Overview of the Interview Essay Process

1. Write your questions.

2. Set up a time to meet with people (you will probably start with at least one in-class interview of
another student).
3. Ask questions and record the answers.
4. Analyze the results.
5. Write your essay. Start with the question followed by a summary and analysis of the questions
and answers.

Interview Essay vs. Research Paper

Interview essays allow you to use people as your sources rather than books. What is especially
helpful in this sort of paper is that you are able to get a first-person viewpoint on a subject, whether
this is about a person's life or something in which they are an expert.

Make the Essay Meaningful: These sorts of papers can be especially meaningful if you write them
about family members or interview people who do a job or activity you would like to try yourself.

Where You Can Find Interview Essays: These papers are familiar to anyone who reads a
newspaper or magazine. While people often interview actors, musicians, or politicians, excellent
essays can be written by talking to ordinary people. Essays that record the life history of ordinary
people are called oral history.

What is friendship? | Source

How Do I Do the Interview?

Pick a Good Question: You will be asking a particular question about a topic of your choice to
several different people. Generally, you will want to choose a topic which is arguable — this means a
topic in which there are varying opinions.

Ask the Question and Give the Person Time to Answer and Explain: What makes this different
from a survey is that you will give the person an opportunity to explain their answer. Often the
interview works better if the question asks something most people have an opinion about.

Ask Follow-Up Questions: In trying to get more information about why people think the way they do
on the topic, you will ask follow-up questions. You should not ask the same follow-up questions to
every person. Instead, you will let your conversation with the person guide you as you develop more
questions that are pertinent to the particular conversation.

Interview in Person

Source
If possible, interview in person or over Skype or Facetime. Seeing a person's expression and hearing
their tone of voice is important. Plus, you can ask extra questions if you don't understand.

Sample Interview Essay Questions

1. What do you do when a homeless person asks you for money?

2. What do you personally do to recycle or be "green?"
3. What are the most important qualities in a friend?
4. Would you add to your family through adoption?
5. What does "beauty" (or art, family, democracy, freedom, friend, etc.) mean to you?
6. What is the most important thing you've learned in college?
 7. What are you most passionate about?
8. What sort of volunteering have you done in the past?
9. What is the most annoying thing a teacher/professor can do?
10. What do you most like/dislike about your physical appearance?
11. How do you think your place in your family has affected your personality?
12. What historical event in your lifetime affected you the most?
13. How do you think people change as they age?
14. What is the difference between someone who is gifted and someone who works hard?
15. Can people change?
16. What was the most important thing you learned from your parents?
17. Who was the person who influenced you the most growing up?
18. Which school subject is most important to learn?
19. How can families stay close?
20. What is the difference between men and women?

Guideline for Conducting an Interview

Below is a guideline of things you should ask and take note of during the interview. These are sample
questions and you may add to them as you try to get the person to give you more information.

1. Name: First and last.

2. Question: Your main question and any major follow-up questions that occur to you.
3. Why do you think so? What are some of your reasons? Are there any other reasons?
4. Why do you think people who take the opposite view would do so?
5. Do any examples come to your mind to illustrate your point?
6. Quotation: Anything you want to quote word for word from them.

Interview an older family member. Use pictures to spark memories. | Source

How to Analyze Interviews

1. Make a list of the reasons given by the people you interviewed and the number of people with
each opinion.
2. Analyze the opinions by asking the following questions and making notes for yourself:
 Is this a positive or negative reason?
 How does this reason compare to other reasons?
 How important or interesting is this reason?
 What do you think of this reason? Is it valid?

How to Organize Your Interview Notes

Organize the reasons into a logical order. Here are a few possible ways to order them:

 least to most important

 positive first, then negative
 negative, then positive
 ones you disagree with, ones you agree with
  ones which are pretty typical, ones which are unusual

Interview Essay Introduction and Conclusion Ideas

Introduction Conclusion

story end of story

scenario reversed scenario

vivid description what you think is most valid

what most people expect the reality

a series of questions your answer

how statistics relate to what your

statistics
interviews said

what you thought people would say your reaction to what they said

how your interviews changed what you

what you think
thought
You can mix and match some of these introduction and conclusion ideas.

