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6///‘? 73/

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF THE INTERVIEWER
IN A COMMUNITY SURVEY RESEARCH STUDY
AND
AT INT K IN A CHILD GUIDAI-TCE CLINIC'

‘iwfi
Emma C. Chaffee

A PROJECT RE PORT

Submitted to the Department of Social Work
Michigan State University
in Partial Fulfillment 0f the
Requirements for the Degree
of
MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK

July 1955

Approved:

_//"’j¢c/zc¥4ca /Ati GQCZ456%CLp

CBaIrman, Research committee

_éEi>Lend:§e4§<7§?fi4haitafigs

Head of Department

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many persons have contributed to the completion
of this project, and to all of them.I am deeply indebted.
Thanks are due to members of the faculty of the Depart-
ment of Social Work. I am especially grateful to my
project committee: Dr. Lucille Barber, mr. Manfred Lil-
liefors, and Dr. Ernest Harper-~all of whom.made valuable
suggestions which were incorporated into the project.

I also wish to express my appreciation to Dr.
Helen Lanting, Director of the Lansing Child Guidance
Clinic, Dr. Leo A. Haak and the Michigan Communications
Study for permission to use the materials on which this
comparative study was based.

To Thomas Chaffee, thank you for long-enduring

interest, patience, and encouragement.

Chapter

II
III
IV

VI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTICN l

The Problem

The Method

The Settings
LITERATURE AND RESOURCE MATERIALS lO
INTERVIEWING FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH 15
INTERVIEWING FOR INTAKE IN A CHILD

GUIDANCE CLINIC 31
COMPARISON OF THE ROLES OF THE INTER-

VIEWERS ’4-0

Differences: The Role of the Inter-
viewer Differs With the Purpose of the
Interview. The Role of the Interviewer
Differs With the Need. The Role of the
Interviewer Differs With the Setting.
The Role of the Interviewer Differs With
the Relationship.

Common Elements: Both Interviewers Em-
ploy Similar Methods and Techniques.

Both Have an Organizational Plan and
Structure. Both Utilize Knowledge of
Human Behavior.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 60

BIBLIOGRAPHY 66

iii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

As an interviewer for a research study during the
summer of 1953, the writer became interested in compar-
ing the respective roles of the research interviewer and
the caseworker in a social agency. Practice as a student
social worker the previous year with the Bureau of Social
Aid and with the Lansing Child Guidance Clinic, l953-SR,
provided casework experience. The Child Guidance Clinic
experience included intake interviews, giving the writer
an opportunity to evaluate the roles of interviewers in

two "first" interview situations.
TheyPrqplqm

In this exploratory study the writer proposes to
focus upon the interviewers' roles in a research study and
at intake in a children's psychiatric clinic. The roles
will be examined for common elements, principles on which
each is based, and differences in purpose, need, and set-
ting that modify interviewing in practice. Comparisons
of methods and the activities of the workers in meeting
differing purposes and needs will be considered. Content

per 33 is not to be covered, only as it pertains to the

1

methods employed and the resultant relationship between
interviewer and interviewee.
This study proposes to inquire into the area of
Annette Garrett's metaphorical statement:
Interviews...take place for all sorts of reasons.

At one end of the scale is the interview of the cen-
sus-taker whose one immediate purpose is simply to
obtain specific information. At the opposite end is
the definitely therapeutic interviewing of the psy-
chiatrist or psychoanalyst. Between lies the vast
majority of interviews where the aim is to help in
one way or another, and information is sought pri-

marily to point this help at actual needs and to
make it effective.

The Method

Social science research interviews are designed
specifically for purposes of research, for gathering
facts that can be coded, tabulated, and compared. The
goal is increased knowledge about social science. The em-
phasis is upon uniformity of structure in order that trait
characteristics can be isolated and counted under con-

trolled conditions. Social wogggfiggerviews, on the other
hand, are dependent structurally upon the situation and
needs of the individual clients, for the goal is knowledge
about the client, his problem, and how he can be helped.
Only secondarily may knowledge about social work pgr‘gg
be the goal.

1 ..
Annette Garrett, Interviewing, Its Principles
and Methods (Family Welfare Asso.,19hé), p. ICE

 

The structural and content individuality of social
work interviews makes comparisons difficult. The differ-
ences in methods of recording also comprises a handicap
in objective comparisons. The answers on the survey were
recorded verbatim and on the spot. The intake interviews
were in summarized form and only an occasional verbatim
remark was given. Notes were taken during the intake
interview of factual data, and the actual recording was
made two days to two weeks later.

Considering these limitations, the writer preposes
to analyze the two types of interviews as a process:
the basic principles and understanding of the interviewer
in approaching his task; a description of respective pur-
poses, needs, settings, and how these affected the meth-'
ods used and the relationship between interviewee and
interviewer.

Annette Garrett, in her analysis of how to inter-
view, divided the interview into component factors and dis-
cussed each separately. She forewarned that these could
not be so simply separated. "In practice none of the
methods to be discussed operates in a vacuum.but only in
organic relation with most of the others."2

These methods were: (1) observation (2) listening

(3) listening before talking,or "Begin where the client

 

21bid., p.30

A
is" (h) questioning (S) talking (6) answering personal
questions (7) leadership or direction (8) interpreta-
tion. Recording will be added as a ninth method because
of its significance to research.

By narrative description of interviews, comparing
and analyzing the use of these methods as outlined by
Annette Garrett, the writer will explore the similarities
and differences in the roles of interviewers in social
science research and at intake in a psychiatric clinic.
Implications which these considerations reveal fer the
relationships of interviewer and interviewee or other
aspects of interviewing will be noted.

Common bases for comparison are these: The writ-
er cenducted the interviews in both settings. Both types
of interviews were first meetings. Both were concerned
with the gathering of information. Beth, as purposeful
communication, involved the social interaction of two

persons responding to one another in a cooperative task.
The Setting

Research prejec :- The purpose of the Michigan
Communications Study was to determine what the people of
a small Midligan community knew about their_scheels,

.where they get their information, and what they thought

5

about the schools.3 The pilot study h during the summer
of 1953 was the first step in a study of communication
effects of various media in school-community communica-
tion. A later experimental study was made in five other
Michigan communities to evaluate the relative effective-
ness of a newspaper approach and a school booklet ap-
preach in contributing to increased information and a
more favorable opinion on the part of citizens in respect
to their schools.

The prepared schedule covered nine content areas:
school facilities, pupils, school programs, teachers,
methods of teaching, administration, costs, evaluation,
and sources of information about schools.

The schedule for the pilot study was revised
eight times and pro—tested. All of the interviewers par-
ticipated in the final revision. Respondents were se-
lected on the basis of a ten per cent random sample from
the l?h9-SO community directory and building permits for

homes built since IQRQ.

A —_--.v~-._—‘ O--“---. —_h_

 

3Lee A. Haak,"What Citizens Know and Think About
Their Public Schools", Report #2 (Michigan Communications
Study, 195M) p. 3. (Mimeegraphed.)

