The secrets of a good interview

Perm HSE held a training session on approaches to research. Assistant Professor at the Sociology Department, Sarah Busse Spencer, PhD, talked about how best to carry out surveys involving the general public so as to be sure to get the data needed.

Perm HSE held a training session on approaches to research. Assistant Professor at the Sociology Department, Sarah Busse Spencer, PhD, talked about how best to carry out surveys involving the general public so as to be sure to get the data needed.

A case study involving NGO and public organizations was developed under HSE Perm’s Public-Private Partnership Research Sector in order to examine this issue. The first part of the training started with a step-by-step course of action for the ideal correspondent. Three main rules of research that are vital in carrying out interviews are: respect the respondent, respect the respondent’s time, and respect the respondent’s choice. Following these three simple rules guarantees success in any survey.

But there is more to efficient data collection than that. For example, ‘on site’ data storage plays a key role. ‘We have a Dictaphone and paper, but that’s not enough. Our brains need to play the role of ‘video-recorder’, watching, observing, and retaining everything we see down to the finest details,’ stressed Sarah Busse Spencer.

Indeed, non-verbal indicators are often vital sources of information for a researcher. They help you understand how willing the respondent is to answering questions, how sincere their responses are, and even helps you select the most appropriate type of dialogue. A knowledge of psychology means that the interviewer has all these aces up their sleeve.

In the second, more interactive, part of the training session, Sarah Busse Spencer gave a practical demonstration of how to properly prepare for and interview, and ran through the basics of research for the training participants.