How to Outline Interview Paper

Plan the outline of your interview essay based on the ordering of your reasons.

Introduction/Conclusion: Decide how you will begin and conclude your essay. Your introduction
should include the question you asked. Your opening might be suggested by some of the comments
from your interviews or you might want to describe a situation which causes your question. For
example, in a paper about whether you would give money to a homeless person, you could open with
a scenario or story about being approached by a woman in a parking lot and having to decide whether
to give money. You might also use description, statistics, and/or questions in your opening (describe
homeless people in a big city, give statistics, and end with the question you asked in your interview).
You could also begin with a dictionary definition, an appropriate reference to a movie, T.V. show, or
song, or a quote.

Body: List the reasons in order. The body of your essay should follow the order of reasons that you
put together from your notes. Be sure to quote, paraphrase, and summarize your sources. Also be
sure to analyze the connections between reasons and why people might come to those conclusions.

Conclusion: Your response. You will conclude the paper with a paragraph or two explaining which
point-of-view, in your opinion, has the most validity, and why. If none of the viewpoints from your
interviews coincided with your opinion, you should talk about that.
r Research Assignment #3, you will conduct an interview with an individual whose skills, knowledge, or
experiences seem pertinent to the argument of your second essay.

Because interviews impinge not only on your own time as a student but also on the time of an innocent
stranger, it is vital that you prepare yourself adequately in advance. The interviewee will have his or her
own responsibilities, and taking time out of that busy schedule to help a student is an act of generosity.
To repay that kindly deed, you should prepare your questions in advance and be punctual and organized.
If an individual refuses to talk with you, do not badger her, but seek a different respondent for this
assignment.

The interview should have a clear purpose, rather than simply being a "fishing expedition" to see what
facts you turn up. The purpose might be gaining the perspective of an expert or insider within the field,
explaining a tricky or technical issue, or providing the reader with information normally unavailable in
books. You will need to find the interview subject early in the writing process and set up the time in
advance. It is sometimes more convenient to arrange for the interview to take place over the phone or via
e-mail if that is preferable to both parties. You might wish to read Carter McNamara's General
Guidelines for Conducting Interviews before you begin as a supplement to the guidelines below:

REMEMBER:
Prepare your questions in advance before meeting with the interviewee.

This interview is for academic purposes, not the Jerry Springer Show or Hard Ball. Mainstream media of
lowbrow taste often engages in confrontational or aggressive questioning in order to spark disputes,
embarrassment, or scandal. That sort of tomfoolery is both inadvisable and unnecessary for genuine
research. Often mass-media interviews serve primarily as a source of "sound bites," snippets of quotation
that sound neat, but end up water-down or simplifying the debate rather than engaging in a sincere,
nuanced analysis. Collecting sound bites is not your purpose here. You are not inflating your paper with
neat-but-empty catch phrases; you are seeking to understand something better as a part of your argument.
You are seeking to become an expert on the subject at hand.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN:

Think about what sort of person would be a useful candidate for an interview. A professional who works
within the field? An academic who studies that issue in particular? A published author who has already
written books on that topic? A person in the local community who has dealt with this issue in his or her
personal life? Identify that person and make arrangements to contact her. Authors can often be contacted
through the publisher of their books or the editor of their journals (though this may take a week or two).
Scholars can often be contacted through their respective departments, or through campus directories.
Professionals often have listings in the yellow pages of the phone book. Other individuals may be harder
to track down. Allow yourself sufficient time to locate them and set aside a little cash for a high phone
bill if you are contacting someone far away.

WHEN YOU FIRST CONTACT THE INTERVIEWEE TO SET UP

THE INTERVIEW:
1. Explain who you are, why you want to talk to them, and what you wish to find out. The purpose of
that interview should be made clear to the interviewees before you meet them.

2. The interviewees should know in general what sort of questions they will be asked, and approximately
how long the interview will last. (Note that when conducting interviews on the radio or on television,
some reporters will often not let the interviewee know specifically what questions will be asked. The
purpose in this subterfuge is to catch the interviewees off guard, and perhaps make them slip and reveal
more than intended. It makes for good ratings and a dramatic presentation during a live-interview, but
that sort of trick is not appropriate for a scholarly interview; our purpose isn't to impress the audience
with chicanery.)