The pilot study was conducted by the Social Re-
search Service of the Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology,
M.S.C., in cooperation with the Midwest Administration
Center of the Univ. of Chicago. It was under the direction
of Dr. Lee A. Haak, Dept. of Social Science, and Dr. Wilbur
Breekever, Depts. of Sociology and Anthropology and Social
Science. Special thanks are due to Dr. flask for permission
to use this material and his generous help in its prepar-
ation.

The average interview for eight interviewers took
one hour and seventeen minutes. There were thirteen and
one-half pages of questions. Out of a total of four
hundred interviews conducted in the pilot study, the
writer completed fifty-five. After each interview the
interviewer wrote a brief evaluatery statement of re-
spendent reaction, any unusual circumstance or signifi-
cant feature of the interview.

The interviewers represented a variety of back-
breunds in academic training and work experience: high
school and college teaching, National Opinion Research
Center interviewing, Counselling and Guidance, Sociol-
egy and Anthropology, and Social Work.

An instructional orientation was given the in-
terviewers concerning their task. The National Opinion
Research Center book on interviewing was made available
for reading, and other sources of information on inter-
viewing for research were recommended. As participants
in the final drafting meetings, the interviewers had a
clear idea of ever-all goals and procedure and felt a
part of the total research process. The interviewers.
rode to the out-lying community in the sane car and ate
together at noon. There was ample Opportunity for came-
radorie and interchange of ideas. One of the less ex—
perienced in research interviewing, the writer learned
from eo-werkers about techniques and methods of inter-

viewing for research.

When the sample of interviews was completed, the
interviewers continued as coders and tabulaters and saw
the mass of collected data begin to take statistical and
meaningful form. Later all interviewers participated in
an evaluative meeting with the State Councils of the
Michigan Communication Study. Experiencing researdh as
a process and understanding the importance of the inter-
viewing as one step in the total process gave the writer
a new awareness of subtle forces, external and internal,
which could influence the interview and the ultimate va-
lidity and reliability of the collected data.

Child Guidance Clinic:- The Lansing Child Guid-

 

ance Clinic is a social agency sponsored by state and
local organizations. In a staff-prepared report its
functions are stated as follows:

... In general the clinic tries to improve and
protect the mental health of the children in the
community. It does this not only by providing psy-
chiatric and psychological service to families where
children have emotional preblems,llut also by its
consultative and participant relationship to all
other health, welfare, and educational agencies.
The mental health of children is a community re-
sponsibility. The clinic shares this responsibility
with all other a encies in the community that deal
with children.

Members of the professional staff-~psychiatrist,
psychologist, and social worker-~used a team approach in

the client's first contacts with the agency in the diag-

S "1953 Annual Report", Lansing Child Guidance
Clinic, (Mimeographed.)

nostic study process. The psychiatrist saw the child for
a clinical evaluation to get information ab ut the child's
inner world of feelings and to gain as much insight as
possible into his personality structure. The psychol-
ogist administered different kinds of diagnostic and
projective tests to assess areas of special abilities,
intelligence, and personality in which there might be
question.

The social worker interviewed the parents, both
if possible, to learn about the child's personal devel-
Opment and family relationships. It was usually impor-
'tant to cover thef‘ollowing topics in the first inter-
view: source of referral and some idea of the parents'
expectations regarding help; a description of the child
and his problems, habits and fears; factual data of
marriage and births; family history of both parents;
physical and emotional development of the child, pre-
natal to the present; an explanation of diagnostic pro-
cess and clinic function if needed. The average length
of an intake interview was approximately one and one-
half hours.

It was the social worker's responsibility in
the intake interview to gain some understanding of the
needs of her client and to learn about factors of the
past and the present that may have brought him to the

clinic 0

After these initial interviews the workers met in
conference with the total professional staff to put their
information together to evaluate the factors involved
in the client's difficulties and to make the most feasi—
ble plan for his better adjustment to his environment.
The case was accepted for treatment, referred to another
agency, closed with an interpretative interview, or a
combination of these plans evolved to fit the situation
and need. In any decision the parents were seen again
by the intake interviewer to discuss the findings with
as much frankness as was possible and to make plans for

future action.

CHAPTER II
LITERATURE AND RESOURCE MATERIALS

The literature on interviewing is bountiful.
Social workers, guidance counselors, psychiatrists, opin-
ion pollsters and others have considered the interview
and published their respective points of view on how it
should be done. Several schools of thought have devel-
oped.

Except for an occasional reference or inference
the writer found almost no literature specifically com-
paring different types of interviewing.

An exception to this was, "A Sociological and
Psychiatric Interview Compared."1 It proved stimulating
to the writer in formulating the subject of this paper.
The article described a project carried out by Dr. Reck-
less, a sociologist, and Dr. Selling, a psychiatrist.
Their premise was that in a general way the differences
in point of view and aporoach of psychiatry and sociol-
ogy were recognized. But how were these differences
,reflected specifically in a given case study interview?

Walter c. Reckless, Fh.D., and Lowell 8. Selling.
M.D., "A Sociological and Psychiatric Interview Compared",
American Journal 23 Orthopsychiatry (1937) Vol. 7,9p.532-
2

 

10

11

A cooperating agency chose a subject to be inter-
viewed-~a thirty year old woman Who was trying to make an
adjustment after quitting prostitution. Both the sociol-
ogist and the psychiatrist conducted their interviews
without previous knowledge of the interviewee, any ex-
change of information or pre-arrangement of methods to
be used. Each interviewer wrote his analysis independ-
ently of the other's data and independently of the other's
remarks.

The sociologist obtained a life history. He
seemed interested in having the subject tell about her
experiences and reveal her attitudes toward various sit-
uations. He learned about the origin of her career as a
prostitute and the extent of her demoraliZation in the
life. Pursuing the socio-legal aspects, the interviewer
depicted her life as a professional sex delinquent in our
society.

The psychiatrist made an inventory of personality
traits. The situations and happenings were significant
to the psychiatrist only as they elicited the interview-
ee's feelings and reactions and revealed her emotional
status. He evaluated her most deep-seated feelings,
(guilt, inferiority),emotiona1 attitudes, fantasies, wor-
ries and psychotic tendencies.‘

The two interviewers met on common territory when

they tried to get the interviewee's attitudes toward her

12

e>}cperiences. The psychiatrist inquired into more general

sitstitudes toward women, children, society, and life. The

=3<3ciologist probed the situational, more specific exper-

iences.

Perhaps the most important resource for this pa-

fgmr was Annette Garrett.2 Miss Garrett's straightfor-

1ward, practical discussion of techniques and methods
‘provided the basic outline by which the writer could
compare two types of interviewing. Miss Garrett's analy-
sis is systematic and usable. She does not try to re-
duce interviewing to a list of "do's and don't's". The
second half of the book presented selected interviews

for suggestive discussion.

Pauline V. YOung, a helpful resource, presented
the interview3 as a socio-psychological process of in-
teraction. She outlined three types of interviews based
on the respective roles of the interviewer and the inter-
viewee: the non-directive interview, the focused inter-
view, and the repeated interview. Reviewing within the
limits of a chapter some of the basic techniques of in-
terviewing, Miss YOung was concerned with the validation
of data and the limitations of the interview in respect

to its validity:

 

2Garrett, op.cit.

