Why Interviewing is Essentially the Pursuit of Curiosity
As evaluators, we use many different methods to collect data, and one of the most-frequently used methods we use to collect qualitative (descriptive) data are interviews. Interviews take many forms depending on the context and project but what does not change is the essential element of curiosity that is built into the interview process.
Lately, operationalizing this curiosity (e.g., how we write interview questions) has been on my mind as I have been conducting in-depth interviews with museum and cultural professionals for a project. A crucial aspect of interviews are follow-up questions, or probes, as we (and many other evaluators) call them, which indicate that we want to know more about the participant—their story, their successes, their challenges—and what they think is meaningful about an experience. For example, we might ask “can you tell me more?” or “what did you see, hear, or experience that makes you say that?” These follow-up questions are often more important than the original question because they help dig beneath the surface to understand what it is about a particular experience or idea that makes it significant to someone.
One of our core values at Kera Collective is openness to possibility, which is about pursuing curiosity. Whenever we develop interview questions or train data collectors to conduct interviews, we try to emphasize that the “why” is the most important part. Yet, in practice, remembering to probe can be surprisingly difficult, especially for those who are new to interviewing. If you have ever conducted interviews, then you probably have had the experience of reviewing the notes or transcripts of the conversation and thinking, “Why didn’t I follow up on that? Why didn’t I ask why?!”
Even as a more experienced interviewer, sometimes I find myself not probing because I am wary of people’s time; other times, I choose not to probe because it feels like I am being intrusive. It is also humbling to recognize that we all have different biases and curiosities that may not necessarily align with the person you are interviewing. We aren’t all passionate about the same things, but I am surprised every time I interview someone how much I learn if I remember to remain curious and open to possibility. For example, I am sometimes guilty of thinking that youth’s responses will lack depth, but simply asking them why they did or did not enjoy an experience can result in fruitful responses.
You also realize that there are many ways to ask why that may or may not resonate with the person you are interviewing. I was reminded of this in a recent team discussion about an article entitled “The Essential Skills of Being Human.” The author, David Brooks, encourages those having a conversation with someone to “storify whenever possible,” saying that they no longer ask the follow-up question, “What do you think about that?” but instead ask “How did you come to believe that?”, which they feel encourages storytelling about what has shaped the person’s values and beliefs as opposed to a more generic, less personal response. I am intrigued by framing follow-up questions in this way and hope to use this question in a future interview to see what kind of responses it yields.
At the end of the day, interviewing is about the pursuit of curiosity. It is about encouraging people to tell a story in a way that is important to them. And, I am constantly reminded that asking why, in any fashion, is essential to having meaningful conversations with people.
