Sources of Information: Teddy's tips for a Personal Interview

Interviews are very useful in order to obtain views and opinions from different sources for your project. Primary sources are always useful both for information and also obtain various slants that you may not have been aware of. If your topic is a debated subject then interviews can be extremely useful to either back up your line of argument, or to provide an alternative side that you can address. However, there are also many drawbacks that one must be wary of when using personal interviews in their project.

• Bias; an interview with a Primary Source (someone who was there at the time) will always be biased towards or against the topic. One must acknowledge this when interviewing.
• Emotion; the topic of the interview could be a raw area for the interviewee; as the interviewer you will need to be constrained and slightly removed in order to control the conversation.
• Authority; beware of the interviewee controlling the direction of the interview. You must be able to stick to your questions and get what you want out of the interview. Don't be bullied into otherwise.
• Topic; the best source of information may not arise from a personal interview. They are difficult to organise and may not be worth the effort if all you are after from them is some facts that could have been obtained elsewhere.

 If you remember to avoid these possible pitfalls (B.E.A.T.) then your interview should be useful for your project. Here are some more points that may help you in the interview itself.

• Waiting for the answer; pausing is one of the most effective interviewing techniques, especially if the topic is a much debated subject. Ask a probing question, and after their often short reply, pause. This often has the effect of the interviewee becoming uncomfortable, and hastening to fill the silence with unprompted justification for their answer. From this you can gleam their true position on the subject.
• Investigate; do not be afraid to ask long questions. You are not their to chew the cud, get stuck in. However, by the same token, do not be too blunt or offensive with your questions (E of BEAT), but correctly worded questions can avoid offending whilst still reaching deep for an answer.
• Note; make sure you have lasting information from your interview. Either film it, record it or take notes through out - these will be much more effective than your memory alone, and much more useful in the long run when you may need to refer back to the interview.

If you hold onto these points whilst interviewing, you should be on for a W.I.N.!