Pauline V. Young, Scientific Sogigl Durveys and
Research (New York: PrenticeJHall, lQhfiW; Chap. 11“

 

2-4
b.)

Little basic research has been com*lcted which

we ld aid in establishing a body of scientific prin-

ciples governing the process of interviewing-rwhich
remains largely an art rather than a science.4

In an earlier approach to social work interview-
ixng when psychology was non-dynamic, Miss Young presented
£1 comprehensive analyses of methods, purposes and tech-
Iliques with illustrative case material which proved to

lbe a stimulating reference.S

Most books on metWods in social research contain

(:hapters on the interview. Several proved most valuable
'to this writing. Authors Cannell and Kahn6 provided
lflractical assistance in their discussion of techniques
:for attaining reliability and validity in research data
(collection by the interview method. The chapter was a
‘thorough examination of the potentialities and limitations
of the interview as a research method and inquired into
the psychOIOgical basis of the interview. A passing ref-
erence was made in this chapter to a follow-up inquiry in-
to respondent reaction to interviews for a 1951 Consumer

Finances Study conducted by the Survey Research Center

of the University of Michigan.

SPauline Young, Interviewing in Social Work,
(MbGraw-Héll Book Co), 1935
Charles F. Cannell and Robert L. Kahn, "The Col-
lection of Data by Interviewing", Chap. 8, Leon Festinger
and Daniel Katz, eds., Research Method§_in.ghg Behavior-
al Sciences, (Dryden Press), 1953

 

1h

A five-page report of this inquiry

7

was secured
from Author Cannell. After the interviewing was com-
pleted on the Consumer Finances Study, a letter was sent
to all respondents for whom there was an address, thank-
ing them for their cooperation. A return postcard was
inclosed on which the respondent could. indicate whether
he remembered the interview and if he wanted a copy of
the report on the research. Space for comments on the
interview was also provided. Of the cards returned, com-
ments were overwhelmingly favorable (9673-9875) to the in-
terview, its conduct and content, and. the interviewer.
14081: comments related to the interviewers and their per-
sonal qualities, praising them for ability and personality.
The human relationship aspect of the interview process
Seemed to have made the greatest impression upon the re-
Spondents.

Readings for this paper principally represented
the subject areas of social casework, interviewing in sev-
eral fields, methods in social research and social work
re search. Social work periodicals were a rich source of

iciceas. A complete reference list is contained in the

b ibli ography.

1 7 "Response to Post Card Follow—up of IntCI‘V1CWS
‘951 Consumer Finances Study", Survey Research Center,
niversity of Michigan, June 1, 1951, (Unpublished)

CHA PTER I I I

INTERVIE‘WIJ‘TG FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH

As a term in the social sciences the "interview"

may be defined as "the securing of information through

a professional conversation with an individual for a

research study or to aid in social diagnosis or treat-

ment."1 It is a deliberately planned. conversation, us-
ing definite techniques and methods to accomplish a par-

t1 cular purpose.2

In general, the subject matter of sociology en-

compasses the inter-relationshins of cultural and. soci-

etal phenomena and the individual. Sociologists look

for the underlying continuity in the actions of all
people in their attempts to explain the existence of reg;-
113-81rity in social behavior.3

Therefore, in the interview, a direct approach to

Cfiligcovering the attitudes and perceptions of individuals,

it is important that the social research interviewer have

uTiderstanding of human behavior and personality. He needs

\

1 H.P. Fairchild (ed. Dictiona
(I¢.Y.: Philosophical Library, lean), :ivggnffiiiiifgi."
(Londo .R.C. Oldfield, The Psychology of the Intervi_e_w

on. Methuen, 3rd. ed., 19a?) ppg€f7

3 Logan Wilson and William L. Kolb, Sociological
Analysis, (Harcourt, Brace, and. Co.) 19239, pp. 1-?

15

16

to know that the respondent from the poor housing area
may be hesitant and unsure of himself and his answers;
that the unfriendly interviewee may be reacting to pre—
vious experiences, now precipitated upon the interviewer;
that a person expressing conflicting feelings with equal

vehemence may feel both ways.

The measure...of success as an interviewer is
very largely dependent upon the extent to which he
is insightful and successful in recognizing and deal-
ing with the social-pfiychological phenomena of the
interviewing process.

The interviewer encounters a wide gamut of human
feelings, situations and reaction. Ideally the interview-
eer' meets this diversity with warmth of interest, respect
for feelings, and recognizes every individual's right to
make his own choices. He needs to be aware of his own
Eltrtitudes and prejudices so that they do not interfere
113. the interview. One of the limitations of the interview
843 a research method is the possibility of the interview-
eurns involvement in the data and the likelihood of bias.

The interviewer begins in a natural way, friendly
aJfixfl interested, unhurried, relaxed, telling who he is and
tE‘E'Cldcing of things in common. He makes sure that optimum
‘3C1nditions for privacy and physical and mental comfort

prevail. He gives the respondent confidence in the non-

 

Ll. .

Chas. F. Cannell and Robert L. Kahn, "The Collec-
tion of Data. by Interviewing", Leon Festinger and Daniel
Katz, eds., Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences,

(Dryden Press}, 1953, 10?). 532333

l7

judgmental acceptance of any feelings or opinions to be

t

expressed. He keeps interruptions at a minimum and does

not engage in any distracting activity or gesturing.

Observation

 

The interviewer can learn by observing more than
ljiteral meanings. There are numerous ways to communicate:
Incasture, gestures, mannerisms, general appearance, habits
cai? thinking, tones of voice, choice of vocabulary, facial
(ajcpression, mood; any changes in the foregoing; what the
client talks about; what he evades; what he repeats.

Resistance and unsatisfactory answers can some-
tsiJnes be diminished if negative feelings are observed
Gestrdy'and accepted: Mr. D., a middle-aged corpulent man,
CBCnnsented to an interview grudgingly. He said that some
'VfNaol" had been through several years before'during the

idea]? asking about gasoline rationing. The interviewer
6:143 not pursue this remark but launched immediately into
'tilse questions. At the interview's beginning he said,
"IDCmJt know" or gave one staccato answer to every ques-
131.0n; "Back to the person," meaning that it was an indi-
"3Ldual matter. He refused to generalize. When probed
11GB proclaimed, "No matter how much you try, you won't
FZEBt an answer out of me on the ones I say I don't know."
T318 writer went along with this, recognizing that it was

IDGrhaps useless to do otherwise. By the middle of the

18

interview his obstinate resistance had melted. He was
ggiving detailed answers, filling in information previous-
qu refused, and telling stories to illustrate his mean-
i118. At the end of the interview he then told about the
ezxrlier interviewing experience. He thought the question-
ruaire on schools made a lot more sense.
Had the writer responded to the feeling expressed

2111 his remarks at the beginning, Mr. D. might have coop-
-erated earlier. However, letting the questionnaire sell
:11:self eventually proved effective. This incident is
also indicative of the basic social nature of interview-

zirng.

