Tactical Tips for Interviewing-- Oral History Methodology

1. The Abbreviated Life
Story Interview
a tactical approach to oral history
interviewing
Brooke Bryan | Antioch College
2015 “Catching Stories” Ohio Humanities Oral History Institute at Kenyon College
bbryan@antiochcollege.org

2. Thus, before embarking on a busy interview
schedule one needs to be oriented to one's
question or notion in such a strong manner that
one does not get easily carried away with
interviews that go everywhere and nowhere.
~Max van Manen

3. The ‘abbreviated life story’ interview model
is just one example of how to structure the
interview space.
Developed over a few years of project
coordination, it can be a resource for
student and volunteer interviewers who
join a project with subject matter
interest/expertise but little methodological
training.

4. The abbreviated life story model suggests
interviewers frame their questions into six
domains:
• the introductory lead
• early life/context
• the Purposeful Turn toward the theme
• Depth Questions
• the Reflective Turn towards impact &
meaning
• and the Wrap-up

5. The Lead
Reflective Turn:
towards
implications and
meaning
Purposeful Turn:
towards the topic
DEPTH
QUESTIONS
Early Life
Wrap-Up

6. The Lead
O After sound checks, always start an oral
history interview with a lead that establishes
the identity of interviewer and interviewee, the
place and date, and implicit consent to
participate in the stated project for the stated
purpose.
O Your lead will be directly related to your
project statement & informed consent
documents.
“This is Brooke Bryan for the Civil Rights Stories Project, interviewing Jane
Doe in the WYSO studio to speak about her life experience before, during,
and after the demonstrations that led to the ‘riot’ in downtown Yellow Springs
in March of 1964. Jane, thank you for participating in this project that will be
broadcast, archived, and found online. Can you please state your full name,
your birth date, and today’s date?”

7. Early Life
O Let’s start at the beginning. Tell me about
your family and where you grew up…
O What family values were passed on to
you?
O Who were your key mentors or teachers?
O Seek sensory descriptions
(visuals/sounds/smells). Family dinner
times, neighborhood friends, early learning
experiences.
O Just be interested! The follow up
questions will reveal themselves if you are
engaged.

8. The Purposeful Turn
O Bring the interview to the topic at hand, gently
towards the particular project themes.
O For place-based or event-focused projects, you
can bring about the ‘purposeful turn’ with questions
like:
O “How did you come to find yourself in Yellow
Springs?”
O “I know you experienced the March ‘64
demonstrations, but let’s get a sense of the community
before those events unfolded. Where did you go for
social events, where did people go for fun? What
music did you listen to, what did you wear? What was
the community zeitgeist?”

9. The Purposeful Turn
O For thematically-oriented projects exploring
ideas, broad themes, or communities of
practice:
O “how did you first become involved with ***
organization?”
O “when did you first realize you were perceived
by others as different?”
O “what is your first memory of being ***?”
O “when did you know you wanted to be a ***
(English major, marine biologist)?”
O “how did you come to be involved with ***
(person/institution/community)?”

10. Depth Questions
O An interview project— especially one that
has multiple volunteer or student
interviewers— must have a core set of
questions that get at the heart of the
project’s intent
O Depth questions provide continuity across
interviews
O Depth questions should be carefully
researched and are probably established
by the project planners and advisory
group

11. The Reflective Turn
O Once the topic is explored through structured
Depth Questions, bring the interview to the
reflective stage— ponder what it all means, why it
matters.
O “Bring us to contemporary times. Where did
things go from there? Have things changed?”
O “Would you do something differently if you
could do it all over? Do you have regrets?”
O “Were your actions/responses enough?”
O “Have your experiences
O —changed your perspective?”
O —impacted the trajectory of your life?”
O —caused you to think differently?”
O —brought change to your family?”

12. The Reflective Turn
O Certain oral history projects have clear
contemporary connections and/or implications.
Your interviewee may be more interested in
reflecting or drawing connections than talking
about the project’s intended goals.
O A person interviewed as part of a civil rights
project really wants to talk about being a high-
ranking African American in post-WWII America,
reflecting on the struggle to purchase property in
the same country you fought for.
O A person interviewed for a civil rights project
really wants to talk about educational parity (or
lack thereof) in the local public schools today.

13. Wrap-Up
O “Is there anything we didn’t talk about today
that you would like to touch upon?”
O “Is there anything you’d like to clarify?”
O “Oh. Earlier you said something very
interesting— I wonder if we can go back to...
O Thank the interviewee for their time and
willingness to participate in the project
O Present release form and sign. You have no
legal right to share or archive or make
available the interview until the release form is
signed.

14. Resources
O Oral History Association Best Practices
O Catching Stories, the Oral History Inst.
text
O Forms in the Community Oral History
Toolkit
O ‘Do History’ Oral History Toolkit
O Baylor University Intro to Oral History
packet
O Question generator at StoryCorps
O The Institutional Review Board at a
partner College or University
O The American Folklife Center’s Cultural
Documentation Resources