Ten Top Tips for Interviewing Relatives
[This article first appeared in the now obsolete Discover My Past Scotland 2008]
Chatting to as many relatives as possible – and as many
times as possible - when you are doing family history research really can pay
off. Remember that in an oral interview, only 10% of the talking time should be
taken up by you, the interviewer; the other 90% should be time for the interviewee
to talk.
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At ease. Make sure your interviewee is as relaxed as
possible and use prompts to jog his or her memory.
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There is always the chance that an odd detail will emerge
from an oral interview that could lead you into new realms of investigation in
the archives, or by way of censuses and certificates. But remember also, that
family history is not simply about coming up with a list of dates and facts to
add to your family tree diagram. It is also about getting a feel for the way in
which your family lived in the past, and finding out about the kind of people
they were. Once you know your characters, their setting, their education and
places of work you will more easily be able to understand why they made the
life decisions they did.
To put your interviewee at ease and to maximise the likelihood
of new information emerging, try the ten strategies below:
1. Prepare
your questions in advance. Don’t read a list of questions from a card or
paper as this can be offputting to the interviewee, but do have some idea
of what you want to find out.
- 2. Use prompts
– items that you can hold and examine such as commemorative tankards and
photographs can provide great talking points.
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Always ask single questions. Don’t confuse the interviewee by asking two questions at once.
- Don’t
ask leading questions (i..e. questions that make assumptions). Don’t say
‘He must have felt terribly poor growing up in such a small house,’ Say
‘How do you think he felt growing up in that house?’
- Ask open
rather than closed questions. A closed question might be ‘Was Uncle
Charlie happy about the birth of so many children?’ This might elicit a
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ type answer. Ask instead, ‘How do you think Uncle Charlie
felt about the birth of so many children?’ Such open questions allow
people to talk freely and this is when unexpected information may slip
out. Also, put the questions in different ways on different occasions. For
example, to ascertain when certain events happened, rather than asking for
specific information with a question such as ‘Which year was that?’ ask
for the same information in a roundabout way with a question such as ‘Was
Aunty Grace born at that time?’
- But
don’t make your questions too open. Asking an interviewee what they
remember about work in a particular factory or shipyard, for example,
might throw them into a panic. Ask instead what they remember about their
first day in the job, or how they spent their first pay packet.
- Look
out for the silences. There may be significant reasons why your
interviewees don’t mention particular relatives or particular times.
Illegitimacy, divorce and periods in prison are just some of the secrets
that members of the older generation may be unwilling to discuss. Be
sensitive to these awkward moments and make a mental note to check up on
them later.
- Make
sure you double check when accounts given by relations seem to be
contradicting each other. Incorrect memories can be as interesting as
correct ones. There may be a significant reason for them.
- Always
ask – on the off chance – whether there is anything in print (or written
down) about the story you are discussing. Relatives often have newspaper
clippings, diaries, old school magazines, autograph books (and many other
items that they assume will not be of any interest to anyone) tucked away.
You can nearly always learn something from these.
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Is it in writing? This diary that my father kept as a boy
during the Second World War substantiates his oral account of the same period.
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Keywords: family history, European ancestors, oral history, interviews, England
