II. Important Guidelines

II. Guidelines

Oral History Reminder List
How Do I Ask the Questions?

Oral History Reminder List

1. Decide your research goals and determine how this oral history will help you reach them. You may find that your goals change, however, focus on the task at hand and follow the guidelines.
2. Conduct preliminary research using non-oral sources (internet, archival documents).
3. Define your population sample. How will we select the people you will interview? Contact potential interviewees, explain your project, and ask for help.
4. Assess the equipment that will fit our purposes. Research the kind of recording equipment available and become familiar with its use.
5. Use an external microphone for better sound quality. This also applies to video.
6. Test your equipment beforehand and get to know how it works under various conditions.Practice using your equipment before you go to the real interview.
7. Compile a list of topics or questions.
8. Practice interviewing.
9. Make a personalized checklist of things you must remember to do before, during, and after the interview.
10. Verify your appointment a day or two before the interview.
11. On the day of the interview, give yourself extra time to get there.
12. Interview and record in a quiet place. When setting up, listen for a moment. Make adjustments, such as stopping the noisy ticking clock in the background, putting out the dog that’s barking noisily in the next room, and closing the door on the noisy traffic.
13. Make sure the interviewee understands the purpose of the interview and how you intend to use it. This is not a private conversation.
14. Start each recording with a statement of who, what, when, and where you are interviewing.
15. Listen actively and intently.
16. Speak one at a time.
17. Allow silence. Give the interviewee time to think. Silence will work for you.
18. Ask one question at a time.
19. Follow up your current question thoroughly before moving to the next.
20. Usually ask questions open enough to get "essay" answers unless you are looking for specific short-answer "facts."
21. Start with less probing questions.
22. Ask more probing questions later in the interview.
23. Wrap up the interview with lighter talk. Do not drop the interviewee abruptly after an intense interview.
24. Be aware of and sensitive to the psychological forces at work during the interview.
25. Limit interviews to about one to two hours in length, depending on the fatigue levels of you and your interviewee.
26. In general, don't count on photos to structure your interview, but you can use them as initial prompts. Feel free to ask the interviewee to prepare artifacts for viewing.
27. Label and number all recordings immediately.
28. Have the interviewee sign the release form before you leave
29. After the interview, make field notes about the interview.
30. Write a thank-you note.
31. Have a system to label and file everything.
32. If the interviewee allows you to borrow photos, copy them immediately and return the originals. Handle all photos by the edges and transport them protected by stiff cardboard in envelopes. Make photocopies for an interim record.
33. Copy each interview to a hard drive. Store the original in a separate place and use only the duplicate.
34. Transcribe or index the recordings. Assign accession numbers to recordings and transcripts. Make copies of all work. Store separately.
35. Analyze the interview. Verify facts. Compare your results with your research design. Did you get what you need? What further questions do the interview results suggest? What improvements in your method do the interview results suggest?
36. Go back for another interview if necessary.
37. If you decide to, give the interviewee a copy of the recording or transcript. Ask for transcript corrections and a release form.
38. Make provisions for long-term storage.

How do I ask the questions?

1. In general, have a list of topics in mind, not specific questions, word-for-word, and not a specific sequence. You may, however, want to have a start-up list of questions to get your interviewee and yourself comfortable before you change to your topic list.
2. Do plan the topic and form of your first substantial question after the "settling down" phase. Ask a question that will prompt a long answer and "get the subject going."
3. Ask easy questions first, such as brief biographical queries. Ask very personal or emotionally demanding questions after a rapport has developed. End as you began, not with bombshells, but gently with lighter questions.
4. Ask questions one at a time.
5. Allow silence to work for you. Wait.
6. Be a good listener, using body language such as looking at the interviewee, nodding, and smiling to encourage and give the message, "I am interested."
7. If necessary, use verbal encouragement such as "This is wonderful information!" or "How interesting!" Be careful, however, not to pepper the interview with verbal encouragement such as "uh-huh," said at the same time that the interviewee is speaking.
8. Ask for specific examples if the interviewee makes a general statement and you need to know more. Or you might say, "I don't understand. Could you explain that in more detail?"
9. Ask for definitions, and explanations, and spellings if necessary, of words that the interviewee uses and that have critical meaning for the interview. For example, ask a horseman what he means by the shaft of the buggy. How was it used? What was its purpose?
10. Rephrase and re-ask an important question several times, if you must, to get the full amount of information the interviewee knows.
11. Unless you want one-word answers, phrase your questions so that they can't be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." Don’t ask, "Were you a farmer on Denny Hill during the 1930s?" Ask stead, "What was it like farming up on Denny Hill during the 1930s?" Ask "essay" questions that prompt long answers whenever you can. Find out not only what the person did, but also what she thought and felt about what she did.
12. Ask follow-up questions and then ask some more.
13. Be flexible. Watch for and pick up on promising topics introduced by the interviewee, even if the topics are not on your interview guide sheet.