Interviews

Presentation of the Lesson:

Today we will be learning how to ask questions that will draw out stories. We will do this by conducting an ‎interview with a peer. Being an effective interviewer is an important skill that takes practice to develop.‎ The first step to being a good interviewer is being good at asking questions. Let’s discuss what a good question is:

Questions need to be clear and concise and tell our respondent exactly what we want them to answer. An effective question is one that is meaningful and understandable. Effective questions require thought and high-level thinking. By asking questions we can build up our understanding of someone else's unique perspective. We do this by asking questions that allow the respondent (the person who responds) to tell us the 'facts' as they appear to the other person. We then can ask the respondent what these facts mean to the other person. We can then follow with why the other person feels this way. By asking all these types of questions we can conduct an interview where we get more than just facts, but also reasons, feelings and amazing stories. 

There are two main types of questions: convergent and divergent questions. 

Convergent questions require the person asked the question to bring together ideas and knowledge from two or more fields and synthesize them to generate a logical conclusion. These questions are often used for problem solving, particularly when the problem is multidisciplinary in nature. 

Below are examples of convergent questions where students start with information and converge on an optimal solution.

What one word would best describe this time in your life?

What is the common theme here?

What happened as a result of those actions?

How can these items be categorized?

What was the reason why this happened?

What are the components of your identity?

What are or were the long-term consequences of this decision?

Why did you take the action you took?

 

Convergent questions are opposite to divergent questions.  Divergent questions begin with a prompt and require students to think creatively and critically to identify multiple potential answers. Divergent questions have no specific answer and can be used to encourage respondents to think more broadly about a specific topic. Divergent questions generate divergent thinking which will require the respondent to evaluate, analyze and synthesize information. A mix of creative thinking and being critical in thought are necessary skills when answering divergent questions. Creativity is necessary for ideation and thinking ‘outside the box’ and critical thought is necessary for critiquing ideas and solutions.

A basic example of convergent thinking is determining the answer to a multiple-choice question. A more complex example of convergent thinking is when a question provides a range of potential solutions to a problem, requiring the respondent to evaluate each solution and determine the most appropriate solution to solve the problem.

Below are examples of divergent questions where the respondent is given a prompt and expected to generate multiple solutions.

What different strategies or different actions could you have used to solve this problem differently?

What predictions might you make about the future based on what happened?

What is another way of looking at this?

Why would someone live near a dangerous place?

What are some alternatives to this approach?

What would your life look like if you had made a different choice?

How could this be done differently?

How could you go about achieving this objective today?

 

It is best to begin an interview of discussion by asking divergent questions, and moving to convergent questions as the goal is approached. Avoid using simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type questions as they encourage responses without fully thinking through an idea.

There are different types of questions that we can use: planned and unplanned. A planned question is one that know of in advance, that we plan for. An unplanned question, also known as an emerging question, is a question that may be asked when you receive information that leads you in a new direction. A planned question may be “Where were you born?” If the answer is something unexpected such as “I was born in Mexico although my parents were from Italy.” It may lead you to an unplanned question such as “How did your parents happen to be in Mexico?” or “Why were you not born in Italy?”

To conduct a great interview you should use both pre-planned and emerging questions. Prepare your discussion by identifying the goal and pre-plan a number of questions that will help achieve the goal. 

Avoid the use of rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions are those to which answers are already known, or merely seek affirmation of something stated previously such as the following: ‘Right?’, ‘Don't you?’, ‘Correct?’, ‘Okay?’, and ‘Yes?’. These types of questions do not move the interview forward. 

State questions with precision. Poor wording and the use of rapid-fire, multiple questions related to the same topic can result in confusion. Repeat the question, and explain it in other words, in other ways, if your respondent doesn't seem to understand. 

Let’s think of some questions that we can ask each other to learn more about their personal story. Let's brainstorm effective questions we might ask a peer. First let’s think of some general questions that we can ask our peers that will generate discussion. Then we will think of both divergent and convergent questions that go with each question. These will be our planned questions. You can also add unplanned questions depending on what your peers respond. 

Let’s watch a video that is full of people telling stories and use that to help us formulate some interview questions. 

Show the video. First watch the video in in its entirety and then you can play it again and stop the video at the end of each vignette and discuss the types of questions that were asked. 

The film ends by saying that we are all part of this remarkable, ongoing story, connecting Jews across centuries and continents and invites us all to add our stories and our families stories so that we become part of the story. 

Let’s brainstorm and come up with a list of planned questions to ask our peers. After we have a great list of questions will become interviewees (the ones who answer the questions) and interviewers (the one who ask the questions). 

Let’s brainstorm our questions. Be sure to use both convergent (C) and divergent (D) questions. Remember convergent questions require your respondent to sum things up into one answer while divergent questions require them to think about various creative answers.