More Interviewing

Developing the Interview

This American Life

To The Best of our Knowledge

Ira Glass and an interesting page on storytelling. 

Part One – The agenda

• Determine the purpose or goal of the interview.
• Develop a brief statement that tells why this interview is being conducted.
• Specifically identify how this information will be used.
• Make a list of the information required.
• Draft questions that, when answered, will provide the necessary information to satisfy your goal. 

Part Two – Structure the interview

• Funnel Approach – Move from general to specific questions. This lets the interviewer discover the interviewee’s frame of reference. Move from open-ended questions to more closed questions with restrictive responses.
• Inverted Funnel – Move from specific to general. Forces the interview to think through specific facts before giving a general answer.
• Chain-link – Takes longer as it asks more probing questions. Sequence ends with a mirror or summary question which ensures accurate understanding interviewer and allows the interviewee to clarify, confirm or modify the information.
• Tunnel Sequence – These questions force a choice because the interviewee is given finite possibilities. Either/or, agree/disagree, approve/disapprove questions.

Part Three – Questions and questioning techniques

• Open questions – questions of feeling, perspective, prejudice or stereotypes
• Closed questions – yes/no tunnel sequence often needs more open and probing questions to round out the interview.
• Probing questions – Follow-up question on vague, superficial or inaccurate information.

• Elaboration – “What happened next?” “Could you go into that more?” “How did you feel about that?”
• Clarification – “What do you mean by the word BLAH?” “Could you provide examples of what you mean by BLAH?”
• Repetition – When the interview didn’t hear or is trying to evade the question. Repeat the question exactly as originally stated.
• Confrontations – Calls attention to inconsistencies, misinterpretations or contradictions. These are best asked at the end of the interview after ideas are established from open and closed questions.
• Mirror statements – Reflective or summary statements that indicate if the interviewee is being understood. “In other words you are saying . . .” Let me see if I am understanding you . . .”
• Neutral phrases – Demonstrates attention, indicates interest and encouragement to keep people talking. “Oh” “I see” “Go on” “Wow” “And then?”
• Silence – A powerful probe that gives both the interviewee and the interviewer time to think. Don’t rush through as this may be the only opportunity to talk with this person. Silence distinguishes the novice from the skilled interviewer.

Here is how it all comes together. Listen to Ira Glass. It is worth it!

The basics of a good interview: 

1. Even if you have a chance to record an interview, back it up with notes in your notebook. You never know when technology will fail you.

2. Learn as much as you can about the subject – time permitting – BEFORE you conduct the interview. Go in prepared.

3. Bring into the interview a list of questions in the general order you want to ask them. You may want to save a tougher question until the end.

4. During the interview, do not be tied to your list of questions. Listen, listen and listen. Let the subject know you are listening by maintaining eye contact, nodding your head, leaning forward and taking notes.

5. Write down in your notebook the key words and phrases you will need for writing your story.

6. If the subject is speaking too fast, don’t be afraid to say “Please give me a second; I want to write that down.” Or, “That sounds important; can you please say it again?”

7. As soon as you can after the interview, look at your notes. Fill them out from memory. Type them out on a data sheet so you can get at them more easily.

8. Annotate your notes. That is, mark them with stars or arrows or marginalia such as “this quote good for end of story.”

9. Don’t just write down what you hear, write down what you see.

10. Be polite and respectful, even to subjects who may be grumpy or difficult to deal with.

11. Arrive early to check out the scene; stay late to gather final thoughts.

12. Call back a source to gather something you missed or to check the accuracy of something you are not sure of.

Three bonus tips:

*Ask one question at a time. This isn’t multiple choice.

*Ask open-ended questions, not ones that can be answered yes or no.

*Be patient. Don’t break the silence with a new question.

Just shut up . . .

Find at least one person per section to interview. (I won't cry over more.)

Go to the Popular Culture/American Culture site to start to look for experts.
You can also try IMBD.
You can also try finding the people who write, podcast, film or anything else about your artifact and the issues surrounding it.

Thinking about Critical Analysis

Thinking about Critical Analysis

• The steps below are only in a suggested order.  Prepare by reading/watching/listening to all material thoroughly. Understanding what you have to analyze is crucial. As you read, make notes of the following:

• Identify the author’s thesis. What is she arguing for/against?
• Identify the context of the argument. Why is he arguing this?
• Do they offer a solution to the problem(s) they raise? Does it seem plausible?
• Note any supporting evidence and all of the main ideas. How does the author support her argument?
• What kind of appeals does the author make in order to persuade the reader? For example, does he use: pathos (appeal to emotion), logos (appeal to reason/logic), and/or ethos (appeal to credibility)?
• Note your responses to the reading. Do any questions arise? How effective does the artifact appear?