There are good reasons for placing a strong em-
phasis on "emotional satisfaction" in a research
interview. To begin with the respondent for one re-
search study does not cease to exist, but tells others
about his experience. Social research in a broad
sense depends upon the good impression which the in-
terviewer makes on his respondents. This is obviously
true when a study is being conducted in a small com-
munity, in which news of the interviews will be car—
ried from neighbor to neighbor in a short while.

In the community where.this study was made, there
1451:: a large percentare of retired elderly persons. The
wI‘Iiter interviewed several persons past seventy years of
aESQ. Observing signs of weariness and nervousness with
‘tYIe schedule, the interviewer stopped occasionally to per-

Iniyt a rest. Invariably they exnressed appreciation for

SWilliam J. Geode and Paul K. Hatt, Methods 3;;
Sigpial_Rgsgarch, (McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1952) p.196

 

19

this consideration, at the same time taking pride in hav-
ing completed what they had started. One not-so-elderly
respondent became so fidgety and agitated that the writer
suggested returning the next day to complete the sched-
ule. The second trial produced a satisfactory interview.
A well-knmm figure about town, the respondent hailed
the interviewer gaily thereafter and made good-humoured

inquiries about the progress of the interviewing.
Listening

Observation and listening are closely allied.
In the research interview listening is necessary for ac-
curacy in recording. The interviewer's concentration
upon the business at hand can help his respondent under
distracting circumstances. Mrs. w. was a harried young
mOther whose home seemed to be a favorite spot for all
the neighbor's small children. The interview was punctu-
ated by her irritable little boy who was being annoyed
by three other chi dren under three years of age. Fight-
ing went on unabated. The baby cried. However, Mrs. W.
remained willing to answer and in spite of the distrac-
tions carefully considered each response.
Listening helped set the climate of the interview
fluid encouraged sincere and serious thinking on the part
Of the respondent. Careful listening communicated to

Eler that her answers and opinions were important.

Li steninir; Before Talkine

#

OI‘

"Begin Where the Client _I__s_"

With the pre-written interview schedule the "lis-

tening; before talking" admonition was not altogether ap-

propriate. The schedule began at the

s ame place with

every respondent. The questions were the same whether

his intelligence was dull or superior, whether he had

little knowledge of the topic or none, or whether he was

eager or resistant to the interview. The research inter-

viewer's prime aim was to discover facts about social
processes, public opinion, social attitudes, etc., not

to understand an individual's behavior for the purpose

or therapy.

Only at the beginning and termination of the in-

ter'view was there ordinarily an interchange of conversa-
tion of any length. The interviewer's opening words were
uniformly established by the instruction materials. In-

t(Bleviewers were advised not to change these too much, nor
to be deterred by too many questions by the respondent.
Launching as quickly as possible into the interview was
Said to be the best way to parry these queries.

At the
end of the interview the respondents often asked ques—

t'ions about the purpose of the research and its probable

Outcome, 1-m11dering if they would ever hear "how it came
CNIt."

21

Questioning

 

The Communications Study schedule asked thirteen
and one-half pages of questions, to be covered in about
an hour and twenty minutes. Three types of questions
were intermixed: questions of fact, of opinion or atti-
‘txlcies, and of personal data information. The objective
()1? the order of questioning was to encourage a positive
Ireailiationship with the interviewee and to maintain his
interest. It was assumed by the comittee that fact
c111e3:stions tended to be frustrating ("especially to those
efkic> do not know the answer and know that they do not
'Lcr1c31d”)6, that people were unwilling to give some details
le' IDersonal information, but they enjoyed expressing their
Opilnions.

An illustration of the types of question is the
fc>3.3uowing section of the schedule on Pupils. Six are
Cflléisations of fact, three are Opinion (2.1.1; 2.2.1; and
23.6)) , and three are personal data questions (2.8; 2.9; and
2~10 ).

2. Pu ils
2.1 Since about 1950 has the enrollment in your
grade school decreased ( ), stayed the same( )’

or increased ( )?

2.1.1 What do you think will happen to grade
school enrollment in the next five years?
Will it decrease ( ), stay about the
same ( ), or increase( )?

. \

T 6Lee A. Haak, "The Development of an Instrument
SO IDetermine What People Know and Think About Their Public
chubols", Chap. 1. (Michigan Communications Study, 1953)

p']- (Unpublished.)

Study,

7‘)
{‘0

2.3

2.5

2.6

207

2.8

2.9
2.10

r)
(-

How about the enrollment in your high school
since about 1950? Did it decrease ( ), stay
the same ( ), or increase ( )?

2.2.1 What do you think will hapnen to high
school enrollment in the next five years? Will
it decrease ( ), stay about the same( ), or
increase( )?

At what age may pupils enter school?

2.3.1 By what age "must" they be in school? __

2.3.2 At what age may pupils legally end their
schooling?

. How does the school find out the number of pre-

school children who are not yet in the school?
(Under five years)

 

About what preportion of the high school pupils
live outside of the school district?
Record verbatim response.

If the High School is overcrowded, or be-
comes overcrowded, what do you think should be
done?

About what preportion of the pupils who enter
your high school graduate? Record verbatim
response. ,

. . A out what proportion of the pupils who
do graduate from your high school go on to
college? Record verbatim response.

By the way, how long have you lived in this
school district?

Do you have any children? Yes ( ) No( )

In which grades in your grade school and the
High School have you had children?

Ask only if you get a "Yes" to 2.9

Now I‘d l ke to find out something about your
children:

7Schedule, Eighth Draft (Michigan Communications
June 26, 1953) pp.2fi1(Nfimeographed.)

23

To minimize the barrage effect of asking so many
questions, the interviewer was counselled to read the
questions in as conversational a manner as possible, pref-
erably memorizing them. Transitional phrases and words
also lent a conversational effect. Questions were asked
courteously, avoiding inflections that might influence
an answer.

Many people did not like to be questioned. One
respondent, herself a school teacher in the comnnmity,
Put off the granting of an interview three times. On the
fourth request she consented reluctantly. She seemed to
identify closely with the school system and thought the
schools were the best she had ever known. She knew the
research was being done with the cooperation of the school
administration and understood the confidentiality of her
I‘e‘plies, but she remained resistant. The interview took
place all over the house-win the kitchen while she mixed
a. batch of cookies, in the living room while she ironed,
ELnd in the bathroom while she bathed her child. At one
Point she interpolated, "What are you folks trying to do--
f ind out how ignorant we are?"

When respondents said that they did not know the-
exact answer, interviewers encouraged them to guess or to
make an approximate answer. Several reacted to this with
anJCiety. They seemed to feel it was wrong to guess at an

answer, as if they were telling a falsehood.

Sometimes respondents answers to questions in
controversial areas reflected cultural expectations rath-
er than real opinions. Sensing this, the interviewer
wondered whether this was an unintentional misinterpreta-
tion of a question, or whether the respondent was pushed
too rapidly and made to feel that an insincere reply was
necessary. At this point, too, the interviewer might
question what was lacking in the relationship.

...the maxim, "Truth for friends and lies for enemies,"
is very generally followed, not only by savages and
children, but, more or less openly, by civilized peo-
ple. Most persons feel reluctant to tell a lie in so
many words, but few have any compunctions in deceiv-
ing by manner, and the like, persons toward whom they

feel (hostility)... "Consgience is born of love"
in this as in many matters.

