An important part of the assignment may involve interviewing people on site. This will give you a way to better understand the experiences that people have when they work or visit the site that you have chosen. There are two aspects to interviewing: 1) There are the kinds of questions that you should be asking the people you speak with; 2) There are protocols for ensuring that the privacy and rights of the people you are speaking with are respected.

The final part of this post will be dedicated to note-taking and recording your interviews.

Asking Questions

What kind of questions are important to ask when you are speaking with people at the site you are analyzing?

On the one hand, there are those questions that might be about soliciting information about the site. These might focus on the history of the site, or the number of people that use the site or peak hours. These questions should be clearly phrased to ask for a specific kind of information. If somebody cites a number, be sure to confirm that with them.

On the other hand, there are questions that allow people to talk more about their experience in that place. You might ask these questions of either employees or patrons (provided the people who run your site don’t mind.) These questions will probably be more open ended. You might ask people about the reasons they have for coming to this place (and with what frequency)? You might ask them about their experience of music at the site. However, you will have to be attentive to making sure these questions are sufficiently focused. So, rather than simply asking them about their experiences, you can ask them to describe the music. The goal is to get them talking about the site, the more descriptive the better.

This is a website that outlines some common problems with interview questions.

Research Ethics

It is important that you ensure that the rights of the people you speak to are respected with regard to privacy. This requires you to make clear to any person you speak with about the assignment, the purpose of your conversation from the outset. Here is an excerpt from the general protocol for approaching people:

“When students contact participants for inclusion in any assignment, they should identify themselves as York Communication Studies students. The student should say what the interview is for: the student will say that it is for a class assignment but that there is a possibility of later publication or broadcast. Students must be certain that the source is aware of, and reasonably able to judge, the possible consequences of being quoted or otherwise represented in the news media.”

There are two key parts here. First, identifying yourself and the purpose of the interview. Second, making sure that the person you are speaking with are able to assess and agree to the interview and any possible consequences. This means you should not be speaking to children without the permission of the child’s parents of guardians.

I have attached a draft consent form here (Consent Form for Site Analysis). Please be sure to fix the title. Before you ask for the consent to be completed, you should explain the nature of the project and that it is for COMN 4729. You should also explain that this is for a class assignment only and will not be available to the general public.

Note-taking and Recording

You should be very attentive in taking notes. If you don’t hear something or are unclear, ask the person you are speaking with to clarify their response. You should take notes as you complete the interview since your memory of events might not be precise or you may forget something. You are welcome to record the interview, if the person you are interviewing expressly agrees (you must ask them directly.) If they do not, they you must take notes.

Always been an extra pen or pencil in case your’s breaks.