill in interviewing. • Interviewers must listen on at least 3 levels: 1. listen to what the participant is saying 2. listen to the “inner voice” 3. listen while remaining aware of the process and the substance ― like good teacher

3. Take notes: 1. help interviewers concentrate on what the participant is saying 2. keep interviewers from interrupting the participant

4. Follow up on what the participant says 1. Follow-up= additional remark or footnote a. ask for clarification b. seeks concrete details c. requests stories.

5. 2. interviewer’s basic work- a. listen actively b. move the interview forward as much as possible 1. what the participant has begun to share

6. Ask questions what you do not understand 1. do not understand a. context, specific referent, chronology 2. slide or ignore a. saying may confuse interviewer about the context 1. interviewer might miss the significant part

7. 3. ask questions a. respect attitude 1. let participants know you’re concentrate on listening to their saying b. encounter vague words Ex: Q: How do you feel about peer feedback? Pa: It’s so so! Ask a further question: What is so so?

8. Ask to hear more about a subject • Ask further questions 1. feel unsatisfied with what they have heard 2. don’t hear the entire story 3. get the generalities 4. emotional phrase Ex: Pa: I regret it! (text book example) Ask a further question: What do you regret? * Give participant a chance to go step further in her story.

9. Explore, don’t probe • Avoid to use “probe” to present the skill of following up on what participants saying 1. sharp instrument a. treating the participant as an object • Too little exploration 1. Interviewer will unsure participant’s meaning in the material which he or she gathered. * That’s why we need to follow up on what participant saying, and make them say something detailed as much as possible.

10. Listen more, Talk less, and ask real questions 1. Real Question : the interviewer cannot anticipate the response • Avoid leading questions 1.Intonation E.g. “Your parents pushed you to study, didn’t they?” “How is your study situation or environment?”

11. Ask Open-ended Questions • Does not presume an answer 1. “Grand tour”– reconstruct a special segment of the whole story a. Mini-tour– more detail, more specific 2. More on the subjective experience of the participants E.g. “What was that like for you?”

12. Follow up, don’t interrupt 1.Jot down the key words E.g. “Would you talk more about….” • Ask participants to talk to you as if you were someone else 1. a skill to close to your participants 2. role-playing approach works E.g. If I were….what would you said?

13. Ask participants to tell a story • To ask participant to tell a story about what they discussing • Why ? 1. to convey experience concretely 2. to be memorable • To Use sparingly, not often

14. Keep participants focused and ask for concrete details • Keep participants focused on the subject of the interview 2. Ask for concrete details concrete details→ experience→ attitudes and opinions

15. Do not take the ebbs and flows of interviewing too personally • The first interview: share experience a lot • The second interview: be not willing to share as much as before (shouldn’t expect that they will share a lot as the first interview) • The third interview: allow participants sharing experience within which they are comfortable

16. Share experience on occasion • Sharing our own experience that connect to the experience of the participant, it may encourage the participant continue to say more something.

17. Ask participants to reconstruction, not to remember O“What happened?” “What was your ….experience like?” ↓ X “Do you remember what …experience was like?”

18. Avoid reinforcing your participants’ responses • Avoid saying short affirmative response to almost every statement from the participants Ex: “uh huh” or “O.K.” or “yes” • To refer later in an interview to something participants said earlier

19. Explore laughter 1.something is funny 2. participants may be nervous or ironic • We should write in notes, “laughter?” and later go back to check the original meaning in the interview

20. Follow Your Hunches • Follow your hunches! • Trust your instincts! • Try to ask difficult questions • Try to feel participants’ feelings Pay attention verbal and nonverbal cues

21. Use an Interview Guide Cautiously Interview guide? • Interviewers will depend on some preset forms of interviewing. • It depends on situation. • should ask questions that reflect areas of interest to them. • avoid manipulating participants to respond. • avoid imposing own interest on the experience of the participants.

22. Tolerate Silence • Be patient in the silence Useful ways: • play back an interview tape • record how much time the interviewer gives the participants to think

23. Conclusion Effective questioning • flows from an interviewer’s concentrated listening. • engage what is being said with interest • purpose in moving forward ＊Genuine interest • Must be aware that other’s stories