How Accurate Is This Oral history?
Note of Encouragement
Pinpointing Problems in Your Interview
Questions for Thinking About Your Interview
How Accurate Is This Oral History?
Once a project is under way, we need to assess and ensure the accuracy of the data gathered. We have to face the question: how accurate is this oral history? At the very least, we must be aware of the limitations of oral history in order not to mislead ourselves into believing that oral history automatically yields accurate renditions of past events.
Because oral history depends upon living people as sources, we have limits; we can go back one lifetime. Because oral history uses spoken, not written sources, the allowable evidence expands. Even in the absence of written documentation, we need to be able to record immigrant histories .
W need to consider the inherent weaknesses of oral history. How do we anticipate the failing of human memory? We all know the tricks that memory plays on us, even just trying to recall what happened last week. In recalling memories from a long-ago event, how closely do the memories of the narrator approximate a true rendering of the actual experience?
Questions of accuracy are not unique to oral history. Problems of accuracy hound us no matter what sources of historical data we use. If we understand the characteristics of our sources, however, we have a better chance of controlling the process to minimize inaccuracies. As a methodological balance to oral history, we will enlist other sources of data such as related artifacts, written documentation, and other interviews. A single interview by itself can pose frustrating questions, while an interview in a context of other data can clarify details and create a sense of the whole.
Note of Encouragement
At this point, some people feel overwhelmed. Don't worry! As long as you are aware of the pitfalls, you will be fine. Proceed step-by-step, discover the problems, and work through to the solutions. At the end of an oral history project you will understand the challenges from the inside-out, and you will always look at historical documents of any kind with a wider eye. When in doubt, keep it simple. Part of the process is enjoyment and part of the adventure is learning from mistakes.
Pinpointing Problems in Your Interview
The interviewee...
- is afraid of the recording equipment.
- doesn't believe she has anything of value to tell you, and doesn't understand why you would want to interview her.
- doesn't remember.
- has a series of stock stories that he has developed and is used to telling, almost according to a script. This interviewee is not about to let you deviate from his script.
- is not used to telling her or his story publicly and needs much coaxing and reinforcement. This person needs questions to get warmed up and more questions to keep going.
- does not feel comfortable talking to you about the topics you have in mind.
- meanders through the story, and not according to the beginning-middle-end model that you have in your mind. The memories have a form other than linear time and you have to figure out how to allow the narrator to tell these memories in a way that makes sense to both teller and listener.
- is afraid to give private or personal information and thus gives you information that will preserve his or her public "mask."
- prefers or is used to building and sharing a story with others in a group rather than telling a story solo.
The interviewer...
- is too nervous to think calmly and clearly about what to say next.
- is disorganized.
- is not really listening to what the interviewee is trying to say.
- has expectations about what she or he wants to hear and is closed to other avenues of inquiry.
- appears critical to the interviewee.
- is from a different class or ethnic group than the interviewee and so is behaving and speaking in a socioeconomic "foreign language."
The sound...
- is too faint.
- contains noise that overrides or confuses the voices.
- has more than one person speaking at once.
- is distorted.
Questions For Thinking About Your Interview
- How did we choose the person to be interviewed? Were the people we interviewed the right ones for my research?
- How did I prepare for the interview? Did I prepare enough?
- What did I use for equipment? Did it work satisfactorily? What changes should I make?
- What kinds of questions did I ask? What kinds of questions worked well? Not so well?
- Where did I conduct the interview? What in the environment affected my interview? How?
- Did my subject want to talk? How did I encourage my subject to talk? What "masks" did my subject wear? Did my subject drop the masks?
- When did I tell my subject the purpose of the interview and how it would be used? Did my plans to use the interview seem to matter to the subject?
- How accurate were my subject's memories?
- How accurate was my subject's reporting of her memories? How do I know? Does it matter?
- Who controlled the interview? How?
- How did I feel while interviewing?
- How did my subject feel while being interviewed?
- Would it be useful and possible to return for another interview?
- How do these results affect my original goals? Do I need to adjust my research design?
- Next time, what would I do the same? What would I do differently?
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