How to Choose the Right Interview

Questions

It is important to have the right questions for your interview. Open and closed questions fulfill
different purposes, and are used under different circumstances. Closed questions require short
answers and get statistic data. Open questions require longer answers get more in depth
answers.

[edit] Steps

1. Before an interview it is important to decide what kind of answers you want.Open an

Interview give different answers and serve different purposes. Some questions that help you
find your type of interview is:

o What is the purpose of the interview?

o What kind of facts do you want?
o How do you want to collect the answers, tape recorder or taking notes?
o How do you want to present the material, in diagrams or in a textual form?
o How much do you want the interviewed to control the interview?
o How much control do you want to have?
o Do you want the interviewed to explain why he or she answers the question in a
specific way?
2. When you have answered these questions it is time to consider if open or closed
questions best fulfill your purpose.
o Closed questions require short answers, with one word or one phrase, for
example “yes�? and “no�?. They give you facts, are easy to answer and the interviewer
keeps control over the interview. It is easy to make statistic conclusions from closed
questions; therefore a research project with closed questions requires more interviews.
That gives you a random sample of reality, a statistic foundation. A good example of a
research with close questions is a poll. The interviewer has all the control and asks
questions that everybody can answer rather quickly. The questions are short and do not
leave much room for the interviewed to reflect over the questions. Another way to do
research with closed questions is through a questionnaire that is handed out to a specific
amount of people. Some examples of closed question are:
 Do you think that George W. Bush is doing a good job?
 Do you consider yourself as a conservative or a liberal?
o Open questions: These questions require more information from the interviewed.
That means that the answers contain more than one or two word responses. Open
questions help the interviewer to go deeper and analyze why things are the way they are.
For example, open questions answers not only that a person does not like his or her job,
 but also why he or she does not like it. It gives the interviewed a chance of developing
thoughts and opinions. In a research project with open questions, the researches are
analyzing more deeply and go beyond the surface to find answers. This way of
interviewing often requires that the interview takes place face to face. Some information
does not show in the answers, but in the body language. If the interviewer wants to go
beyond the surface and find out why peoples do or think the way they do it is crucial to
also analyze body language. It is also a good idea to tape the interview; otherwise it is
hard to recognize different tones in the interviewee’s voice, such as irony and excitement.
Since the meaning is to get deep and get (sometimes) sensitive data, it is important that
the interviewed is relaxed. The interview shall take place where he or she feels
comfortable and no one else can hear the conversation. Some examples of open question
are:
 How do you think that George W. Bush could have done a better job?
 What does the liberal ideology mean to you?