Students are required interview a key member (e.g. grandparent, mother, father, aunt/uncle) of his/her OWN family, and integrate a family theory into the assessment of his/her own family’s functioning. This individual should be at least one generation older than the student. 1. S that from the interview process. In other words, tell me the story of your interviewee while identifying the major themes that you gathered during the interview. Back up the themes with events and examples from your interviewee’s life. your paper centered on the themes rather than chronological order. For example, George Washington could not tell a lie. Insert Cherry tree chopping story here. 2. Identify the that best describes your interviewee’s family of origin. Explain how/why it fits. 3. Concluding paragraph that summarizes your regarding the interview. 4. All students are expected to submit the transcripts (interview notes) along with the essay. Written notes, video or audio files accepted. Note: It is the student’s responsibility to ensure the files are regardless of file size, i.e use google drive and post a shareable link, if the file is too big to upload. Students should approach the interview by asking themselves, ? When you ask a question, keep it vague—if you’re too specific, you will be guid
ing the whole discussion. The main rule of thumb for interview questions is to avoid close-ended questions; these are too narrow in scope, and they allow your interviewee an escape from truly answering the question. You’ll be able to learn a lot more by letting the interviewee talk and follow memory trails in their own mind. You should also have several categories or subtopics ready to help them when they are stuck, e.g., if you ask them to tell you about their childhood, you can offer subtopics such as food, friends, games/activities, relationship with parents, relationship with siblings, etc. Remember that questions are not just for getting you answers, they are to lead the interviewee down a path that is comfortable. Once one memory is triggered, you will get more information than you expected, and probably not information you have specific questions about. No matter how you conduct your interview, be sure you document it and save it properly so you can refer to it again and again, and share it with your family. It much more interesting-for you and the interviewee-to talk about the stories and emotions behind the events in your family’s past. Use these questions as a springboard for planning your interview; however, and gather further information from questions they, perhaps, did not ask.