Essential Questions for Each Specific Critical Perspective

When viewing a text through a specific critical lens, use these questions to guide your analysis. 

 Deconstruction Essential Questions:

• What is the relationship of the title to the rest of the work?
• What words need to be defined?
• What relationships or patterns do you see among any words in the text?
• What are the various connotative meanings words in the text may have?
• What allusions, if any, are in the text?
• What symbols, images, and figures of speech are used?
• What is the tone of the work and from what point of view is it being told?
• What tensions, ambiguities, or paradoxes arise within the text?
• How do all the elements of the text support and develop the overall theme?

Social Class Essential Questions:

• Whom does it benefit if the work or effort is accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
• What is the social class of the author?
• Which class does the work claim to represent?
• What values does it reinforce?
• What values does it subvert?
• What conflict can be seen between the values the work champions and those it portrays?
• What social classes do the characters represent?
• How do characters from different classes interact or conflict?

Cultural Criticism Questions:

• How are events' interpretation and presentation a product of the culture of the author?
• How does the text function as part of a continuum with other cultural texts from the same period?
• How can we use a literary work to "map" the interplay of both traditional and subversive discourses circulating in the culture in which that work emerged and/or the cultures in which the work has been interpreted?
• How does the work consider traditionally marginalized populations?

Gender Conflict Essential Questions:

• How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?
• What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)?
• How are male and female roles defined?
• What constitutes masculinity and femininity?
• How do characters embody these traits?
• Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them?
• What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy?
• What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy?
• What does the work say about women's creativity? Men’s ambition? The androgynous dichotomy?
• What does the history of the work's reception by the public and by the critics tell us about the operation of patriarchy?
• What role does the work play in terms of gender literary history and literary tradition?

Psychoanalytic Criticism Essential Questions:

• How do the operations of repression structure or inform the work?
• Are there any oedipal dynamics - or any other family dynamics - at work here?
• How can characters' behavior, narrative events, and/or images be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts of any kind (for example...fear or fascination with death, sexuality - which includes love and romance as well as sexual behavior - as a primary indicator of psychological identity or the operations of ego-id-superego)?
• What does the work suggest about the psychological being of its author?
• What might a given interpretation of a literary work suggest about the psychological motives of the reader?
• Are there prominent words in the piece that could have different or hidden meanings? Could there be a subconscious reason for the author using these "problem words"? 

Think about getting intimate (brown chicken, brown cow)

Here is a great site for people working on a dissertation but it works your project, too. 

This is an important way to think about your project.

But don't fall in love with all of your ideas and here is why:

From the site GearFire

Consume relevant content.

The first step is to expose yourself to material related to your subject more regularly. You can do this in a passive way with not much effort by incorporating your topic into your feed reader or listening to the radio.

• Find and follow relevant blogs and podcasts. New material will be delivered straight to your feed reader or iTunes. This is an easy and non-intrusive way to begin filtering the subject matter into your life. (Aspiring maths students, for example, might enjoy Vi Hart’s blog, The Math Dude, or Tim Harford’s podcast More or Less.)
• Keep up to date. It’s easy to set up a Google Alert to keep on top of recent developments. Tracking tags on popular blogging and bookmarking sites like WordPress or Delicious can also lead to some interesting discoveries. (Try tracking geology or programming, for example.)
• Find and use small pockets of time. The ten minutes before class or the bus ride to work may as well be useful: keep your iPod or Kindle stocked up with podcasts, e-books, and articles to read during your free moments. You could also try borrowing books or magazines from friends, teachers, or your library.

Repurpose “time-wasting” sites and make them work for you.

BLABLA

As students, we are constantly trying to spend less time on Facebook, Twitter, forums, and blogs. Tools like LeechBlock and Chrome Nanny help us curb those habits, but what if we could use them to our advantage?

• Create a Tumblr blog centered around a subject. Keep your eyes peeled for new and interesting content—you never know what you might find! A project like this allows you to view the subject through other people’s eyes—and no post is too silly! (This is particularly good for music students. Searching for content for my own flute-related Tumblr, F Yeah, Flute! has inspired me to practice and introduced me to heaps of new and amazing pieces.)
• Use Twitter creatively. Of course, you can follow professionals and leaders in your field, and interact with classmates, but what about practicing your conversational foreign language skills in small, manageable chunks (the Esperanto community is especially friendly); or tweeting from the persona of a character (like Hamlet) or historical figure (like Edgar Allan Poe)?
• Participate in relevant forums. Two of the most effective ways to learn are by teaching somebody else or by participating in a discussion. Australian students completing their HSC or VCE can use the Bored of Studies forums to help other students with their questions and solidify their understanding of a topic, and students in other areas may be able to find similar online mediums.

Find ways to confront yourself with material.

The more often you see that formula, the more likely you are to remember it! Plaster your life with constant reminders, facts, and figures.

