1

Outline

1. Definition2. The interview as test3. Types of question4. Types of interview5. Principles of effective interviewing6. Problems the interviewer may face

2

1. Definition

• An interview is a conversation with a purpose

• Purpose: gathering information about the person being interviewed.

• Outcome: data for description, evaluation, and prediction

3

2. The interview as test

• Huffcutt et al.:• Employment interviews

are not like other tests

• Don’t tell us something specific

• Designed to allow a conclusion – e.g., should we hire this person?

• Outcome: complex function of many dimensions

4

2. The interview as test

• Huffcutt et al. (2001)• Meta-analysis• Reviewed 47 studies of the

employment interview

• Concluded that interviews tell us about:• Personality• Social skills• Mental ability

5

3. Types of question

• Open-ended• Closed-ended

6

Open-ended questions

• tailored to individual interviewee

• cannot be answered specifically

• responsive to what interviewee just said

• interviewee decides what is important to discuss, which tells you something about them

7

Closed-ended questions

• can be answered specifically

• interviewee has to recall something

• same questions for all interviewees

8

Comparison of the two typesOpen-ended• What kinds of cars do you

like?• Tell me about your father

Closed-ended• Do you like sports cars?• Is your father strict?

9

4. Types of interview

• Unstructured• Structured• Semi-structured• Group

10

Unstructured interviews

• Questions follow from previous response – they’re not set ahead of time

• Follow up with understanding responses to encourage more disclosure

11

Unstructured interviews

• Advantages:• Lots of data• Unexpected things learned

• Disadvantages:• subjective evaluation• may wander off topic• non-standardized – can’t be

replicated

12

Structured interviews

• same procedure for all interviewees

• same questions asked in same sequence

• closed, short, clearly-worded questions

• follow a flow-chart (include/exclude some questions depending on answers to others)

13

Structured interviews

• Advantages:• standardized format• objective evaluation

• Disadvantage:• one size may not fit all

14

Semi-structured interviews

• Shares some features with structured interview, some features with unstructured interview

• Guided by a script which gives focus

• Allows you to explore interesting responses

15

Group interviews

• Usually 3 – 10 people at one time

• May be structured or unstructured

• Really dependent upon skilled moderator

16

Group interviews

• Advantages• rich data• variety of views

• Disadvantages:• expensive• “loud-mouths” may

dominate• conformity pressure?

17

5. Principles of effective interviewing

A. Be responsibleB. Plan aheadC. Keep the interaction flowingD. Have the appropriate attitude

18

A. Be responsible• Interviewer sets the tone • Interviewer is responsible

for success or failure of interview

• Professionals accept responsibility

19

B. Plan ahead

• Who will be interviewed?• Where? When?

• What is the purpose?• Which questions will you

ask? In what order?• Will you record?

20

C. Keep interaction flowing

• Conversation skills• Comprehension

monitoring

• Verbatim playback• Paraphrasing• Restatement• Summarizing• Clarifying• Understanding

21

Types of understanding response

• Carl Rogers created a typology of interviewer’s responses to interviewee

• 5 levels varying in how well the response connects to what interviewee just said

22

Types of understanding response

• To be avoided:• Level 1 – a series of non-

sequiturs• Level 2 – little connection

with interviewee’s last response

• For unstructured interviews:• Level 3 – interviewer’s

response is interchangeable with interviewee’s last statement

23

Types of understanding response

• Primarily used in therapeutic interviews:

• Level 4 –adds “noticeably” to interviewee’s response

• Level 5 – adds “significantly” to interviewee’s response

24

D. Have appropriate attitude

• Interpersonal attraction predicts interpersonal influence

• Be warm, genuine, accepting, understanding, open, honest, fair

25

6. Problems interviewer may face

A. Social facilitationB. Spotlight effectC. Validity & reliability issues

26

A. Social facilitation

• Occurs when people act like other people around them

• May not know you are doing this

• May communicate something

• E.g., Goldstein & Cialdini (2007) – spyglass effect

• Chartrand & Bargh (1999) – chameleon effect

• Akehurst & Vrij (1999)

27

B. Spotlight effect

• Gilovich et al (2000):• People tend to believe that

the social spotlight shines more brightly on them than it really does.

• You think other people notice all your mistakes and silliness

• But they don’t

28

B. Spotlight effect

• Especially common in people who feel “different” to others around them on some dimension

• E.g., one student in a room full of professors; one woman in an office full of men

29

C. Problems of validity

• predictive validity scores for interview data range from .09 to .94 (Wagner, 1949)

• consider interview data as tentative – a source of hypotheses to be tested against other data

30

C. Problems of validity

• Halo effect (Thorndike, 1920)

• tendency to judge specific traits on the basis of a general impression

• generalize judgments from limited experience

31

C. Problems of validity

• General standoutishness (Hollingworth, 1922)

• general judgment made on basis of one notable characteristic

• beautiful people often rated as more witty, likable, socially skilled, intelligent, warm (Feingold, 1992)

32

C. Problems of validity

• Cross-cultural interviews: lots of potential for misunderstanding

• Be flexible; introspect; learn about groups you will be in contact with

33

C. Problems of validity

• E.g., Darou et al. (2000): northern Quebec Cree ejected 7 of 8 psychologists who came to study them.

• Researchers asked Cree for self-disclosure, which is socially inappropriate among the Cree

34

C. Problems of reliability

• inter-interviewer agreement

• twice as high for structured as for unstructured interviews

• may be low because 2 interviewers spontaneously focus on different things

• if so, train interviewers to focus on specific things that matter