Title: The Essential Questions Author: Elizabeth Keating, Ph.D.
Source: Library
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Summary: Following the advice in this book has led to some great conversations and helped me get to know my grandfather better.
This slim volume includes two introductory chapters on how to conduct interviews with older family members. The remainder of the book is composed of 13 chapters that begin with a page or two of suggested questions on a particular topic (childhood homes, rituals of growing up, etc). These chapters also give examples of answers to these questions from the author’s experience as a sociologist and from her students’ interviews with their elders. Then each chapter wraps up with a few pages for taking notes on the answers you get to these questions. Finally, there’s one last chapter on the importance of doing these interviews.
As you can tell from my description, there isn’t much to this book. Initially, that made me skeptical of the book’s value. Fortunately, I’ve since tried using these interview questions with grandpa on my dad’s side, so I can report that this short book contains exactly the info I needed. The advice for how to listen well and let the person you’re speaking to guide the discussion has been invaluable. I also find I’m better able to listen without judgement after reading the author’s thoughts on the values of different generations and different cultures.
The questions are fantastic. Even the single leading question from each chapter often allows me to get my grandpa talking for 30-40 minutes with just a few follow-up questions. I’ve learned all sorts of interesting things about his experiences growing up and later in life that I’m so glad to know. I really wasn’t sure initially that this short book would be worth buying, but I can now wholeheartedly recommend it.
The post An Interview How-To in Review: The Essential Questions appeared first on Doing Dewey.
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