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MODULE 5:

Topic: Interviews/oral Desired Learning Outcomes

histories
 Student-conduct and provide social studies concepts in a
Duration: 3 hrs meaningful context

INTRODUCTION

Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of
people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry,
predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now
using 21st-century digital technologies.
ACTIVITY
ABSTRACTION

Oral History collects memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews.  
An oral history interview generally consists of a well-prepared interviewer questioning an interviewee and
recording their exchange in audio or video format.  Recordings of the interview are transcribed, summarized, or
indexed and then placed in a library or archives. These interviews may be used for research or excerpted in a
publication, radio or video documentary, museum exhibition, dramatization or other form of public presentation.
Recordings, transcripts, catalogs, photographs and related documentary materials can also be posted on the
Internet.  Oral history does not include random taping, nor does it refer to recorded speeches, wiretapping,
personal diaries on tape, or other sound recordings that lack the dialogue between interviewer and interviewee.”
ANALYSIS

How to Conduct an Oral History Interview: A Quick Guide

Oral history interviewing seems straightforward, but a good interview has a lot of preparation behind it. We
encourage you to review suggestions in the bibliography to learn from the advice of experienced oral historians
before undertaking your own. The list of tips below should help you get started.

Before you begin, think through your oral history project from beginning to end. What is the purpose of the
interview? Will it be biographical or focused on a particular topic or event? How will you find narrators? How will
you use the interview? Where will it be archived? In consultation with the archive, you will need a legal release
form for the narrator’s signature to allow you and others to use it.

Do your research. The best interviews are based on background research. Find out as much as you can about your
narrator, the topics and historical period to be discussed. Develop an outline or list of topics to cover in the
interview.

Contact your prospective narrator and explain the nature of the project. The first thing your narrator will likely
ask you is “Why do you want to interview me?” You need to have a thoughtful and complete answer, including
how the interview will be used and where it will eventually be stored: in an archive, a publication, or on the
Internet.

Understand your recording equipment and try to produce the best sound quality possible. Whether you are using
a tape recorder or digital equipment, practice beforehand until you are comfortable with using it. Be sure you
have the ability to record for 2 to 3 hours, and use an external microphone.

Understand your obligations to the narrator. Become familiar with the Oral History Association Evaluation
Guidelines, available at http://www.oralhistory.org/network/mw/index.php/Evaluation_Guide. Among other
guidelines, always treat narrators with respect, and do not pressure them to speak about 198 / Appendix matters
that are uncomfortable to them. Ask for and obtain written consent (a legal release form) for the recording at the
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end of the interview.

Keep your promises. Show up for the interview at the agreed time. Sign for and return any borrowed materials.
Keep any oral promises, such as saying you will stay in touch or provide a copy of the interview. Be sure, in oral or
written presentations, to give credit to the narrator.

Practice. An oral history interview is not a conversation, nor is it the kind of interview we often see on television,
where the interviewer conducts a brisk question/answer session according to a prearranged script. In contrast,
emphasize the narrator’s story; your role as the interviewer is simply to ask initial and follow-up questions. Most
narrators expect either a conversation or a TV-like interview, so it may take a while for them to realize that they
are in charge. The techniques to put your narrator at ease may not come naturally to you. Practice with friends or
relatives beforehand, with the following goals in mind:

 Think about how to ask questions to put the narrator at ease and in charge.
 Elicit fuller reminiscences by asking open-ended questions rather than ones that can be answered by yes
or no. For example, questions like “How were your teachers?” or “tell me what a school day was like” will
likely generate a richer response than the question, “Did you attend school?”
 Ask brief questions, one at a time.
 Listen carefully and avoid interrupting. Jot down questions or topics that come to mind while the narrator
is speaking, and return to them when there is a lull in the interview.
 Do not worry about silences. Sometimes a narrator is collecting her or his thoughts and will have more to
say if we remain quiet. Don’t argue, even if provoked. Parry a request for your opinion with a statement
that the purpose of the interview is to explore the narrator’s life and opinions.
 Limit the interview to about 2 hours maximum, unless the narrator clearly wants to go on longer.
 Schedule a follow-up interview if necessary. It is very tiring to remember and to listen carefully!
 By the end of the interview you should have a clear life chronology and a sense of the historical changes of
which your narrator was a part. Wait until the end of the interview to look at photographs and
scrapbooks.
 Conclude by saying something like you have enjoyed hearing about an inter-sting life. If you plan
subsequent interviews, say briefly what they will be about.
 Label the interview and create backup copies (on tapes, discs, or hard drives) and create finding aids to
the interview, which might include an index, summary, or transcript.
APPLICATION

Conduct an interview to one of your family member: SAMPLE FAMILY HISTORY OUTLINE. Follow the guide
questions that I give. Write it in a MS Word.

Guide Questions:

Respondent Information: Name, Age, Address, and Gender

I. Early Childhood and Family Background

A. Parents and Family

Ask when and where they were born and then start off with a general question: “Tell me about your parents” or
“Tell me about your family background”

Where was family originally from?

What do you know about that place?
What parents did for a living?
What was parents’ religious background?
How was religion observed in their home?
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What were parents’ political beliefs?
Describe your siblings and your interactions with them when they were young. What did they do together? What
conflicts did they have? Who were they closest to?
B. Community Grew Up In

Describe the community they grew up in and especially their own neighborhood. Races and ethnicities in
neighborhood, what people did for a living, class differences.
What was the largest town or city they remember visiting when they were young and what were their impression
of it.

II. Teenage Years

A. Changes in Family
How did relationship with parents change when they became a teenager?
Additional responsibilities, chores?
If they had conflict with parents, what was it over?
B. School
Favorite subjects? Particular interests? Least favorite subjects? Memorable teachers? Describe their
teaching style. How did they influence them? Different groups in school? Which did they belong to? How
do they think they were perceived by others?
C. Work
Jobs during teenage years.
Contributing to family income? Yes/No, If not, how do you spent money?

III. Adulthood

A. Marriage or Formation of Significant Relationships

What was most difficult being in a relationship originally? What was most satisfying?
Is there a changes in your relationship?
Who worked in the household and how did you support the family?

B. Children
Describe the birth of children.
What they were each like when they were young. How they have changed or not changed.
What activities did the family do together? Family traditions.
What was most satisfying to them about raising children? What was most difficult?
What values did they try to raise their children with? How did they go about doing that?
What forms of discipline did they use and why?

IV. Overview and Evaluation

What is your the greatest satisfaction in life?

How would you describe that the world has changed?

Interviewee’s Reflection (Maximum of 200 words)

REFERENCES
https://www.oralhistory.org/about/do-oral-history/
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https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-0-230-10491-4%2F1.pdf
https://www.library.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/UCLA-COHR_Interviewing-Family-Members.pdf