3. Arrange a time to meet, a time to call them on the phone, or a date for an e-mail exchange. If you meet
face-to-face, pick a fairly public location, but one with few distractions. Let them know how long you
expect the interview to take. Many interviewees will feel most comfortable if you interview them at their
offices, i.e., on their "home-turf" where they are psychologically at ease.

4. Ask to obtain permission in writing to quote the respondents, to cut-and-paste e-mail responses they
write, or to use a tape-recorder during the session if you will be doing any of these activities. You can
type up and mail a form for them to sign, or bring it with you to the interview for their signature. I
include an example below:

Example Form:

"I [respondent's name] hereby give my permission for [student's name] to interview
me and quote my responses in a scholarly research paper. I understand that this
research paper will be submitted to a professor at the University of XXXX. I
understand that I waive any claim to copyright to this material should the student
ever publish it in a scholarly journal or in electronic format online. I understand that
the author [will / will not] maintain my anonymity as a part of this interview. I hereby
give my permission in the form of my signature below."

Signature______________________ Date___________________________

5. Ask if the interviewee has any questions to ask before you begin.

WHEN PREPARING THE INTERVIEW

1. Plan to wear appropriate apparel for the interview. Dress a bit more formally than normal so the
interviewee will treat you seriously and respectfully, rather than dismiss you as some punk college
student who is barging into her life demanding an interview.

2. Prepare a list of questions in advance. Decide if you want an informal, chatty interview (which often
puts interviewees at ease), or a more formal, structured interview (which often is more time-efficient and
covers material more completely).

3. Since relying on one's memory is haphazard, be prepared to record responses in some way. Take a
notebook for jotting down answers, or bring along a partner to take notes. Even better, bring along a tape
recorder and ask permission for the interview to be recorded.

WHEN YOU FIRST MEET THE INTERVIEWEES:

1. Explain any issues of confidentiality. Explain who will get access to their answers and how their
answers will be analyzed. Do note that it is often difficult to promise absolute confidentiality. Court
orders may supersede their request for anonymity if you are interviewing someone who has engaged in
illegal activities (something one should only do with caution--if at all. Professional reporters are paid
good money to interview dangerous individuals, and they have the staff of their publication to help
ensure their safety. College students aren't and don't.)

2. If these comments are to be used as quotes, get written permission to do so.

3. Explain the format of the interview. Explain the type of interview you are conducting, its purpose, and
its nature.

4. Explain how to get in touch with you later if necessary.

WHEN ASKING QUESTIONS:

1. Ask only one question at a time. Don't jumble the response by trying to combine multiple questions at
once.

2. Attempt to remain as neutral as possible. Often researchers suggest that the interviewer should not
show any strong emotional reactions to their responses to avoid altering the responses. One researcher,
Patton, suggests acting as if "you've heard it all before."

3. Encourage and elicit responses with non-committal body language, such as nodding, or murmuring
"uh huh," and so on. Don't suddenly jump up to take notes, or it may seem that you are unusually
surprised about an answer, which may influence the subject's response to the next few questions.

4. Don't let the respondent stray to another topic, but steer them back to the topic at hand with your
questions.

5. Phrase your questions in such a way as to ensure an open-ended response. Don't put words in the
interviewees' mouths, but let them choose their own vocabulary and phrasing when responding.

6. Keep questions neutral in tone. Avoid judgmental wording or evocative language. Asking someone,
"what do you think the effects will be of higher levels of acidity in the Mackenzie" is less likely to direct
a response than, "What do you think the effects will be of callously leaking industrial waste into a
freshwater river?"

7. Word the questions clearly. Make them concise.

8. Pick pertinent inquiries. Part of this is also becoming familiar with the vocabulary of that field or
topic, so you can ask intelligent questions.

9. Use caution when asking "why" questions. This type of question suggests a cause-effect relationship
that may not actually exist. These questions may also invoke a defensive response, e.g., the interviewees
may feel they have to justify their response, which may inhibit their responses to future questions.

OTHER TIPS:
1. Begin the interview with simple, factual questions that the interviewee can easily answer. This will
help put the interviewee at ease, and make her more talkative for later, more complicated questions.

