The art of interviewing

—    An introduction and an explanation of purpose are vital.

—    Start with general questions describing the current situation; it is easier for informants to answer and it gives a context and opportunity for focus.

—    Be careful with very ‘big’ questions like: ‘what do you need to learn?’, as such questions are very difficult to answer, and it is very difficult to analyse the response.

—    Develop a dialogue.

—    Be observant.

—    Use open questions (who? where? what? when? why? how?)  - you should not use too many questions starting with ‘why?’ (i.e. don’t put too much pressure on the interviewee).

—    Use simple language.

—    Ask one question at a time.

—    Start with broad subjects and then concentrate on more specific topics.

—    Avoid leading questions.

—    Probe for deeper understanding.

—    Do not ‘supply’ answers.

—    Do not ‘lecture’.

—    Be prepared but flexible.

—    Be clear about the reason you are interviewing a person or a group. Are you inquiring about their training needs, or do you want their opinions about the needs of others with whom they have a relationship?

—    Remember you have to analyse the data. Try to organize your notes/ records in a  simple way - use a checklist or tables to help record data and analyse it later.

—    Keep an open mind- some information a source of data or sensory input, organized or arranged into a pattern which can be interpreted. will be useful for later - other training needs will emerge which you can consider in the future.

—    Remember the effectiveness of training will depend on the infrastructure and the context. So you need to match these and pass on information to others where appropriate.

—    Use methods (especially participatory methods) which can address several questions at once. This helps to relate issues in an integrated way and can be more meaningful to respondents. It can also raise new questions that were not thought of earlier.

—    Use secondary data when possible to avoid gathering information already available; but it is good to double-check accuracy/ validity of secondary data - often statistics are out of date or faulty.

—    The answers to some questions do not lie in the domain of some informants. Identify appropriate informants for the appropriate questions.

Interviewers who follow these basic rules should at least be welcome back in the future!