history is fun

Preparing for the Interview

Questions to Ask
Before conducting an interview, plan the questions you want to ask. Start by reviewing the research questions your group wants to answer. Then, write down the questions (you could use those you have prepared) to gather information about the research topic you are studying. Think of things people can tell you about their first-hand experiences with your research topic. Write questions that will require more than a Yes or No answer.
For example, the second question will get better results than the first:
· Did you have an enjoyable childhood?
· Tell me about your childhood.
When your list of questions is complete, role play your interview questions with your partners. Are the questions clear and easy to understand? Do the questions give you the answers you are looking for?

Finding Someone to Interview
Your teacher will explain how to contact and meet interview subjects. You must be prepared with ideas for people to interview. For example, if your research topic is a Chinese temple, you could interview either a caretaker or a devotee. It is advisable that you should interview someone who has been there for years so that she/he would be able to share more with you from those experiences.
If all efforts to locate an interviewee failed, think of grandparents, parents and neighbours. A person studying a traditional performing art can interview his parents on their encounters with those performances.

Recording the Interview
It would be better if you use a tape recorder for your interview. However, if you don’t have one, be prepared to take down everything that the interviewee says. This is more laborious.

Conducting the Interview
Interview Manners
Here are some pointers for good interview manners:
· Be on time.
· Be prepared. Have your questions ready, your notebook out, and your equipment in good working order.
· Be polite. Say please and thank you and address people formally (using Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, and so on).
· Provide time for the person to answer questions. Be patient when answers take a long time.
· Do not argue with or correct the subject. Oral histories are not always accurate. But they do provide important information about feelings and impressions.
· Be humble. Adopt a learner attitude. You are there to learn.
· Do not judge nor discriminate. Be objective and do not pass sensitive comments.
· End your interview by thanking your subject.
· After the interview, it is only polite to contact and thank the person again.

Getting Started
1. Introduce yourself. Give your name, age, the class and school you attend. Describe the research project your group has chosen.
2. Ask your interview subject if you can tape record the conversation. Begin the interview by asking where and when the interview subject was born.
3. If your subject strays from the topic, try to refocus by asking one of your prepared questions.

Asking Follow-up Questions
Listen carefully while your subject is talking. Often, what a person says may suggest a follow-up question that will produce interesting information. For example, if your subject mentions the influence of his or her high school teacher, you might follow up by asking about the teacher -- Why did the teacher have a strong influence on the interview subject? What made the person a good teacher? Did you keep in contact with the teacher? and so on.
One of you should write down follow-up questions as your interview subject speaks. That way, you can ask the follow-up questions at a pause in the interview, without interrupting your interview subject's train of thought.

After the Interview
Transcribing the Interview Tape
Listen to the tape of your interview. Transcribe (write down or type) the contents of the tape or the most important parts of the tape. You may need to listen to the tape many times as you transcribe what is said. When you are finished transcribing, think about the accuracy of what your subject said. Did you hear contradictory information or indications that the person did not remember an event well? Did the person have a clear bias that might have influenced the way events were remembered?
Remember if you don’t have a tape recorder, then you have to immediately go through your transcript so that you could add in things that are not recorded.

Analyzing the Interview
Think about your research topic. Did your oral history interview help answer those questions? Write some tentative summaries of your research results. Bear in mind the theme of change and continuity and past and present. Try to see how history of Singapore as a whole or even that of the world has had an impact on the subject you have chosen. Remember: WE ARE ALL PRODUCTS OF OUR SOCIETY! AND OUR SOCIETY IS THE PRODUCT OF OUR HISTORY!
This is what we are trying to drive into you!!!

Deadline: 15th of August for the submission of the transcripts.
Lastly, as the third part of the project requires you take photographs of your subject of study, we would advise you to do so before or after the interview. We understand you can be very busy too if other commitments. This would save you of a second trip and leave you more time for analysis.

Thank you.