Checklist for a One-on-One Interview

(Modified from page 633 of The Scott Foresman Handbook .)

• Write or telephone your subject for an appointment, and make it clear why you want the interview.

• Confirm your meeting the day before, and be on time for your appointment.

• Be prepared for the meeting. If possible, learn all you can about your subject’s professional background, education, work history, and publications.

• Have a list of questions and possible follow-ups ready in your notebook.

• Establish the basic facts: the Who? What? Where, When, How, and Why? Then, when appropriate, pose questions that require more than one-word answers.

• Focus your queries on your research question: don’t wander from the subject.

• Take careful notes, especially because you intend to quote your source. Feel free to direct your subject to help you insure accuracy. For instance, you may want to ask your subject to repeat an answer or parts of an answer while you write. You might need to ask the subject to spell certain words or phrases. . . .

• Double-check your direct quotations and be sure your source is willing to be cited “on the record.”
  

• Get your subject’s approval before turning on an audio or video recorder.

• Promise to send your subject a copy of your completed project.

• Send a thank-you note to anyone, especially an authority,who has been especially helpful.