The document provides guidelines for conducting interviews across different stages of adulthood, outlining necessary permissions, cultural considerations, and sample questions for participants. It emphasizes techniques for obtaining detailed responses through follow-up probes and encourages personal reflections after the interviews. Each section includes specific themes related to emerging, middle, and late adulthood, focusing on personal experiences, societal changes, and life lessons.

1. Emerging Adulthood Interview
In interviewing the participant, be sure to tell him/her that the
interview is for a project for your course in development.
Assure him/her that he/she has the right not to answer any of
the questions and may stop the interview at any time. Let
him/her know that no one will see the answers to the interview
questions and that their names will not be used. In giving the
interview, write down as much of his/her responses as you can.
You might consider tape recording the interview to avoid taking
time to write the answers during the interview. Be sure to ask
permission to use a tape recorder and assure him/her that the
tape will be erased.
Feel free to add questions to the interview as appropriate while
talking to the participant, but be sure to cover all of the issues
included. Many of the questions are meant to have more than
one or two sentence answers. You will need to practice using
follow-up probes to get longer answers:
--Can you tell me more about that?
--I don't understand. Can you give me an example?
--How does that make you feel?
--How important is that to you?
--using "uh-huh" and head nodding may also lead to more
responding
Incorporate questions about culture as appropriate. Culture
includes religion, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age,
gender, etc.
- What is your occupation?
- How do you feel about your job?
- What would you change about it, if you could?
- How does your job or career look compared to the vision you
had when you were younger? What do you want for the future
career-wise? What are you doing to get there?
- What do you do for fun?

2. - What does your level of physical activity look like? How has
this changed as you have gotten older?
- What does your internet/social networking involvement look
like?
- What is your relationship status?
- Describe your family. What is your idea of family?
- Describe your friends. What do you do for fun with them?
How often do you see them?
- Where/How do you meet new friends/relationship partners?
- If you have children, how has your marriage/relationship(s)
changed since you had children? How?
-If you do not have children or not married, do you want this?
Why or why not? What are your expectations for a future
family?
- How have your friendships changed since you were younger?
What activities do you do with your friends?
- How was dating different when you were a teen from how it is
today?
- Are your friends more of the same sex or the other sex? Has
this changed? - Do you and your partner have friends of the
opposite sex? How did you feel about that?
- What are your views about divorce?
- What do you think are the guidelines for a successful
marriage/relationship?
- When you have a personal problem, to whom do you turn?
- What are your thoughts about sex before marriage?
- Is there anything you've learned that you didn't know during
your teen years?
Student question. Based on what you've learned, ask at least one
more question; what else
would you like to know about this person's life?
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After you describe the interview, discuss your reaction (three
paragraphs).
1. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you?

3. 2. How did you feel during the interview?
3. What changes (if any) have occurred in your perception of
the prenatal/first year? (What did you think before? What do
you think now?)
MIDDLE ADULTHOOD INTERVIEW
In interviewing the participant, be sure to tell him/her that the
interview is for a project for your course in development.
Assure him/her that he/she has the right not to answer any of
the questions and may stop the interview at any time. Let
him/her know that no one will see the answers to the interview
questions and that their names will not be used. In giving the
interview, write down as much of his/her responses as you can.
You might consider tape recording the interview to avoid taking
time to write the answers during the interview. Be sure to ask
permission to use a tape recorder and assure him/her that the

4. tape will be erased.
Feel free to add questions to the interview as appropriate while
talking to the participant, but be sure to cover all of the issues
included. Many of the questions are meant to have more than
one or two sentence answers. You will need to practice using
follow-up probes to get longer answers:
--Can you tell me more about that?
--I don't understand. Can you give me an example?
--How does that make you feel?
--How important is that to you?
--using "uh-huh" and head nodding may also lead to more
responding
Incorporate questions about culture as appropriate. Culture
includes religion, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age,
gender, etc.
- What is your occupation?
- How do you feel about your job?
- What would you change about it, if you could?
- How does your job or career look compared to the vision you
had when you were younger?
- What do you do for fun?
- What does your level of physical activity look like? How has
this changed as you have gotten older?
- What does your internet/social networking involvement look
like?
- What is your relationship status?
-Describe your family.
- How has your relationship with your children (if you have
any) changed? What are your thoughts about this?
- How has your idea of marriage changed across your life?
- Has there been any significant event that has changed your
marriage/significant relationship? What was the event? How did
it change your relationship?
- If you have had children, how has your
marriage/relationship(s) changed since you had children? How?