Talking

In the research interview almost no talking was
recluired after the preliminary opening. Respondents be-
Carne absorbed in the ideas presented to them in the ques-
tionnaire and any remarks from the interviewer might have
been an interruption. It was necessary at times to en-
courage and reassure, agreeing that it was a tough set
of questions for those who wearied, letting those who
were concerned. for accuracy Imow that there were no right

and wrong answers from the research point of view. After

\_

A __. A—‘#

8Chas. H. Cooley, Human Nature and the Social 93-
dfioag Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1902. 1010-388-389.

iflle

2S

schedule was finished respondents relaxed and some-

tinuas wanted to talk further about the questions raised.

Because the interviews took place in the home or

place of business, there were unavoidable interruptions or

other persons present which drew the interviewer into a

social situation. The interview with Mrs. P. as noted

is: tflae evaluatory statement afterwards was an example of

this:

one

ions
best
then:

baCI{

Mrs. P. answered every question she could con-
scientiously, although some words like “eligible"
confused her. On the second page she said,"I'll bet
‘you'll laugh at my answers when you leave here," but
she gradually relaxed. Midway through, the interview
'was interrupted when Mr. G., a lonesome, courtly old
wddower, called for his laundry. (Mrs. P., a widow,
did private washings.) This apparently was an an-
ticipated weekly visit when he came for his clean
clothing. He had brought along a hand-viewer and
colored slides of his trip to California. He gragious-
1y included the interviewer in the entertainment.

Answering Personal Questions

Even though the relationship was known to him.as
of short duration, the interviewee was sometimes cur-
about the interviewer. Miss Garrett said that the
method for meeting personal questions was to answer
frankly and honestly but to direct the conversation

immediately to the respondent. Some of the questions

asked during the research interviews might have been ques-

tiCHls the respondents were asking indirectly about them-

selves.

\

9 Evaluatory statement from interview with mrs. p

26

During an interview with the attendant in a hatch-

ery, the young man asked abruptly, "Did you see the movie
Moulin 33353?" The answer was a startled, "No", and the
interviewer never learned what association there was in
that particular movie and the ouestions on schools. He
had been so cooperative and interested up to that moment,
‘but thereafter seemed to be abstracted. It was a personal
que stion--about himself?
For the most part personal questions were in the

vein of, "Do you get paid for doing this? What do you do

when you're not doing this? Are people cooperative with

you?"
Leadership gr; Direction

In the research setting the leadership remained
With the interviewer. In the first moments he assumed an
active role in order to gain the respondent's cooperation.
AI"tier a straightforward explanation of purpose and request
for an interview, most persons were willing to grant an
interview. A few remained reluctant or openly refused.
Sometinws the interviewer suggested alternative times and
Places at the convenience of the respondent. He tried to

understand the feelings behind the reluctance and respond

to them. Confidentiality was stressed. He explained that

the questions were not a test to those who seemed lacking i

in Confidence. The specific nature of the sample was em-

27

phasized and the consequent importance of a particular
respondent was pointed out. On rare occasions, partic-
ularly in cases of chronic illness, refusals were accepted.
The interviewer, in other words, proceeded on the
assumption that "Human behavior is goal oriented." It
was natural that in the beginning the respondent 's atti-
tude toward the interviewer would be similar to one shown
any unknown caller, and the interviewer needed to relate
the interview's purpose to the respondent's personal

goals:

The interviewer accepts motives (curiosity, po-
liteness, respect for authority) as a basis for be-
ginning to communicate with the respondent. However,
he immediately begins to define the situation in a
manner which relates the interview to certain goals
the respondent is suspected to cherish, and accord-

ingly, givei the interview a positive valence for the
respondent. 0

Once consent was given, the interviewer began the
Schedule. He believed in the schedule as an effective,
Precise, scientific tool for accomplishing what it intend-
ed, Sentences were reworded or rephrased only when it was
a necessity for those who were mentally or educationally
handicapped. Many respondents seemed to lose awareness
or the interviewer as they grappled with the successive
ideas and concepts presented to them. The interviewer
funCtioned with them simply as the person reading the
Clueiztions and recording the answers. I
xi ii

10Cannell and Kahn, op. cit., p.335

28

Sometimes more activity on the part of the inter-
‘vienaer and less reliance on the schedule was required. In
the: random sample there was a percentage of persons who
wexwe mentally retarded, senile, ill, or otherwise unable
or Innwilling to make the effort the schedule required
alxnne. Often the reluctant respondent was one who needed
‘to lee encouraged throughout the task. With him the inter-
viewer was supportive. The respondent who saw the ques-
‘tiornaaire as an examination he was flunking sometimes
asked the interviewer for help on an answer. Assurance
that he was doing what was expected was helpful to him.

Experience taught the interviewer how much."free
P6131" to give his interviewee within the framework of the
Fnrrxvose of the interview. Thus, in research the interview-
or shared leadership with the questionnaire schedule, but
thet'ultimate responsibility of seeing the interview through
tC> tflie end and in preventing lengthy side conversations

Was the intervi ewer's.

Interpretation

Interpretation in a social research interview con-
sisted principally of the initial explanation of the study,
its purpose and method. Interviewers were instructed not
to become too deeply involved in explaining the research

but to begin the schedule of questions as quickly as P0881-
ble.

29

Probing was an aspect of interpretation used
throughout the schedule at the discretion of the inter-
viewers for the most part but sometimes anticipated by
the writers of the schedule. Such anticipated probes
were placed in parentheses and were used by the inter-
viewers rather than ones they made up themselves. The
procedure for recording a probe was an "x" mark on the
answer space. They were used when the respondent gave
incomplete or unclear answers. Sometimes respondents
evaded the questions with an excessive reliance upon
"Don't know" answers, and the interviewer used probes to
encourage adequate meaningful responses.

The probling technique was non-directive with the
interviewer remaining outside the reaction. A good probe
did not change the content or structure of the question.
Sometimes repeating the question a second time provided
31710115311 extra stimulus to elicit a response. Or, a phrase
SuCh as, "Would you like to tell me a little more about
that?" encouraged the respondent to amplify. Repeating
What the respondent had already said also might stimulate
him to clarify or give additional information.

On no provocation would. an interviewer through a
probe or in other ways express dissatisfaction, or make
any kind of interpretation, in regard. to the respondent's
anSWer. A probe indicated that the interviewer wanted

clarification or amplification, but at the same time it

30

was done in such a manner as to increase the permissive
climate of the interview.

For the respondent who was unsure of his inter-
pretation of a question, the interviewer could nod as he
wrote, or otherwise convey that he accepted the respond-
ent's answer. The questionnaire had been carefully re-
vised several times and pro-tested to avoid ambiguities
in meaning. Therefore, misunderstandings or misinter-

pretations could be significant to the researcher for what

he was trying to discover.

Recording

 

While Miss Garrett did not include recording as
a method of interviewing, it did become vastly important
in interviewing for research. Interviewers were instructed
on the schedule in underlined printing and reminded daily
by the research team to record precise, verbatim responses.
Paraphrasing was forbidden. It was explained and stressed

that coding required exact answers for accurate classifi-

cation of responses.

