Respondent may pretend to know the information so that he will not appear ignorant

purpose of the interview

Manageable number the group of respondents who are to be interviewed.

1. Be sure the questions are clearly related to the purpose of the interview. If no relevance is apparent. the respondent is likely to become suspicious or irritated and stop providing useful information. Therefore, if the relevance of a question is not evident, explain why you are asking it.

2. certain the informant has the information: you want. Even though we have been careful to select only those people we believe to be informed in the areas relevant to our intelview, our questions occasionally may stray into areas about which the informant knows relatively little. When this occurs, a tariety of responses may follow: the respondent may pretend to know the information so that he will not appear ignorant; she may become annoyed that we have had the bad taste to ask about things with which she has no concern; or she may frankly admit that she does not know and the interview staggers on.

3. Void questions that are overly complex. Too often questions become mini-speeches that only allow the questioner to state his own opinions and ideas. Following a recent Super Bowl game, an interviewer posed a question to winning quarterback that went something like this: "What did you think of their defense? It looked to me like they were in a rotating zone coverage with occasional man-to-man. But they blitzed every third and long situation. I would have gone to some screen passes or draw plays, but you threw to your tight end. Why?" The quarterback thus had a choice of questions to which he could respond, plus the opportunity to argue with te strategy posed by the interviewer. Not renowyed for hIS quick thinking, and perhaps confused by thIS alTay of alternatives, the quarterback answered, "Huh?" To avoid such uninformative answers, the interviewer should ask onl one question at a time and state it as simply and stnughtforwardly' as possible.

4. Avoid questions which ask the respondent to violate a social norm. For example, the norm that we ought to be modest may Cause an interviewee to provide an inadequate response to a question asking him to evaluate himself or his behaviour; norms governing the types of topics discussed in society may hinder one's willingness to discuss questions related to sex income, death, or other personal areas of one's life. If such questions are not vital to the interview, avoid them. If they are necessary, wait until late in the interview to ask them and phrase them a delicately as possible.

Closing: When the questioning has ended, we should offer a brief, planned statement that indicates if and when the results of the interview will be available. In addition, we should provide the interview with an opportunity to ask any questions she may have concerning the interview or its purpose, and we should express our appreciation for her cooperation. Leaving the interviewee with a positive feeling is important; we may wish to obtain' furher information from her again, and her willingness at that time will be affected by what has happened in . this
situation. And if we are representing an organization, the. feeling she has for that organization will be influenced by our interview. It is in our interests to do everything possible to leave on good telms.