5. - How have your friendships changed since you were younger?
What activities do you do with your friends?
- How was dating different when you were young from how it is
today?
- Are your friends more of the same sex or the other sex? Has
this changed? - Did you and your partner have friends of the
opposite sex? How did you feel about that?
- How do you feel about the relationship between love and
marriage? How has your idea changed from when you were
younger?
- How have your feelings about your spouse/partner changed
over the years?
- What are your views about divorce? Have your views
changed?
- What do you think are the guidelines for a successful
marriage/relationship?
- Have you ever been through a time when you felt a void that
needed to be filled by someone other than your spouse/partner?
What did you do?
- Do friendships differ from marriage relationships in your
experience?
- If you could do your marriage/significant relationship over
again, what would you do differently?
- Did friends and acquaintances go through affairs? Divorces?
How did you react?
- Describe your dating and/or other relationships before
marriage.
- When you have a personal problem, to whom do you turn?
- Do you think sex is appropriate before marriage? Have
society's views on this changed since you were younger? Have
your views changed?
- If you were doing it all over again, would you do anything
differently?
- Is there anything you've learned that you didn't know 20-30
years ago?
- If your child were getting married and asked what you thought

6. was the most important thing you've learned about how to have
a successful marriage, what would you say?
Student question. Based on what you've learned, ask at least one
more question; what else
would you like to know about this person's life?
*****************************************************
*************************
After you describe the interview, discuss your reaction (three
paragraphs).
1. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you?
2. How did you feel during the interview?
3. What changes (if any) have occurred in your perception of
the prenatal/first year? (What did you think before? What do
you think now?)

7. Late Adulthood Interview
In interviewing the participant, be sure to tell him/her that the
interview is for a project for your course in development.
Assure him/her that he/she has the right not to answer any of
the questions and may stop the interview at any time. Let
him/her know that no one will see the answers to the interview
questions and that their names will not be used. In giving the
interview, write down as much of his/her responses as you can.
You might consider tape recording the interview to avoid taking
time to write the answers during the interview. Be sure to ask
permission to use a tape recorder and assure him/her that the
tape will be erased.
Feel free to add questions to the interview as appropriate while
talking to the participant, but be sure to cover all of the issues
included. Many of the questions are meant to have more than
one or two sentence answers. You will need to practice using

8. follow-up probes to get longer answers:
--Can you tell me more about that?
--I don't understand. Can you give me an example?
--How does that make you feel?
--How important is that to you?
--using "uh-huh" and head nodding may also lead to more
responding
Incorporate questions about culture as appropriate. Culture
includes religion, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age,
gender, etc.
Life Interview Questions – The Present, Aging, Life Lessons
and Legacies
Do you have any hobbies or special interests? Do you enjoy any
particular sports?
What’s your typical day like now? How is it different from your
daily routines in the past?
Is the present better or worse than when you were younger?
What do you do for fun?
Who do you trust and depend on?
What things are most important to you now? Why?
How have your dreams and goals changed through your life?
What do you remember about your 20s? 30s? 40s? 50s? 60s?
What events stand out in your mind?
How was each age different from the one before it?
There are some ages we don’t look forward to. What birthday
were you least enthusiastic about? Why?

9. If you could go back to any age, which age would it be and
why?
How do you feel now about growing old? What’s the hardest
thing about growing older? The best thing?
What were your parents like when they got older?
Did you have any expectations at points in your life about what
growing older would be like for you?
How should a person prepare for old age? Is there anything you
wish you’d done differently?
Do you think about the future and make plans? What are your
concerns for the future?
If you live another 20-30 years, what will you do? Do you want
to live another 20-30 years?
What do you look forward to now?
What’s your most cherished family tradition? Why is it
important?
What have you liked best about your life so far? What’s your
happiest or proudest moment?
What do you feel have been the important successes in your
life? The frustrations?
What’s the most difficult thing that ever happened to you? How
did you deal with it?
What do you think the turning points have been in your life?

