UGS 303: The Politics of the English Language / Liu

These resources will help you conduct interviews.

BEFORE:

You should do research before you interview your subject. This way, you will be able to ask informed questions and get deeper, richer answers.

Ask yourself: Who am I interviewing? What is their expertise? What are they likely to know a lot about? What perspective might they have? Have they published any articles I can read?

Do a little research/reading about their area of expertise so you can ask what they think about specific topics in the field.

During the interview, ask them if their are books, researchers, programs, etc. that they follow or find inspirational.

Ask them if they will share an email address so you can ask follow up questions.

AFTER:

You likely learned something during the interview. Read over your notes and research things you want to know more about. Did you ask for any resource recommendations? Did they mention something you want to know more about?

If necessary, follow up via email with questions that came to mind after the interview.

Share with your subject the work you created this semester! Everyone wants to know when they have been helpful.

SEE BELOW for more in depth guidance from a journalist's perspective (a former colleague of mine!)