• Put up posters in the places you frequent or see often. The poster on the toilet wall is a tried-and-tested approach—and the entire household can learn together! Other places you could consider include your bedroom wall (or even roof), the front of your planner, or the fridge door. 

Exposing yourself to a wider range of material has the potential to deepen your appreciation, passion, and understanding of and for your subject—and is an easy, quick and unobtrusive way of utilizing the tools you already use. I hope it helps you look at your studies in a new and unique way!

The Project

By the end of the semester you will have a fully curated project on the mass media artifact of your choice. You will also create a presentation detailing what you learned at the end of the semester. It sounds like a lot but this project will be broken into sections over the semester and will be the central focus of each assignment.
This semester-long project will be a journey into a mass media artifact that will span time and topics. The purpose of this journey is three-fold:

1.     To learn the artifact’s expanse – this means learning to look at something to see how it has radiated out and influenced our four main topics. This is an analytical skill.

2.     To learn to see the unexpected – this means discovering either the genesis of the genesis or another unexpected outcome of the artifact. This uses both evaluative and creative skills.

3.     To learn the application of the artifact – this means looking at your artifact and seeing the applications over time. This is cultivating evaluative skills.

Over the course of the semester there will be three-page mini papers due that will culminate into the final project. Each will focus on a different topic. Within each topic you can use our analytical lens to help you explain:

Introduction (The background and plan for what you are going to talk about)

Historical (When and where did this artifact first reach an audience? How is it situated in time?)

Social (How did the public receive the artifact? What about the critics?)

Culturally (Where does the artifact show up in culture since its initial presentation?)

Politically (Did this artifact any bearing on the political scene? How was it used in legislation or did it influence the way politicians created a platform?)

Rhetorical: This is the meat of what you think the artifact is about and your views of what you see through your 2020 lens.

Conclusion (What can be “said” about this artifact and what have you learned about its significance? How did you answer the question about your artifact?)

Bibliography (This is the list of sources you used in completing this project)

The technical needs of this project: 

1. Create a annotated bibliography of 40-50 entries.
2. Develop a research question based on the readings about your artifact.
3. Create sections that will contain at least one original interview to compliment your research.
3. Each section will contain photos, graphs, audio, video, infographics, or maps based on what the content calls for 
4. You will choose a format to present your information (iBook or website)
5. Best of the best will present this information at the SU research summit in April.

Content Curation and 20 Resources to Help You Do It

The Project Proposal

2-3 pages (Think of this as notes towards your introduction)

Times New Roman 12 Double space 

1.     Explain the artifact you are choosing to research

2.     Explain your interest/personal background about the artifact

3.     Explain some of the general issues you want to know about this artifact

a.     The historical time period

b.     The cultural web of significance

c.      Why is this particular artifact is important

d.     Why it is it still important
e. What is your question based on the given from your research circle of inquiry 

Annotated Bibs

One of the requirements of this project is an annotated bib of 40 sources.
That means you will look at 80-100 sources to see what works for you based on your givens and you central questions.
Take a look at Purdue's OWL. It is a great resource and will give you some background on style.

This is a site from Cornell about how to evaluate sources. 

This is helpful from the University of Maryland.

The bib is not for me it is a tool for you to use. When you are working with this much material you need to be able to keep track of it. Let me give you an example.

My project is the movie Inherit the Wind.
There are several themes working at once in this project

• McCarthyism
• Darwinism
• Cold War 
• Change of medium from play to movie
• Intentions of the author 
• Interpretations of the audience
• The fictionalization of real people
• The fictionalization of a real event

My central questions are:

 "What happens when we exchange one historical moment to explain another? Is it ethical to fictionalize a historic moment like the Scope Monkey Trial to make a completely different political point 30 years after the fact? Does the author "owe" anything to the truth of history?"

So I saw the movie three times. Read the play before and after each viewing. Read reviews of the movie from the time period. Watched remakes of the movie. Read interviews by the playwrights. Read about McCarthyism (because that is what the play was about) Read about Darwinism and the Scope Monkey Trial (because that is the historical moment the play is based on) and THEN I started to write the paper. Get it? Before then I had nothing to say. I didn't know enough to say anything but puke out what other people have said before. You want to do something that only you can do because this is your interpretation.

So when I come across a source I can't just puke it down and say "There is my source!" You need to make a note (an annotation) about:

• What the source says
• How and where you plan to use this information
• Make note of the direct quote or your summary information of it
• Where to look (very important) Tell yourself the quote is on page three of 10 second paragraph. Trust me. You will be happier when you know where to find the things you have worked so hard to unearth. When the numbers get this high I guarantee you that you will not remember why you wanted to use something or what way important about it.
• If it is not an electronic source (gasp) then you will have to write it all down and make sure you get everything that you need. 

Any questions?