10. What were you like then?
Are there times of your life that you remember more vividly
than others? Why?
What have been the most influential experiences in your life?
Describe a person or situation from your childhood that had a
profound effect on the way you look at life.
If you were writing the story of your life, how would you divide
it into chapters?
What, if anything, would you have done differently in your life?
What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you
were young?
What have you thrown away in your life that you wish you
hadn’t? What have you held on to that’s important and why is it
important? What “junk” have you held on to and why?
Over time, how have you changed the way you look at
life/people?
What advice did your grandparents or parents give you that you
remember best?
Do you have a philosophy of life? What’s your best piece of
advice for living? If a young person came to you asking what’s
the most important thing for living a good life, what would you
say?
How do you define a “good life” or a “successful life”?
Do you think a person needs to first overcome serious setbacks

11. or challenges to be truly successful?
In what way is it important to know your limitations in your life
or career?
If you had the power to solve one and only one problem in the
world, what would it be and why?
What do you see as your place or purpose in life? How did you
come to that conclusion?
What would you like your children and grandchildren (if you
have any) to remember about you?
Student question. Based on what you've learned, ask at least one
more question; what else
would you like to know about this person's life?
*****************************************************
*************************
After you describe the interview, discuss your reaction (three
paragraphs).
1. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you?
2. How did you feel during the interview?
3. What changes (if any) have occurred in your perception of
older adults? (What did you think
before? What do you think now?)
Human Development Interview QuestionnairesGroup 8:
Retirement & Late Adulthood (65 years old - above)(1)
How do you feel about your work? How do you feel about your
hobbies or special interests?(2)
What is your opinion of today's youth?(3)
What changes have take place in society since the time you
were a teenager?(4)
Do you have any special philosophy that guides your life?(5)
What are your immediate goals? What are your long range
goals?(6)

12. What were you doing 5 years ago? Have you attained some of
the goals that you set for yourself since that time?(7)
In what ways are you a different person than you were in your
early 20's?(8)
Have you had a mentor in your adult life?(9)
If you had your life to live over again, what would you do
differently?(10)
What do you look forward to most in the future?(11)
How do you feel about marriage?(12)
How do you feel about children?(13)
How do you feel about grandchildren?(14)
Do you think children should be raised in a permissive,
authoritarian, or authoritative manner?(15)
How do your friendships today compare to those during your
teens? Do you have the samefriends?(16)
How do you feel about old age?(17)
What else do you think is relevant to your personality and
development as an adult?(18)
How have you felt about retirement?(19)
Does the prospect of
retirement
bore you?(20)
What are some interesting things you've done?(21)
What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?
Human Development Interview QuestionnairesGroup 8:
Retirement & Late Adulthood (65 years old - above)(1)
How do you feel about your work? How do you feel about your
hobbies or special interests?(2)
What is your opinion of today's youth?(3)
What changes have take place in society since the time you
were a teenager?(4)
Do you have any special philosophy that guides your life?(5)
What are your immediate goals? What are your long range
goals?(6)
What were you doing 5 years ago? Have you attained some of

13. the goals that you set for yourself since that time?(7)
In what ways are you a different person than you were in your
early 20's?(8)
Have you had a mentor in your adult life?(9)
If you had your life to live over again, what would you do
differently?(10)
What do you look forward to most in the future?(11)
How do you feel about marriage?(12)
How do you feel about children?(13)
How do you feel about grandchildren?(14)
Do you think children should be raised in a permissive,
authoritarian, or authoritative manner?(15)
How do your friendships today compare to those during your
teens? Do you have the samefriends?(16)
How do you feel about old age?(17)
What else do you think is relevant to your personality and
development as an adult?(18)
How have you felt about retirement?(19)
Does the prospect of
retirement
bore you?(20)
What are some interesting things you've done?(21)
What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?
Human Development Interview QuestionnairesGroup 8:
Retirement & Late Adulthood (65 years old - above)(1)
How do you feel about your work? How do you feel about your
hobbies or special interests?(2)
What is your opinion of today's youth?(3)
What changes have take place in society since the time you
were a teenager?(4)
Do you have any special philosophy that guides your life?(5)
What are your immediate goals? What are your long range
goals?(6)
What were you doing 5 years ago? Have you attained some of
the goals that you set for yourself since that time?(7)
In what ways are you a different person than you were in your

14. early 20's?(8)
Have you had a mentor in your adult life?(9)
If you had your life to live over again, what would you do
differently?(10)
What do you look forward to most in the future?(11)
How do you feel about marriage?(12)
How do you feel about children?(13)
How do you feel about grandchildren?(14)
Do you think children should be raised in a permissive,
authoritarian, or authoritative manner?(15)
How do your friendships today compare to those during your
teens? Do you have the samefriends?(16)
How do you feel about old age?(17)
What else do you think is relevant to your personality and
development as an adult?(18)
How have you felt about retirement?(19)
Does the prospect of
retirement
bore you?(20)
What are some interesting things you've done?(21)
What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?
Human Development Interview QuestionnairesGroup 8:
Retirement & Late Adulthood (65 years old - above)(1)
How do you feel about your work? How do you feel about your
hobbies or special interests?(2)
What is your opinion of today's youth?(3)
What changes have take place in society since the time you
were a teenager?(4)
Do you have any special philosophy that guides your life?(5)
What are your immediate goals? What are your long range
goals?(6)
What were you doing 5 years ago? Have you attained some of
the goals that you set for yourself since that time?(7)
In what ways are you a different person than you were in your
early 20's?(8)
Have you had a mentor in your adult life?(9)

