Research interviews

What experience do you have conducting research interviews? What went well? Share experience

In high school I did a research interview on a person who was born outside the U.S. This was the only one I have ever done. I believe it went well for being my first interview but there is need of much improvement. First off, I wasn’t that prepared because I didn’t know how to ask the right questions or how to get the right answers. Because of this I had to have a second interview to straighten up the information. What I learned was that you need to be thoroughly prepared to interview someone. Have some questions set out with follow up questions. Ask open ended questions as it can keep a conversation going. Remember that you need to have a purpose to the interview and need for some specific information. When I conducted the interview, I had lots of primary questions, but very few secondary questions. But what saved me was the leading questions I asked in the second interview after I had basic information from the first interview. Next time I have an interview I will set out an interview guide as suggested in the reading. This will help me stay on topic as well as asking the right questions. It is basically a play by play of how the interview will end up. Also, I will do a better job of applying the information. This will be easier as I will have more appropriate information to use for my speech or presentation.