Interviewing » Phrasing Questions and Other Techniques »

Ask the Respondent to Tell a Story

In qualitative interviewing we record the stories of respondents' lives and legacies. Through stories respondents give meaning to their experiences. They often reveal in stories their sense of accomplishment, despair, pride, or suffering. Whenever it is appropriate, the interviewer should encourage the respondent to tell a story.

Example: A Well Told Story

Interviewer: When you first arrived here, what were your first impressions?

Gerry: Exciting, it was in September, and it was cold and there was a very curious situation, in that I didn't have a visa. All I had was a letter of acceptance from the school. As a British subject, I didn't need a visa but I did have an X-ray picture. I came to Dorval and I gave the immigration people what I had and he said, "So sorry, this is a year and a half old and you will have to go get a new one." And this was a big deal for me because in the Caribbean it was such a thing to get an X-ray picture, it took days and days. And he told me, I'll never forget, to go down to St. George's hospital in the city and he put me in a cab and I went down and saw the nuns, they were the nursing sisters in the hospital, and so I took my shirt off got the X-ray and I'm really tense because it might take me a week or so to get this X-ray and what are they going to do with me in the meantime. After all that, she told me just go back to the airport and we will phone the results to the immigration people and I went back and sure enough, they phoned and everything was okay, and they allowed me to come into the country.

The interviewer asks for the respondent's subjective experience. The respondent tells a great story that compares his pre- and post-immigration experiences.

Interviewer: Once you started living here, did you have any problems? Any culture shock?

Gerry: Yes, oh my god, I got here on Thursday and on Sunday I dressed in my best clothes and went for a walk on St. Catherine's street. I was going east walking along the store, it seemed like every eye on the street was looking, and it got so intense that I panicked and went back to where I was staying. Now I don't believe that anybody actually was looking at me, they were going about their business, but being in a strange country where every else was white, I just felt that I was only the only person on the street that looked black. I was more self-conscious…

Again, the interviewer asks for personal experiences. The respondent responds with a fascinating story.

Interviewer: How did you meet up with other Vincentians?

Gerry: There were some people, those ladies I was telling you about, and I knew two guys who were going to [university], and there was another guy who was just living here and working, and another, a fourth person who was living—four men—and a number of these women on the domestic scheme. Every Thursday we would gather at the Swiss Chalet on St. Matthews and we would gather there and that was basically the way we got together.

Interviewer: How did you meet that first person? How did you know where to go?

Gerry: I don't know, you happened to be from St. Vincent, and I guess there must have been other Caribbeans and they told me that these were off on Thursdays and to go along and find them. I can't really remember the details.

Interviewer: How did you locate your first residence after the Y?

Gerry: They didn't have the facilities to entertain, etc. so there was a friend of mine, a guy who was in my math class. And he told me that his aunt who was living on Park Avenue had a room, cause I think that she had two children gone to university, and so she had an extra room and if I was interested I could get it, and that is how I got out of the Y.

Caribbean Interview #10

Example: Missed Opportunities

Interviewer: Describe your relations with your relatives, where they live, how often you see them, and talk on the phone…?

Diane: I'll be honest with you, I would have liked to be in contact with my brothers more but there again because of their spouse's problem I don't do it too often. But my sisters, I get along with the brother-in-laws so I try to stay, but I think that distance has a way of helping to that.

It is very good that the interviewer phrases the question in such a way that the respondent is encouraged to speak in a personal voice. However, the interviewer should not pretend to understand what the "spouse's problem" is. A follow-up question could be as simple as, "Spouse's problem?" This may be sufficient to prompt the respondent to tell a story, especially as she begins her answer by saying, "I'll be honest with you." To be more specific, the interviewer could ask for an example of a particular "spouse's problem" that has prevented her from contacting her brothers more. Being able to pick up terms from respondents' answers, and use them in follow-up questions calls upon skills associated with being an attentive listener and phrasing questions according to the individual respondent's situation.

Interviewer: Are there some members of your family who take responsibility for keeping everybody else together?

Diane: We haven't done that per se but I would say that would be me because in the family they term me as the person with the big mouth so when there's a problem between the other family and they go to St. Vincent they were wishing I was there. Because they have things that they keep and I'm the one to come out and say, "that's how it should be"... I have fought with all of my brother's and sister's children, why? Respect. I am your aunt and I'm here to stay. You think that because you're married now with a family and you can call me by my name, forget about it, you won't be talking to me.

