An Introduction to Research Processes

Back to Finding Sources in the Field

People in all walks of life are often willing, sometimes even eager, to talk to a college student writing a research paper. Many, you may find, will seem flattered by your attention. Interviews — conversations with a purpose — may prove to be your main source of material. Choose your interview subjects carefully. Whenever possible, try to arrange an interview with an expert in the field you are researching. Or if you are researching a particular group of people, interview a typical member of the group, someone who may or may not have any special knowledge of the field but is representative of the group.

Regardless of who you interview, preparation is central to conducting a good interview. Chapter 4 of the Bedford Guide to Writing, "Writing from Conversation," offers advice that may come in handy here:

1. Make sure your prospect is willing to be quoted in writing.
2. Plan an appointment for a day when the person will have enough time — if possible, an hour — to have a thorough talk with you.
3. Appear promptly, with carefully thought-out questions to ask.
4. Really listen. Let the person open up.
5. Be flexible and allow the interview to go in unanticipated directions.
6. If a question draws no response, don't persist and make a nuisance of yourself; just go on to the next question.
7. Make additional notes right after the interview to preserve anything you didn't have time to record during the interview.

In an interview, be sure to take notes so that later, when you reconstruct events in your paper, your memory of the interview will be accurate. Even if you use a tape recorder, you should take notes. This will allow you to distill the most important information as you interview. In addition to recording important points and quotations, you should record any telling details that might prove useful later — the interviewee's appearance, the setting, the mood, any notable gestures. All of these details will be useful as you work with your sources to write the paper.

For ease of note taking, we suggest you use a small journalistic notebook with a spiral at the top. Because you will be conducting an interview at the same time you're taking notes, use abbreviations as you take notes. At the end of the interview be sure to confirm all direct quotations.

If you can't talk to an expert in person, your next best resource may be a telephone interview. Make a phone appointment for a time convenient for both you and your interviewee. A busy person whom you call during a working day may not be able to give you a half hour of conversation on the spur of a moment, and it is polite to ask for a time when you may call again. You will waste the person's time (and yours) if you try to wing your interview; have written questions in hand before you dial. Take notes.

Federal regulations, by the way, forbid recording an interview over the phone without notifying the person who is talking that you are recording his or her remarks and without using a recorder connector with a warning device that emits a beep signal every fifteen seconds.