2. A good way to start is to ask about the interviewee's qualifications or knowledge. For example, "How
long have you studied or worked on X?" "What first made you interested in X?" These questions,
called ice-breakers, help establish a rapport with the subject.

3. After easing into the interview with simple questions, you can seek information about personal
opinions or about more controversial issues.
 4. Ask questions about the present before moving into questions about past events or future events.
People have an easier time talking about what is taking place currently than they do recalling the past or
speculating about the future.

4. The last question should be an invitation for the interviewee to add any final points or comments of his
own.

5. If you are using a tape-recorder, check to to see that it is working over the course of the interview.

AFTER YOU ARE DONE:

1. Go over your notes and make sure you can read your writing while it is still fresh in your memory.

2. It is polite to send a thank-you card or letter expressing your gratitude to the individuals interviewed
and offer them a copy of the final paper, if they wish to have one. If your paper is later published, it is
also polite to acknowledge the interviewee's assistance in a section thanking those who helped in the
creation of the paper.

3. Be sure to include an entry for the interview in your Works Cited or Bibliography page of your final
essay.

Congratulations. You have engaged in first-hand research, and found information that may never have
been recorded before in any publication. You are one step closer to becoming an authoritative writer on
this topic. Other writers may end up quoting you and your publications on this matter.

Research Assignment #3:

Turn in to your teacher by Week Eight the following information:

1. Name of the person interviewed

2. Date scheduled for interview

3. A brief explanation of why the interviewee seems like a pertinent source (i.e., what qualifications,
knowledge, or experience does he or she have regarding your topic).

4. A list of a dozen questions for the interview.

In a conversation, when completing a research survey, being interviewed for a job or

working on a homework assignment, you might find yourself presented with a series
of closed-ended or open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions are those which can be
answered by a simple "yes" or "no," while open-ended questions are those which require
more thought and more than a simple one-word answer.

Closed-Ended Questions
If you can answer a question with only a "yes" or "no" response, then you are answering a
closed-ended type of question.
Examples of closed-ended questions are:
 Are you feeling better today?
 May I use the bathroom?
 Is the prime rib a special tonight?
 Should I date him?
 Will you please do me a favor?
 Have you already completed your homework?
 Is that your final answer?
 Were you planning on becoming a fireman?
 Should I call her and sort things out?
 Is it wrong to want to live on my own at this age?
 Shall we make dinner together tonight?
 Could I possibly be a messier house guest?
 Might I be of service to you ladies this evening?
 Did that man walk by the house before?
 Can I help you with that?
 May I please have a bite of that pie?
 Would you like to go to the movies tonight?
 Is math your favorite subject?
 Does four plus four equal eight?
 Is that haunted house really scary?
 Will you be going to Grandmother's house for Christmas?
 Did Dad make the cake today?
 Is there a Mass being held at noon?
 Are you pregnant?
 Is he dead?
Closed-ended questions should not always be thought of as simple questions that anyone
can quickly answer merely because they require a yes or no answer. Closed-ended
questions can also be very complicated. For example, "Is 1 in binary equal to 1 in counting
numbers?" is a closed-ended question that not everyone would be able to quickly answer.

Open-Ended Questions
Open-ended questions are ones that require more than one word answers. The answers
could come in the form of a list, a few sentences or something longer such as a speech,
paragraph or essay.
Here are some examples of open-ended questions:
 What were the most important wars fought in the history of the United States?
 What are you planning to buy today at the supermarket?
 How exactly did the fight between the two of you start?
 What is your favorite memory from childhood?
 How will you help the company if you are hired to work for us?
 What do you plan to do immediately following graduation from college?
 What types of decorations do you plan to have for your friend's birthday party?
 What was your high school experience like?
 How did you and your best friend meet?
 What sights do you expect to see on your vacation?
 How do you go about booking tickets for a flight?
 What were the major effects of World War II for the United States?
 How do you go about purchasing a home?
 What is it like to live in Morocco?
 What is the quickest way to get to the pet store in town?
 Why is it that every time I talk with you, you seem irritated?
 How could I present myself better?
 How do you manage to raise those children alone?
 What is the matter with the people in that class?
 Where are you going to find the time to write all those letters?
 Why can't I come along with you?
 What makes the leaves change color?
 How exactly does one replace the screen to a cellular phone?

