Akshata Malhotra's List: Framing questions

• Decide What Information You Need

   

  Think of Patton’s 6 types of questions related to:

   

  1. Behavior or experience.

   

  2. Opinion or belief.

   

  3. Feelings.

   

  4. Knowledge.

   

  5. Sensory.

   

  6. Background or demographic.

   

  Based on this list, write down the information you’d like to collect through the interview. Now frame your interview questions around this information. Also think of the possible answers you might get and prepare follow-up questions to ask.

• Use Open-ended Questions For Collecting General Information

   

  If you want to collect descriptions, histories or general information, avoid using ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. Instead, use open-ended questions that give the interviewee freedom to express their thoughts. Some examples of an open-ended question are:

   

  “How do you feel about this situation?”

   

  “What do you mean by [topic]?”

   

  “Tell me more about your relationship with your peers”

• Use Pointed Questions for Collecting Facts

   

  If you want to collect facts or opinions, use more direct questions like “I would love to know your analysis of [topic]” or “In which year did that happen?”. If possible, let the interviewee know in advance that you would be asking these questions so that they can keep the requested information handy.

• Keep the Wording Neutral

   

  Word the questions so that they don’t influence the answer or sound judgmental such as “Don’t you think…” or “I think that may not have been the best approach for them to take, what do you think?”
• Leave Room for a General Question in the End
• The last question should allow the interviewee to share any thoughts or opinions that they might want to share, such as “Thank you for all that valuable information, is there anything else you’d like to add before we end?

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