In-depth interviewing assignment instructions:
This assignment requires you to conduct an in-depth interview with someone from a different generation than you (or the same generation as you) about a social problem. You will conduct the interview, transcribe the data (for submission) and write up a reflection detailing your findings. Your transcript is worth 5% of this grade and your analytical reflection is worth 20%. This assignment, in total will be worth 25% of your overall grade.
The components of this assignment are as follows:
(1) Identify either a population of interest or a social problem of interest:
- You might do this by having a person in mind that you would like to interview.
- You might do this by having a particular generation of interest.
- You might do this by having a social phenomenon or social problem of interest.
(2) Construct an interview schedule- this is a list of 10 questions you will ask the person who you are interviewing. These questions should be related to your social problem of interest. If you start with a person in mind rather than a social problem in mind, you might have a very "broad" interview schedule with 5 questions instead of 10. If you do this, you will do something called "probing" in which you ask additional questions which have not been initially decided upon based on the conversation you are having for further clarification. If you have 5 more "open ended" questions, you will be expected to have at least 5 "probes."
(3) Conduct the interview and record it- this will probably take between 10 minutes and 30 minutes (using a phone, recorder or other device). Then, transcribe the interview. To transcribe the interview means to listen to the recording and type out what is said. In your transcript, you should include things like laughs, sighs and other nonverbal gestures of importance for context. For example, maybe you interview your grandpa and ask him what he thinks about "young people" or some other social problem and he says something positive, but his facial expression indicates negative sentiment. That might be important for your analysis.
(4) Using your interview transcript, you should write an analysis of your "findings." What did the person you interviewed say about a social problem? What social problem did they think was most important (if you didn't focus on one problem)? How did they describe the problem? What conclusions can you draw, based on things we have discussed in class/your text, etc.?
(5) You must submit all 3 things: your interview schedule, your transcript (typed out interview), and a 1/2 to 2-page analysis of your findings.