Don’t (Closed) Do (Open)

Are you satisfied? How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with this process?

Did it act as you expected? What would (did) you expect to happen when you ... ?

Did you find it? Before a task:

Do you think you would use this?
 Please tell me when you’ve found the item.
 Explain how you would find that.
After a task:
 Where did you find the answer?
 Where was the item?
 What did you find?
How would this fit into your work?
How might this change the way you do that today?

Does that work for you? What do you think about that?

Have you done this before? What kinds of questions or difficulties have you had whe
doing this in the past?
What happened when you did this before?
Please describe your level of experience with …

Is this easy to use? What’s most confusing or annoying about … ?

What worked well for you?

Did you know … ? How do you know ... ?

Do you normally … ? How do you normally ... ?

Did you see that? What just happened?

What was that?

Do you like this? What would you most want to change about … ?
Which things did you like the best about … ?
Did you expect this kind of information to be in there? Before a task:
 What do you expect to see when you … ?
After a task:
 Which (other) kinds of information would likely
in there?

Too narrow: What is the childhood obsesity rate
in Phoenix, AZ?
This is too narrow because it can be answered with a simple
statistic. Questions that can be answered with a "yes" or a
"no" should also typically be avoided.
Less narrow: How does the education level of the parents
impact childhood obesity rates in Phoenix, AZ?
This question demonstrates the correct amount of specificity
and the results would provide the opportunity for an
argument to be formed.

Unfocused and too broad: What are the effects of
childhood obesity in the United States?
This question is so broad that research methodology would
be very difficult and the question is too broad to be discussed
in a typical research paper.
More focused: How does childhood obesity correlate with
academic performance in elementary school children?
This question has a very clear focus for which data can be
collected, analyzed, and discussed.

Too objective: How much time do young children spend
doing physical activity per day?
This question may allow the researcher to collect data but
does not lend itself to collecting data that can be used to
create a valid argument because the data is just factual
information.
More Subjective: What is the relationship between physical
activity levels and childhood obesity?
This is a more subjective question that may lead to the
formation of an argument based on the results and analysis
of the data.

Too simple: How are school systems addressing childhood
obesity?
This information can be obtained without the need to collect
unique data. The question could be answered with a simple
online search and does not provide an opportunity for
analysis.
More Complex: What are the effects of intervention
programs in the elementary schools on the rate of childhood
obesity among 3rd - 6th grade students?
This question is more complex and requires both investigation
and evaluation which will lead the research to form an
argument that may be discussed.

Open-Ended Questions in Customer and Client Interviews

HubSpot wrote an article on open-ended questions and gave this short list
of example questions to ask (specifically in regard to in-person client
meetings):

 What are the top priorities in your business at the moment?

 What are some of the best decisions you’ve made related to

____________?
  How are you feeling about your current situation related to
_____________?

 If we were meeting five (10, 20) years from today, what must happen
for you to feel good about your situation related to ___________?

 What opportunities do you see on your horizon?

 What challenges do you see in making this happen?

 If we were to work together on this, what are the top two or three
outcomes you’d like to see?

 How will you be measuring our success related to these outcomes?

 What’s the biggest risk for you to not make progress on this
situation?

In regards to customer interviews, UserVoice gave these 7 examples, useful

for any product manager:

 What do you think of this product?

 What is the one thing I should do to make things better for you?

 What should we stop doing?

 Can you give me an example?

  Why and Why Not? (always helpful for elaboration)

 What annoys you about this product the most?

 How does or doesn’t this product solve problem X for you?

The 36 Questions That Lead to Love

By Daniel Jones

Jan. 9, 2015

In Mandy Len Catron’s Modern Love essay, “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This,” she refers to a study by the
psychologist Arthur Aron (and others) that explores whether intimacy between two strangers can be
accelerated by having them ask each other a specific series of personal questions. The 36 questions in the
study are broken up into three sets, with each set intended to be more probing than the previous one.

