The challenge of interviewing

Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to have a lot unstructured interviews with faulty members from the local schools. I have discovered that interviewing can be a lot harder than I had originally anticipated.  This is especially true using the unstructured interviewing format.  I have found the hardest variable to control it the image of the interview.

What I mean by the image of the interview is the perception or feeling of the interview, which can range between a casual conversation and a formal interview.  Thus far most of my interviews have been spontaneous, when teacher or students have an available moment.  When this occurs, I tend to ride a line between casual conversation and formal interviewing depending on my focus in recording their words. I believe that one is more open and willing to reveal their personal opinion in a conversation than in a formal interview.  This is because one is much more aware of his speech when he knows it will be recorded and documented. 

Note taking is a tricky skill because I feel if too much of my attention goes into the writing down notes and the interview becomes more formal and the person I am interviewing feels less comfortable. Also I feel note taking takes away from my ability to show respect from eye-contact and listening tactics.  I feel an important communication skill is active listening and it allows people of feel more open and willing to answer your questions, but when I have to take notes I feel I’m less of an active listener.

This brings me to the idea of using a voice recorder. I like the idea because I don’t have to worry about note taking and I can be an active listener, but it’s impossible to deny that when you are being recorded the thought of it is always in the back of your mind and it can affect reactivity.  But if I were to compare the reactivity of both methods I actually think using a voice recorder would cause less of it.  The only problem is that spontaneous and unstructured interviewing if often not the ideal or most comfortable situation to stop the interviewee and ask permission to use a voice recorder.

I have settled with the plan to use a voice recorder when the interviews are planned, but in spontaneous conversations, it is best to stick with the note taking.