Introduction

Steps in interviewing

Conducting interviews

Completing
post-
interviewing
tasks

Telephone interviews

Validity &
reliability
issues

Sources
of error

Aids

Establishing rapport

Before starting the interview itself, it is frequently a good idea to engage in some "small talk" about the weather or some recent local event.   Small talk is often the way we start conversations with strangers.   Engaging in small talk can help establish a feeling of trust and confidence between the respondent and you. In research language, this is known as establishing rapport with the respondent. If rapport is not quickly established, some respondents may refuse to be interviewed, or, if they agree, they may not give complete, honest responses.

One's personality is important in establishing rapport with strangers. Interviewers who are warm, friendly, sincere and understanding persons gain trust easily and quickly with most respondents.   In contrast, persons who appear withdrawn, negative, cynical, or cool in their relations with others usually have difficulty getting others to trust them.    If you plan to do interviewing you should assess your personality characteristics against these criteria and take whatever steps you can to become a caring, sincere interviewer.

Ways of establishing rapport are listed in Box 11.1. A few of these points deserve further comment.

Conducting interviews

After rapport is established, you can begin the interview. Following are some guidelines for asking questions. These guidelines are summarized in Box 11.2.

Ask each question exactly as stated on the questionnaire. Interviewing is based on several assumptions.   These are that each question is asked exactly in the same way in all interview sessions; that all respondents understand each question in exactly the same way; and that differences in replies to each questions are due, therefore, to differences among the respondents and to nothing else.   These assumptions are unrealistic, but in research interviewing we strive to come as close as possible to this ideal of perfect communication.

The best way to do this is to ask each question exactly as stated in the questionnaire with the same normal, conversational tone of voice for each question.   Sometimes, however, you may have to depart from this rule.   Occasionally a respondent may not understand a question.    When this occurs, slowly read the question again and give the respondent time to think about it.   Often this is sufficient, but if the respondent still has trouble you might change the wording slightly to help the respondent understand the question.   There is a danger, however, in this procedure.   Changing the wording can also change the meaning of the item. Changes, therefore, should remain as close as possible to the original meaning of the item.

In so far as possible ask all questions exactly in their order on the questionnaire. There may be exceptions to this rule as well. Occasionally a respondent may not be able to answer a certain question: Either he or she cannot or does not want to provide an answer. Rather than stop the interview at this point, you can say something like: "Let's go on and come back to this question later." This flexibility keeps the interview moving in a natural, interactive fashion and is better than insisting on an answer when the respondent is not ready to give one. Later in the interview the respondent may be ready to return to the unanswered question.