1 Outline 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 Outline 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Definition The interview as test Types of question Types of interview Principles of effective interviewing 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. (2001) • Reviewed 47 studies of the employment interview • Assessed what interviews tell us about: – Personality – Social skills – Mental ability

4 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

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 Open-ended questions • Examples of openended questions: • What kinds of cars do you like? • Tell me about your father

8 Closed-ended questions • can be answered specifically • interviewee has to recall something • same questions for all interviewees

9 Closed-ended questions • Examples of closedended questions: • Do you like sports cars? • Is your father strict?

10 4. Types of interview • • Unstructured Semi-structured Group

11 Unstructured interviews • Questions follow from previous response – they’re not set ahead of time • Follow up with understanding responses to encourage more disclosure

12 Unstructured interviews • Advantages: – Lots of data – Unexpected things learned • Disadvantages: – subjective evaluation – may wander off topic – non-standardized – can’t be replicated

13 Structured interviews • same procedure for all interviewees • same questions asked in same sequence • closed, short, clearlyworded questions • follow a flow-chart (include/exclude some questions depending on answers to others)

14 Structured interviews • Advantages: – standardized format – objective evaluation • Disadvantage: – one size may not fit all

15 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

16 Group interviews • Usually 3 – 10 people at one time • May be structured or unstructured • Really dependent upon skilled moderator

17 Group interviews • Advantages – rich data – variety of views • Disadvantages: – expensive – “loud-mouths” may dominate – conformity pressure?

18 5. Principles of effective interviewing 1. 2. 3. 4. Be responsible Plan ahead Keep the interaction flowing Have the appropriate attitude

19 Be responsible • Interviewer sets the tone • Interviewer is responsible for success or failure of interview • Professionals accept responsibility

20 Plan ahead • Who will be interviewed? • Where? When? • What is the purpose? • Which questions will you ask? In what order? • Will you record?

21 Keep interaction flowing • Conversation skills • Comprehension monitoring • • • Verbatim playback Paraphrasing Restatement Summarizing Clarifying Understanding

22 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

23 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

24 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

25 Have appropriate attitude • Interpersonal attraction predicts interpersonal influence • Be warm, genuine, accepting, understanding, open, honest, fair

26 6. Problems interviewer may face • • • Social facilitation Spotlight effect Validity & reliability issues

27 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)

28 Spotlight effect • Gilovich et al (2000): • You think other people notice all your • People tend to believe mistakes and silliness that the social spotlight shines more • But they don’t brightly on them than it really does.

29 Problems of validity • predictive validity • consider interview scores for interview data as tentative – a data range from. 09 to source of hypotheses. 94 (Wagner, 1949) to be tested against other data

30 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 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 Problems of validity • Cross-cultural interviews: lots of potential for misunderstanding • Be flexible; introspect; learn about groups you will be in contact with

33 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 selfdisclosure, which is socially inappropriate among the Cree

34 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