Discussion Week 4.1 Research Interviews

Conducting research interviews can be a lot of work however a lot of vital information can be obtained that way. When I was in high school I had to interview a relative that was alive during the time of oppression. Because most of my relatives live in Michigan, I had no close relatives to talk to that were alive during that time. In fact the only people that are still alive and were living in those harsh conditions are my great grandparents. Because they live so far, I conducted a phone interview which was actually very successful. The first thing I did was make an outline of what information I needed, and then brainstormed some questions targeted to the information. Also I included some small talk that would have my great grandfather more engaged in the conversation; since we are not very close relatives I wanted him to feel as comfortable as possible. I think the best aspects of the research interview process is to ask questions that are on target and to make the interviewee feel as comfortable as possible that way all the information can be easily obtained.