CHAPTER IV
INTERVIEWIHG FOR INTAKE IN A CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC

During its early vocational beginnings the basis
of social work practice was not clearly defined.

we know that social work has not always been as

systematic and as well-disciplined as it is nowdays;
that it started on a more or less amateur basis of
good will and warmheartedness or feeling of obliga-
tion; that social, religious, and ethical motives
create? it for the deprived and underprivileged per-
sons.

In recent years social work has been developing
its own literature and a more distinctive body of knowl-
edge, drawing upon psychoanalytic psychiatry, psychology,
biology, education, law, public administration, ethics,
as well as sociology and anthropology. Its emphasis is
upon the individual's personality adjustment to a chang-
ing social milieu. Improving ways of work with individ-
uals in light of advancing scientific knowledge is a con-
stant goal of the profession. "Personality" is increas-

ingly understood by the social worker in psychoanalytic

terms.

1Grete L. Bibring, M.D., "Psychiatry and Social
Work", Principles and Techniqueg Ea Social Casework, Cora
Kasius, ed., (Family Service Asso., 19535 Po 01

31

 

32

Ideally the social worker brings to the interview
situation a superior quality of understanding of human
behavior. She deals with a fragile and tender substance,
human feelings and human life. Therefore, in addition to
understanding, reverence for the material she is working
with is a most desirable attribute. Knowledge that the
ideal is seldom attainable and an awareness of her own
humanity are wholesome controls on her activities.

Interviewing is the "tool of communication, par
excellence."2 One of the most significant contributions
of the field of social work has been in the practical
development of the interview as a tool and skill. Under-
standing the meaning of the interaction between inter-
viewer and client and utilizing this interaction to the
social benefit of the client are primary activities of
social casework. Miss Garrett's formulation of princi-
ples and methods of interviewing, the basis of organiza-
tion for this paper, clearly lends itself to interviewing
of all types as well as to the specific casework setting,

interviewing for intake in a Child Guidance Clinic.

Observation

 

People "act out'I as they talk out, communicating

in language beyond speech: by posture, voice, gesture,

 

2Celia S. Deschin, "Psychiatric Casework Inter-
viewing as a Research Method in the Human Relations Field",
Journal 2.2 Psychiatric Social work, April, 1953. p.129

 

33

facial expression, choice or words, and other ways. By
careful observation the interviewer can learn about feel-
ings from a client's pantomine as well as from words.

In general, the aim of the first interview at the
Child Guidance Clinic was to obtain a balanced picture of
the client's problem, physical, social, and emotional.

It also provided an opportunity for exploration 0n the
part of the parents as a preparation and Preliminary to
treatment. The interviewer's capacity for observing and
understanding feelings could determine the future course
of a client's acceptance of help. A client on his first
visit to the clinic was frequently tense, frightened and
uncomfortable, and the interviewer needed to help him feel
at ease. Sometimes a client felt resentful about coming
to the clinic, and the interviewer helped him express his
negative feelings.

One person might be eased by questions relative to
his situation or in giving a detailed life history. With
another questions aroused guilt and anxiety. One person
might be favorably impressed by the interviewer's note-
taking, but a second would be disturbed and lost by an
interviewer's attention to recording. By noting these
individual differences, perhaps altering his methods, the
interviewer could favorably effect the movement of the
interview. I

Observation of a client's transition from one

3h

subject to another, or association of ideas, might provide
a cue for understanding. At least two of the twenty-two
intake interviews at the Child Guidance Clinic were basi-
cally marital problems. On both occasions the mothers
dropped hints of this during the first half of the intake
interview. One mother repeated several times as she
recounted her daughter's symptoms, "It's our own fault."
Finally, after a long hesitation, she said, "There is one
more thing I think I should tell you that has a great

deal to do with Dona's behavior..." The second mother
indicated the real source of difficulty by avoiding all
mention of her husband, then touched the subject cautious-
ly by recounting little incidents of planning the family
schedule "to make it easier for Mr. R." The second half
of the interview was a frank discussion of her unhappy
marriage.

Another mother, whose teen-agers were rebelling
against rigid family controls, revealed her preference
for small children (whom she could control) by showing
a gallery of snapshots of her children in her billfold--
all taken when they were babies or pre-school age. There
was not one current photograph among them.

In any process of history-taking, the psychiat-

ric social worker must be cognizant of a host of
variables without which the recording of data is

sterile and uninformative...An astute observer will
listen with one ear and discern with the other, more

dynamic ear. If not, he may become engulfed and in-
corporated by the informant...

Listening

 

It is sometimes difficult to say whether an in-
sight comes through the eyes or the ears. At intake they
were most effective as collaborators, with the interviewer
listening attentively at all times. Harry Stack Sullivan's
description of the activity of the psychiatric interview-
er is an explanation for close concentration:

The psychiatric interviewer is supposed to be do-
ing three things: considering what the patient could
mean by what he says; considering how he himself can
best phrase what he wishes to communicate to the pa-
tient--and, at the same time, observing the general
pattern of the events being communicated or discussed}t

Everyone likes to be listened to; no one is
charmed by the "deaf ear". A positive relationship is
furthered by an attentive interviewer. It might be the
client‘s first experience with having his feelings ser-
iously considered.

Occasionally note-taking seemed untenable at in-

take, particularly when the client was suspicious. Nem-
orizing important data, subjects discussed, and the order

in which they were approached for accurate recording later

required skilled listening.

#4

.- .. é _‘ g# L...

3 Alan A. Lieberman, M.D., "A Psychiatrist Views

the Role of the Psychiatric Social Worker in the Mental

Hospital", Journal 33 Psychiatric Social Work, June, 1953, p.196
Harry Stack Su ivan, le PsyQQiatric Intergigg, (w.w.

Norton and Co., lQSh) p.50

36

"Many questions have been answered before they

are asked; these need not be asked by a good listener."5

Listening Before Talking

"Begin where the client is," is an admonition ap-
propriate to the psychiatric clinic and in keeping with
basic social work principles. At intake the interviewer
had in mind an outline of information that he needed for
evaluation of the client's problem in staff conference.
Without comment, question or probe, the parent might give
all the information that was necessary. Expressed in his
own words and in the order of his understanding, his story
was more revealing than one prompted by the interviewer.
Also, information might be requested prematurely before
the client was ready to give it, endangering the relation-
ship and the achievement of the ultimate goal.

Listening before talking can also prevent the
intrusion of irrelevant information which talk of any kind
from the interviewer might suggest. The interviewer can
not afford the mistake of assuming that his client knows
more or less than he actually does. It was important to
gain some idea of the client's level of understanding about
his child's feelings and problem, the reaction to coming
to the clinic, and the kind of language he understood be-
fore making comments.