The idea is that mutual vulnerability fosters closeness. To quote the study’s authors, “One key pattern
associated with the development of a close relationship among peers is sustained, escalating, reciprocal,
personal self-disclosure.” Allowing oneself to be vulnerable with another person can be exceedingly difficult,
so this exercise forces the issue.

The final task Ms. Catron and her friend try — staring into each other’s eyes for four minutes — is less well
documented, with the suggested duration ranging from two minutes to four. But Ms. Catron was unequivocal
in her recommendation. “Two minutes is just enough to be terrified,” she told me. “Four really goes
somewhere.”

Set I

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

ADVERTISEMENT

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

4. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60
years of your life, which would you want?

You have 4 free articles remaining.

Subscribe to The Times

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

11. Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

Editors’ Picks

He Committed Murder. Then He Graduated From an Elite Law School. Would You Hire Him as Your Attorney?

Julia Cameron Wants You to Do Your Morning Pages

Behind the Lion Air Crash, a Trail of Decisions Kept Pilots in the Dark

ADVERTISEMENT

Set II

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would
you want to know?
14. Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

16. What do you value most in a friendship?

17. What is your most treasured memory?

18. What is your most terrible memory?

19. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are
now living? Why?

20. What does friendship mean to you?

21. What roles do love and affection play in your life?

22. Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five
items.

23. How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people’s?

Sign up for the Open Thread Newsletter

A look from across the New York Times at the forces that shape the dress codes we share, with Vanessa
Friedman as your personal shopper.

SIGN UP

ADVERTISEMENT

24. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

Set III

25. Make three true “we” statements each. For instance, “We are both in this room feeling ... “
26. Complete this sentence: “I wish I had someone with whom I could share ... “

27. If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for
him or her to know.

28. Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things that you might not say
to someone you’ve just met.

29. Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

30. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

31. Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

32. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

33. If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most
regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?

ADVERTISEMENT

34. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have
time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

35. Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

36. Share a personal problem and ask your partner’s advice on how he or she might handle it. Also, ask your
partner to reflect back to you how you seem to be feeling about the problem you have chosen.
Help! I'm interviewing a scientist, what do I ask?

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

This week, I covered how to interview a scientist for my science communication course at LSU. We talked
about how to prepare for an interview, and what kinds of questions you can ask during an interview to pull out
interesting details about the scientist’s life and work. My students will get to practice what they learned on
Monday, when LSU researchers will be visiting our classroom for “mock” interviews. And naturally, we will be
recording these interviews and sharing them with our interviewees and online!

So how does one interview a scientist? I’ve collected a variety of resources here, including feedback I received
via Twitter after I asked science writers to describe their favorite questions to ask scientists during an
interview.

The Questions

The Origin Story

What are the discoveries that have lead up to your current work? (Ian Street)

The origin story: How did you come up with this hypothesis & what got you interested? (Shelly Fan)

What spurred this study or this question?

So What?

Why is your research important? What are the possible real world applications? (My Sciencey Life)

What kind of response have you gotten to your research / findings? (Christina Scott)

What question or challenge were you setting out to address when you started this work? (Matt Shipman)

And after they've explained their work, I often ask (as nicely as possible): "So what?" or "Why is that
important?" (Matt Shipman)

So the big picture: “What's your assessment of the current state of …? I usually read up on media reporting
and ask their opinion. (Shelly Fan)

Why is your area of scientific discovery important (or relevant) for the ordinary citizen of this country?
(Christina Scott)

What happens next in the process of discovery? (Christina Scott)

Analogies Rock

(Especially for technical fields): Do you have an analogy to help me understand your work? (Ian Street)

Questions that liven up the interview

Describe the day / what you felt when you discovered that … (finding from the research paper, etc.) (Christina
Scott)
What is your favorite aspect of your research?

What is the coolest thing about your work/research?

What is a problem that you solved during your most recent project? (@strangeattractor)

What legislation would you change to improve how science in your field is done? (@strangeattractor)

What do you want to achieve with your research? (Ragnhild Larsson)

Share a turning point or defining moment in your work as a scientist? (Ragnhild Larsson)

How did you end up here? Why did you become a scientist? What drew you to this field? What makes you get
up in the morning? (Ragnhild Larsson)

Questions to ask about science research studies (from How to Talk to a Scientist, by Sally Lehrman)

What has been / was your most important scientific finding? Your most surprising finding?

