How to Take Successful Interviews and Establish a Rapport

A researcher has to establish rapport before a participant will share personal information. There are a number of ways to do this.

1. Treat interviewees with respect. Make sure you arrive on time. Don’t rush straight into the interview unless the interviewee pushes to do so. Accept a cup of tea, if offered, and make polite conversation to help put both of you at ease.

2. Think about your appearance and the expectations of the person you’re about to interview. If the interviewee is a smartly turned out business person who expects to be interviewed by a professional looking researcher, make sure you try to fulfil those expectations with your appearance and behaviour.

3. Think about body language. Try not to come across as nervous or shy. Maintain appropriate eye-contact and smile in a natural, unforced manner. Remember that the eyes and smile account for more than 50% of the total communication in a greeting situation. If you establish rapid and clear eye-contact, you’ll be more easily trusted.

4. During the interview, firm eye contact with little movement indicates that you’re interested in what is being said. Also, it indicates honesty and high self-esteem. On the other hand, if your eyes wander all over the place and only briefly make contact with the eyes of the interviewee, low self-esteem, deceit or boredom can be indicated. Don’t rub your eyes as this could indicate you’re tired or bored. Conversely, watch the eyes of your interviewees which will tell you a lot about how the interview is progressing.

5. Don’t invade their space. Try not to sit directly opposite them – at an angle is better, but not by their side as you will have to keep turning your heads which will be uncomfortable in a long interview.

By watching the eye movements and body language of the interviewees, and by listening to what they’re saying, you’ll soon know when you’ve established rapport. This is when you can move on to more personal or sensitive issues. If, however, you notice the interviewees becoming uncomfortable in any way, respect their feelings and move on to a more general topic. Sometimes you might need to offer to turn off the recorder or stop taking notes if you touch upon a particularly sensitive issue.

Negotiate a length of time for the interviews and stick to it, unless the interviewees are happy to continue. Make sure you thank them for their help and leave a contact number in case they wish to speak to you at a later date. You might find it useful to send a transcript to the interviewees – it is good for them to have a record of what has been said and they might wish to add further information. Do not disclose information to third parties unless you have received permission to do so

As the interview progresses, ask questions, listen carefully

6. Probe for more detail to responses and probe for more information

• That’s interesting; can you explain that in more detail?
• I’m not quite sure I understand. You were saying?
• Can you elaborate a little more?
• Could you clarify that?
• Could you expand upon that a little?
• When you say ‘ . . . . . . ’, what do you mean?

You should probe in a way which doesn’t influence the interviewee. When you probe, you need to think about obtaining clarification, elaboration, explanation and understanding. There are several ways to probe for more detail, as the following list illustrates. It ’s useful to learn a few of these before you begin your interviews.

Pauses work well – don’t be afraid of silence. You’ll find that most people are uncomfortable during silences and will elaborate on what they’ve said rather than experience discomfort. Also, you may find it helpful to summarise what people have said as a way of finding out if you have understood them and to determine whether they wish to add any further information.

Another useful tactic is to repeat the last few words a person has said, turning it into a question.