After breaking an appointment made by the school

'EMRPY E. Richmond, Social Qiaggosis,(Russell Sane
Fbundation) 1917, p.133 a

37

authorities, Mr. Y. came to the clinic in response to a
letter from the caseworker. His belief that the clinic
was the threshold to the training school was disclosed
when the interviewer asked what Jackie's problem was. He
answered by defending his son. When the idea was con-
veyed to him that the clinic purpose was to understand

why children act as they do and to help them, he relaxed
and told in a slow, inartieulate manner about Jackie's
deprived home life: a mother who was seriously disturbed
but refused to go to a doctor. Mr. Y. was so limited in
vocabulary, so overtly unresponsive, that the interviewer
was unsure of his understanding and attitudes. There

were long but not empty silences. An unusual amount of
probing for an intake interview was necessary. At the

end of the hour, which had seemed like silent communion,
Mr. Y. said that he would like for Jackie to improve in
school and he would be willing to come in again. He added
that he might as well have come when the first appointment
was made. When the interview was on paper, an astonish-
ing amount of vital information had been given. Although

suppressed, strong feeling was also evident.
Qgestioning

Learning how to ask questions is an important skill
in interviewing. The well-framed question, spontaneously

composed at intake or fashioned painstakingly by a com-

38

mittee months in advance, does not cross-examine or threat-
cn and is seldom direct. "Letting fly the question di-
rect means receiving in return evasions, prompted by a
repugnance for what seems to be intruding brusqueness."
Questions should be phrased so that the meaning is clear.
Their wording should not imply an answer.

Questions are usually asked for information. They
sometimes serve secondary purposes at intake in a psychi-
atric clinic: answering factual questions can relieve
anxiety; questions can serve as a means of transition
from one subject to another; questions can guide the in-
terview into relevant areas. Annette Garrett counselled:
"A good general rule is to question for only one or two
purposes, to obtain specifically needed information and
to direct the client's conversation from fruitless to
fruitful channels."7-

The interviewer at intake asks a minimum.of ques-
tions and certainly no more than is important for the
diagnostic process. "Necessary questions should be so
framed as to make truth-telling easy. Questions that can
be better answered by someone else are not necessary ones."8

Questions that Open the way to a new area of at- -

titudes and information have been called "unlocking" ques-

tions. "Whom does your child resemble?" was such a ques-

6Ibid.,p.7h
'7Garrett, op. cit., p.38
E3Richmond, op.cit., p.133

39

tion sometimes asked at intake in the Child Guidance Clin-
ic. The following is an exerpt from the interviewer's
intake recording of an interview with Hr. and Mrs. 0.,
whose fourteen year old son was breaking and entering:

When the worker asked.whom J. resembled, the moth-

er said that the paternal relatives thought he resem-
bled the mother, and the maternal relatives thought
he looked like the father. (The mother thought nei-
ther side of“the family liked J.) Father thought it
was pretty much 50-50, and then said after a pause,
"Do you mean whom does he resemble in personality?‘
He then went on to say that he thought that the ma-
ternal relatives liked J. more, while his parents
seemed to prefer J.'s older brother. (These parents
were confused and disgraced by their son's delinquen-
cies and were intensely concerned about what other
people were saying and thinking.)

With most parents, particularly mothers, any ex-
ploratory probe into her child's babyhood--toilet training,
sleeping, feeding, walking and talking, temper, habits,
etc.--elicited voluble descriptions of the child's early
development and the family circumstances which.might have
affected him at various stages. Mr. and Mrs. C. were ex-
ceptions. They blocked on queries concerning J.'s early
years. From subsequent contacts and information it would
seem that this was because they wanted an immediate solu-
tion to their predicament and could not conceive of their
personalities, or their son's, as changeable. They could
not accept the idea that they had to find the answers the
long painful way in their own attitudes and feelings.

Throughout the interview the phrase, "Make J. do this-

or-that," was repeated many times.

MO

Talking

Talking on the part of the interviewer was con-
fined to the early moments of the interview for purposes
of easing the client's feelings of embarrassment or
strangeness in the new situation. Sometimes parents took
the initiative in stating immediately the nature of the
problem that brought them to the clinic and, without
prompting or questions, covered the necessary informa-
tion. Usually the worker Opened the interview by saying,
"Would you like to begin by telling me something about
A's difficulty?" Thereafter, occasional questions were
sufficient to guide the interview into relevant areas of
information. Parents came to the clinic with a variety
of ideas about the clinic's function. Many asked in ef-
fect, "Do I have a problem important enough to be concerned
about? Am I doing something wrong?" A few referred by
the school thought it was punishment because their chil-
dren were bad or failing. Some wanted the clinic to make
their children "mind" after their own attempts failed.

Before the close of the interview there was an
opportunity for clarification of agency purpose if this
was needed, and appointments were made for the child with
the psychologist and the psychiatrist. Most parents felt
an urgent need for help, and they presented their situa-
tions as1?rankly and fully as they could.

Sometimes the client used talk as an evasion from

kl

facing a problem. Sometimes interviewers talk to evade
the painful, too. It is doubly wasteful when client and
interviewer enter into the conspiracy together. The
social worker needs to be aware of the temptations and

the meaning of excessive verbiage.
Answering Personal Questions

The writer has no record, nor remembers any in-
stance, of a personal question at intake in the Child Gui-
dance Clinic. Had there been personal questions, they
might have been significant in respect to the establish-
ment of a closer relationship with the client, or he might
be asking for support from the interviewer. The besetting
emotion of most parents coming to the clinic was concern
and involvement, negative or positive, in their child's
difficulties. It was unlikely that a personal question

concerning the interviewer would be Verbalized at intake.
Leadership 23 Direction

At intake in the Child Guidance Clinic the center
of attention was upon the client, his need and what he could
give in information and expression of feeling. He thus be-
came an active agent in the process of his own, or his
family's, change. The client learned more eaSily if given
the opportunity to determine with guidance from the inter-

Viewer the course of his own learning experience.

AZ

"The interviewer's function in the last analysis
is to enable the interviewee to make his own social ad-
justment."9

The interviewer was responsible for creating a
permissive atmosphere in which his client could relax. He
extended a choice to the interviewee as to the way he
sought help.

Thus, the interviewee had freedom within limits.
Hopefully the interviewer had the leadership of the inter-
view at any point and could assert his control if the
interview ran into unproductive channels. The interviewer
was in a stronger position to maintain control if he had
knowledge of his own feelings and attitudes. He could
not maintain a professional relationship by letting the
client dominate, by reacting to hostility with hostility,
or in other ways letting personal reactions and involvements
enter into the dynamics of the interview.

. The interviewer knew the policies and procedures
of the agency, the kind of help that could be offered, the
information that was needed, and he held his interviewee
within these bounds of reality. The overt direction which
the interviewer at intake exerted was dependent upon the

interviewee's capacity for self-help and understanding.

9Pauline V. Ybung, Scientific Social surveys and
Research (Prentice-Hall, 19h97 p.7u

 

 

.iZ“
\JJ

Intgrpretatien

At intake, interpretations and advice were studi-
ously avoided and used sparingly on subsequent interviews
as well. It was desirable that the client gain insight and
self-knowledge from the experience of the interview but not
from any verbal interpretations of the interviewer.

The final decision in regard to treatment, referral,

or closing the case was made by the psychiatrist with the

staff in conference where the "whole picture" in regard

to the client and the agency could be taken into account.
The total picture often included the results of psycholog-
ical testing and the opinion of community persons or agen-
cies who worked with the child in his home and community
setting as well as the psychiatrist's clinical evaluation.
This decision was given to the child's parents in a second

interview.