Are your methods generally accepted? Are they unusual or new?

How do your results compare with others in the area? How much consistency is there generally in this area?

How accurate is your data? What's the level of uncertainty?

How sure are you of your conclusions and interpretation? What else could explain your data? Is there anyone
who interprets the problem differently?

Is there controversy in this area? Other schools of thought?

Are there ways you might profit from your ideas, research or results?

What are the negatives I should know? Who disagrees with your conclusions?

Do you have pet peeves about the way this area is covered?

What's next?

Personal Details

Briefly, what excites you about your work? (Christina Scott)

Tell me what you like to do when you aren't working on research.

Quirky Details

“I like to tease out what they think is most interesting or coolest about the work, whether that’s how they
made the discovery, a surprising setback or a quirky characteristic, say about a new species or fossil organism.”
- Jeanna Bryner, managing editor of LiveScience, via Matt Shipman

“I ask for stories, if they ever had an outcome that was not expected, views on public policy, path taken to
now, inspiration.” (Jane-on-TWR)

Those hard-hitting questions

Can I see your latest institutional COI (conflict of interest) disclosure? (David Kroll)
Interviewing Tips

“Spend time, meet people on their own turf i.e. in the lab/field, be as prepared as you can, listen.” (Veronika
Meduna)

Define your purpose - Be specific. Both parties should have a clear understanding of the purpose of the
interview and who the audience is.

Set a date and time. I find it best to interview via Skype or Google hangout – the audio quality is better for
recording. Set and confirm the time (and time zones!) at least once after making the appointment. If in person
– meet in the lab or field, or other space where research is done!

Ask for images. Once you set up a time for the interview, it’s a good time to ask for potential images for your
story: images of the scientist, images of his/her research, etc. Make sure the scientist has copyright permission
to use the image. (Christina Scott)

Do your research. Search or ask the scientist in advance for links/PDFs of scientific papers they have written, or
news clips about their research or their area of research.

If you are reporting on a study, READ IT first, take notes, and ask questions based on your notes during the
interview.

Be as specific as you can about what you want to know. (Chad Orzel)

Master the art of active listening. Be in tune with where the interview is going, what you’ve got so far and
what other information you need. Listen actively.

Record. Recording the interview (on 2 devices – have a back-up) can help you connect with the interviewee
better than if you have to stare down and write the whole time. Ask for permission to record.

Embrace Silence. Keeping quiet after the scientist asks a question can help them carry on talking and give you
more detail. Don’t rush to fill silence.

Connect. Smile, and look the interviewee in the eyes without staring (e.g. blink and actively engage!)

Be flexible. Don’t let a set list of questions deter you for going on side-tracks – sometimes those side-tracks
give you the best quotes / context. As Deborah Blum says, “some of the best interview moments are
completely spontaneous. So I’ll do research and I’ll write down questions, but I also think a good interview is
akin to good conversation and if you're too rigid in your prep work, too obsessive about your written
questions, you lose those moments where the story may open up into something more.”

Ask open-ended questions.

Say it back. When the scientist explains his or her research or a scientific concept to you, explain in back in
your own words to see if you understand it. The scientist WILL correct you if you don’t!

Run your paraphrases back by the researcher: “So, what you’re saying is…?” or “Would it be fair to say that…?”
(Chad Orzel)

After the Interview

Thank the researcher for their time!

Ask the researcher if he/she has anything more to add.

Ask/tell the researcher you might follow up with questions, to make sure you got the science right.

Don’t stop listening too soon – sometimes the best quotes / material come as the interview is wrapping up,
when the scientist relaxes.
On-camera Interviews (Christina Scott)

The interviewee should be looking at you, not the camera.

If the interviewee starts talking with too much jargon, stop & restart and work with them to translate what
they are saying.

Know your questions in advance. If possible, do a pre-interview off-camera. Talk the scientist through what
you plan to ask.

Make eye-to-eye contact with the scientist the whole time.

Re-word the answer if you don’t understand it: “In other words, the issue is…”

Avoid disrupting sounds.