Instead of asking a follow-up question, the interviewer shifts to a different topic. Here, again, the respondent's answer begs a follow-up question. There are at least three entry points. The interviewer could ask for stories by simply repeating what the respondent has just said, "So, when your family went back to St. Vincent and had problems, they wished you were there?" Or, "So, you have fought with your nieces and nephews?" Or, the interviewer could ask for elabouration, "What happened? What led to you to 'come out and say that's how it should be?'"

Interviewer: Do your relatives expect you to help them and in what way? Is this different for the male or female spouse's side of the family?

Diane: I would help but I wouldn't expect them to help. If they help I'd be grateful.

Instead of asking a hypothetical question, it would be more fruitful to ask for a specific incident: "Has there ever been a time when you provided financial help to your family members? If so, how did it come about?" Or, "Has there ever been a time when you asked for financial support from a family member? If so, how did that happen?" Specifying the type of help--"financial help," or "emotional support," or "a place to stay"--will make respondents more likely to provide concrete instances.

Interviewer: What events bring your extended family together?

Diane: Death, wedding, birth…

Interviewer: When was the last one?

Diane: Death. All of us went back. It was like the old times, all of us in one room. We were all there together, children, grandchildren. Marriage is not as much a reunion. Once its a death nobody thinks where the money comes from. Everybody gets on the plane. Holidays are tough because we're so scattered.

Here it would be perfectly appropriate to ask "the death of whom?" After that is clarified, simple questions such as "when did it happen?" and "who made the initial phone call?" could lead to the telling of a full story. One could also explore the effects of the financial burden of family reunions by asking, "So, there have been times when family members missed the holiday gathering because it's too expensive? What happens then?"

Caribbean Interview #2

Exercise: "What's Your Story?"

Knowing that one learns a great deal from stories told by the respondent, and that the interviewer should ask for clarification when it is needed, comment on the following segment. Discuss (1) how the interviewer has prompted the respondent to tell story; (2) how the respondent's story is useful; (3) what leads could be explored further to facilitate story telling.

Interviewer: Who was the first of your family to come to Canada?

Judy: Me. I came up on the Domestic scheme. You know, working as a babysitter for one year. And then after that I went to work for Bell Canada for 9 nine years, then I left, went away, got married, came back and went into nursing.

[Interviewer's note: At that time landed immigrant status was granted to women in the Domestic scheme automatically after one year.]

Interviewer: What year did you get married?

Judy: 1970, I went to Tanzania. [He lived in Montreal and then she went to Tanzania with him, got married, lived there for two years then came back and then went back for another year and a half. Presently she is divorced. "It didn't work out."]

Interviewer: What level of education did you have before you came?

Judy: I had my 'matriculation' plus I had my teacher training from teacher's college. A lot of people who came from St. Vincent with that same background were able to teach here in the system without having to go back to school. At that time I was told that I could go to College for a one year teacher's course which I would have had to do. But after that people came and were able to teach without going back to school because even when I went back to St. Vincent after about five years here I met the principal of the teachers college there and he was a Canadian and he wanted to know where I was working so I told him Bell and he said why aren't you teaching, you could be teaching there, and I said well I didn't know that and he said you like Bell because of the shares and I said yeah, and it's the first thing I wanted to get out of this job [referring to the domestic work] I was doing so quick because it was nothing that I could do. It wasn't degrading it's just that I wasn't accustomed to that sort of thing.

Interviewer: What did you do at Bell? And in the scheme?

Judy: Clerical work, with the yellow pages.

Interviewer: What was the family like that you were with?

Judy: The first ones were really good, little kids and they were happy because I was there to teach them and help them. The father was surprised that I knew so much world geography and I said yeah we did that, but it was just too much, I'd never done that before. I was fourth of my family but I never had to take care of so many little children at one time. There were four kids in this family, the cleaning! I almost died and they realized that and they said this is not for you. Even though they were happy that I did their homework with them. And then I went to another family that had two teen-aged boys, one was in primary school, I would help him with his work and his mother I think was jealous because she'd say "we don't only have to know how to teach." I said that's all I knew. This was just my chance to come to Canada and that's the way the immigration system worked, otherwise you couldn't come here unless you came to study. I stayed there until my year ended and I applied for my job at Bell and of course I passed the test and had the qualifications and got the job.

Caribbean Interview #5

«Ask Open-ended Questions Ask Questions to Elicit the Personal Voice»