Oral History Interview & Importance Part 6

Importance of Pre-interview Data Collection

Hamid Qazvini
Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

2017-5-23

One of the fundamental requirements of oral history interview is having sufficient information & awareness on the interview content and surrounding aspects. Unfortunately, there have been cases where the interviewer, with the least information, has started the interview and the outcome has been unsuccessful. Such circumstances expose the interview to multiple damages as follows:

1. Questions lack precision and the interview falls out of defined goals.
2. The scholar fails to jog the memory of the narrator.
3. Understanding the story of the narrator turns difficult during the interview.
4. The interview lacks rich content.
5. Discontent & lack of satisfaction of both the narrator and the scholar of the interview.

Hence, the scholar shall be versed on the topic.

A proportion of relevant information is general. For instance, in the case of interviews on the Holy Defense, the interviewer is expected to know the start and end date of the war. There must be knowledge on the geographical position of the war whether it occurred in east or west; the provinces involved and have general knowledge about the Iran and Iraq war which might be indicated during the interview. 

The other portion is historical. It means that the scholar shall be versed on the history and trend of relevant incidents. For instance, a scholar recording memoirs of the Islamic Revolution shall be aware of the history of the Pahlavi Regime and various political and cultural movements during its rule. It is wrong of the interviewer to suffer incompetence on the structure of the Pahlavi Regime or formation of political groups and their opposition movements and rely merely on the information provided by the narrator.

Another aspect on which oral history scholars have to be versed on is the internal social context of the era under study. For instance, if the narrator speaks of the life and social context of a specific period of time in his life, the oral history scholar shall have a realistic perspective of the era.

Technical Data

Oral history scholars shall access a minimum of technical data concerning the subject of their study. For instance, to interview a law enforcement officer recounting memories of the Holy Defense, it is vital to have a general overview of the process for training and deployment of forces to the war and life during war and weapons used and operations. Unfortunately, we have witnessed that in some cases the interviewer lacks awareness on simple issues which is of surprise for the narrator and bears the question: “How did you agree to conduct this interview while you lack basic knowledge on the subject?

Some interviews concern a scientific issue or the history of production or invention of a product; obviously, in such cases, minimum technical knowledge is vital.

Information on the Narrator

When the interview concerns the life and operations of an individual, general research has to be conducted on the subject and the scholar should know what kind of an individual with what kind of characteristics he is dealing with. Knowing personal, mental and emotional characteristics of the narrator is of high importance. The interviewer shall have a general idea of other incidents and events that they narrator had been dealing with.

Oral History Interview & Importance Part 1 - Oral History, Path to Cultural Dialogue

Oral History Interview & Importance Part 2 - Characteristics of an Interviewer

Oral History Interview & Importance Part 3 - Selecting a Subject

Oral History Interview & Importance Part 4 - Narrator Identification & Selection

Oral History Interview & Importance Part 5 - Goal Setting