15. If you had your life to live over again, what would you do
differently?(10)
What do you look forward to most in the future?(11)
How do you feel about marriage?(12)
How do you feel about children?(13)
How do you feel about grandchildren?(14)
Do you think children should be raised in a permissive,
authoritarian, or authoritative manner?(15)
How do your friendships today compare to those during your
teens? Do you have the samefriends?(16)
How do you feel about old age?(17)
What else do you think is relevant to your personality and
development as an adult?(18)
How have you felt about retirement?(19)
Does the prospect of
retirement
bore you?(20)
What are some interesting things you've done?(21)
What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?
Human Development Interview QuestionnairesGroup 8:
Retirement & Late Adulthood (65 years old - above)(1)
How do you feel about your work? How do you feel about your
hobbies or special interests?(2)
What is your opinion of today's youth?(3)
What changes have take place in society since the time you
were a teenager?(4)
Do you have any special philosophy that guides your life?(5)
What are your immediate goals? What are your long range
goals?(6)
What were you doing 5 years ago? Have you attained some of
the goals that you set for yourself since that time?(7)
In what ways are you a different person than you were in your
early 20's?(8)
Have you had a mentor in your adult life?(9)
If you had your life to live over again, what would you do
differently?(10)

16. What do you look forward to most in the future?(11)
How do you feel about marriage?(12)
How do you feel about children?(13)
How do you feel about grandchildren?(14)
Do you think children should be raised in a permissive,
authoritarian, or authoritative manner?(15)
How do your friendships today compare to those during your
teens? Do you have the samefriends?(16)
How do you feel about old age?(17)
What else do you think is relevant to your personality and
development as an adult?(18)
How have you felt about retirement?(19)
Does the prospect of
retirement
bore you?(20)
What are some interesting things you've done?(21)
What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?
Human Development Interview QuestionnairesGroup 8:
Retirement & Late Adulthood (65 years old - above)(1)
How do you feel about your work? How do you feel about your
hobbies or special interests?(2)
What is your opinion of today's youth?(3)
What changes have take place in society since the time you
were a teenager?(4)
Do you have any special philosophy that guides your life?(5)
What are your immediate goals? What are your long range
goals?(6)
What were you doing 5 years ago? Have you attained some of
the goals that you set for yourself since that time?(7)
In what ways are you a different person than you were in your
early 20's?(8)
Have you had a mentor in your adult life?(9)
If you had your life to live over again, what would you do
differently?(10)
What do you look forward to most in the future?(11)
How do you feel about marriage?(12)

17. How do you feel about children?(13)
How do you feel about grandchildren?(14)
Do you think children should be raised in a permissive,
authoritarian, or authoritative manner?(15)
How do your friendships today compare to those during your
teens? Do you have the samefriends?(16)
How do you feel about old age?(17)
What else do you think is relevant to your personality and
development as an adult?(18)
How have you felt about retirement?(19)
Does the prospect of
retirement
bore you?(20)
What are some interesting things you've done?(21)
What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?
Human Development Interview QuestionnairesGroup 8:
Retirement & Late Adulthood (65 years old - above)(1)
How do you feel about your work? How do you feel about your
hobbies or special interests?(2)
What is your opinion of today's youth?(3)
What changes have take place in society since the time you
were a teenager?(4)
Do you have any special philosophy that guides your life?(5)
What are your immediate goals? What are your long range
goals?(6)
What were you doing 5 years ago? Have you attained some of
the goals that you set for yourself since that time?(7)
In what ways are you a different person than you were in your
early 20's?(8)
Have you had a mentor in your adult life?(9)
If you had your life to live over again, what would you do
differently?(10)
What do you look forward to most in the future?(11)
How do you feel about marriage?(12)
How do you feel about children?(13)
How do you feel about grandchildren?(14)

18. Do you think children should be raised in a permissive,
authoritarian, or authoritative manner?(15)
How do your friendships today compare to those during your
teens? Do you have the samefriends?(16)
How do you feel about old age?(17)
What else do you think is relevant to your personality and
development as an adult?(18)
How have you felt about retirement?(19)
Does the prospect of
retirement
bore you?(20)
What are some interesting things you've done?(21)
What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?