RESEARCH METHOD COHEN ok

PLANNING INTERVIEW-BASED RESEARCH PROCEDURES 363
3 Probing on the last remark made by the
informant.
4 Probing an idea preceding the last remark by
the informant.
5 Probing an idea expressed earlier in the
interview.
6 Introducing a newtopic.
This is not to say that the interviewer should
avoid being too directive or not directive enough;
indeed, on occasions a confrontational style
might yield much more useful data than a nonconfrontational
style. Further, it may be in the
interests of the research if the interview is
sometimes quite tightly controlled, as this might
facilitate the subsequent analysis of the data. For
example, if the subsequent analysis will seek to
categorize and classify the responses, then it might
be useful for the interviewer to clarify meaning and
even suggest classifications during the interview
(see Kvale 1996: 130).
Patton (1980: 210) suggests that it is important
to maintain the interviewee’s motivation, hence
the interviewer must keep boredom at bay, for
example by keeping to a minimum demographic
and background questions. The issue of the
interpersonal and interactional elements reaches
further, for the language of all speakers has to be
considered, for example, translating the academic
language of the researcher into the everyday,
more easy-going and colloquial language of the
interviewee, in order to generate rich descriptions
and authentic data. Patton (1980: 225) goes on to
underline the importance of clarity in questioning,
and suggests that this entails the interviewer
finding out what terms the interviewees use about
the matter in hand, what terms they use among
themselves, and avoiding the use of academic
jargon. The issue here is not only that the language
of the interviewer must be understandable to
interviewees but also that it must be part of their
frame of reference, such that they feel comfortable
with it.
This can be pursued even further, suggesting
that the age, gender, race, class, dress, language
of the interviewers and interviewees will all exert
an influence on the interview itself. Bailey (1994:
183) reports that many interviewers are female,
middle-class, white-collar workers, yet those they
interview may have none of these characteristics.
Bailey (1994: 180–2) reports that having women
interviewers elicited a greater percentage of honest
responses than having male interviewers, that
having white interviewers interviewing black
respondents yielded different results from having
black interviewers interview black respondents.
He also suggests that having interviewers
avoiding specific identity with particular groups
or countercultures in their dress (e.g. rings, pins
etc.) should be eschewed (p. 185) as this can bias
the interview; rather some unobtrusive clothing
should be worn so as to legitimize the role of
the interviewer by fitting in with the respondents’
expectations of an interviewer’s appearance. One
can add here that people in power may expect to be
interviewed by interviewers in powerful positions
and it is more likely that an interview with a
powerful person may be granted to a higher status
interviewer. This is discussed fully in Chapter 5.
The sequence and framing of the interview
questions will also need to be considered, for
example, ensuring that easier and less threatening,
non-controversial questions are addressed earlier
in the interview in order to put respondents
at their ease (see Patton 1980: 210–11). This
might mean that the ‘what’ questions precede
the more searching and difficult ‘how’ and
‘why’ questions, though, as Patton (1980: 211)
reminds us, knowledge questions – ‘what’-type
questions – can be threatening. The interviewer’s
questions should be straightforward and brief, even
though the responses need not be (Kvale 1996:
132). The interviewer will also need to consider
the kinds of questions to be put to interviewees,
discussed earlier.
There are several problems in the actual conduct
of an interview that can be anticipated and,
possibly, prevented, ensuring that the interview
proceeds comfortably, for example (see Field
and Morse 1989):
avoiding interruptions from outside (e.g.
telephone calls, people knocking on the door)
minimizing distractions
Chapter 16