Interview essay for BA students

 

Interview

An interview is essentially a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.  Interviews are one of the most important methods used to collect information, and present views to readers, listeners, or viewers. According to Scott, “an interview is a purposeful exchange of ideas, the answering of questions and communication between two or more persons”. 

A good interview is the foundation of good reporting. They are the best way of understanding a complicated situation and seeing it from someone else's perspective.

There are several types of interview.

Personality interview: This interview is designed to focus on the intellectual, artistic and emotional life of a celebrity whom the people desire to know about.  The personality interview is usually obtained for preparing a feature story and ordinarily does not figure in a news story.

News interview: It meant to dig out information from a person often unwilling to part with it. For example, it could be a state secret. The focus is on an individual.  For effective interviews, reporters prepare carefully, and they ask questions that induce the source to talk freely.

Business interview: Business interview: is the business of business executives, probably over a five-course dinner accompanied by scotch. The media person has no business in such interviews. Job interview: A job interview is an interview consisting of a conversation between a job applicant and a representative of an employer which is conducted to assess whether the applicant should be hired. Interviews are one of the most popularly used devices for employee selection.

Exploratory interview: An exploratory interview, or informational interview, is unlike a traditional job interview. It is a discussion between a job candidate and a professional who works in an organization or a specific position that the candidate is interested in pursuing.

Investigative interview: This interview is often conducted by investigative agencies like CBI or police crime branch. The aim of investigative interviewing is to obtain accurate and reliable accounts from victims, witnesses or suspects about matters under police investigation. To be accurate, information should be as complete as possible without any omissions or distortion.

Quantitative interview: In a quantitative interview, the participant is typically asked a series of questions or given a form to fill out. These questions are translated into answers that yield patterns that can be used in research. Face-to-face interviews are common in quantitative research, as are phone- and paper-based surveys.