Recording

 

Recording of intake interviews was for the function-
al purposes of the Child Guidance Clinic services to clients.
They were dictated from brief notes into summary form. Pro-
cess was indicated by the chronological order of the sub-
jects covered. Interviewer's questions or comments were
not always included in the recordings, and there was little
thought on the part of the writer that the records might be

used later for research purposes.

CHAPTER V
COMPARISON OF THE ROLES OF THE INTERVIfltERS

In the research project the interviewer communi-
cates with the respondent in order to get information.
In the social agency the interviewer communicates with
the client in order to serve and help him. Both inter-
viewers employ parallel methods of communication for
these differing purposes: observation, listening, ques-
tioning, talking, and,the others. The foregoing narra-
tives of two types of interviewing describe modifications
in the roles of the interviewers in accordance with differ-
ing purposes, needs, and circumstances.

At the same time common elements in the two roles
are revealed. Besides using similar methods and tech— .
niques, both interviewers have an organizational plan.
Both utilize knowledge of human behavior in their response
to expressions of feeling, in their recognition of emotion-
al involvement, and in the establishment of a professional

relationship.

111+

1L5

The Role 22 the Interviewer Differs Withgthe Purpose 33 the

 

 

Interview

The Research Interview:- The interviewer adapts

 

his role to the purpose of the interview. This may be a
relatively uniform role as in the public opinion poll
where the interviewer's focus is upon gathering informa-
tion and getting the answers to questions for the specif-
ic purpose of research. The questions, their wording, and
the order of asking are kept constant. Emphasis is put
on getting the answer and insight into feelings or re-
actions are secondary to this purpose. Insight is im-
portant insofar as it elicits truthful answers.

The interviewer's role in a research study is an
active manifest one of asking questions, listening with
interest but without revealing comment, and recording the
answers verbatim. To be effective in.his role the inter-
viewer may use methods of a friendly conversation or a
'mmerapeutic session, but he does not lose sight of his
first purpose in being friendly or therapeutic. His fore-
most:goal is gaining informationzfor scientific research.

Th3 Intake Interview:- The interviewer's role in
a children's psychiatric clinic is a consistent one in
respect to professional attitudes of helping but unstand-
ardiged in the use of methods. Insights are most import-
ant as a means of getting information. The focus is upon

UN? client. The first encounter at intake is usually for

A6

getting data for diagnostic purposes, but the data are
as often in the area of feelings and attitudes as in facts
of births and deaths.

It is generally accepted that the intake interview
rightfully accomplishes more than the accumulation of
facts: An inflexible attendance to getting information
can make an interview barren. Movement on the part of
the client toward accepting help, understanding his prob-
lem, and participating actively in the solution depends
upon the flexibility of the interviewer in gauging "where
the client is" and the goal possibilities in a first in-

terview.

 

 

The Role of the Interviewer Differs With the Need

The Research Interview:- In the research study the
need originated with the interviewer, who wanted answers
to his questions. He sought out the respondent and per-
suaded him that there was value and necessity in answer-
ing the schedule of questions. The interviewer could not
accept many refusals without destroying the randomness of
the study. A prospective respondent might say, "I know
nothing on the subject, but my neighbor is well-informed.
Go ask her." The reply to this was that the researchers
were not interested in his neighbor's opinion because the
neighbor was not a part of the‘sample. The appeal could

be varied, but it had to he convincing that the research

11,7

had worth, the interviewer was trustworthy, and the re-
spondent as a particular, specific person was important.

Thus, as the interview began, the interviewer was
the recipient and the respondent was the riving person.
This often became a mutuality of giving and taking between
interviewer and respondent as the latter grew interested,
realizing he could receive gratification from the communi-
cation and relationship. The interview had to be completed,
and while aided in varying degrees by respondents and
skillfully composed questions, the task rested ultimate-
ly with the interviewer.

Perhaps one indication of the difference in need
was the more personal interest which respondents some-
times displayed in the research interviewer. They asked
more personal questions. In the clinic the client was
too concerned or overwhelmed by his need to think of any-
thing else.

Thg Intake Interview:- In the clinic the need
was the client's who came, often on his own volition,
asking for help on a problem he could not solve alone.
Sometines he was aware that if he was to be helped he had
to share personal factual information and disclose pain-
ful feelings. His need necessitated his becoming depend-
ent in order to achieve independence. The need of each
individual differed in its meaning and implications and

was a factor to be evaluated by the irterviewep,

a8

It was important that the interviewer have a clear, def-

inite, consistent identification with his role as the help—
ing person. He was the attentive listener who sincerely

desired to understand and to be helpful.

 

 

The Role 32 the Interviewer Differs With the §etting

The Research Interview:- Interviews for the pub-

 

lic Opinion poll were usually held in the home. On occa-
sion respondents were seen in their places of business.
In either case the interviewer was not only an interviewer
but in one sense a guest of his respondent. With some
respondents this fact occasionally modified the role of
the interviewer. This became noticeable when the subject
was in areas of sensitivity: personal questions regarding
income, or the extent of schooling of the respondent and
his family. If the questions were threatening, the re-
action was a preponderance of "don't know" answers or a
refusal to answer.

with many clients the interviewer was able to
create an attitude of scientific objectivity toward the
purpose of the study and its implications. The sophisti-
cated respondent, acquainted with methods of research,
achieved this separation of feeling easily. He immedi-
ately understood the nature of his relationship with the
interviewer and was at ease. Others did not, and it was

more difficult for the interviewer to establish a comfort-

1L9

able atmosphere and to get accurate answers.

Additional problems were created when other MGM?
bers of the family were present, and a request for pri-
vacy with one respondent seemed unacceptable.

Another aspect of setting, the subject of the
study, cannot be discounted as a determinant of the role
of the interviewer. Some subjects are more loaded emo-
tionally, thereby modifying the role of the interviewer.
This may differ between topics as well as between respon-
dents.

The length of the interview was also a factor in-
volved in setting. The research interviewer had two ob-
ligations in regard to time: to his respondent who might
be willing to give an hour but no longer to answering
questions and to the research director who operated on a
budget.

The Intake Interviewx- Interviews at the Child
Guidance Clinic took place in a private office setting
apart from personal associations and experiences. The
interviewer was the objective professional person to whom
the client had come. While permissive, the interviewer
set the limits of the interview and had a better opportuni-
ty to determine the focus for an objective view of the
problem.

The length of an interview and time schedules were

also important in a Child Guidance Clinic, but the emphasis

50

was on the time the individual needed to present his prob-
lem. How the client used time and the interviewer's c0g-
nizance of it became a tool in the interview process.
Agencies, indigenous to their communities in vary-
ing degrees, deveIOp functions that may be unique and
different from organizations with similar purposes in
other communities. These functions and purposes of a
specific setting as well as ones common to all social
agencies or to all Child Guidance Clinics are present
and operating in the intake interview. The interviewer
is a representative of these policies and his role at
intake is affected by them. There may be a reality
situation which the intake interviewer is taking into
account: for instance, a common one, shortage of staff.
The interviewer, in seeing his function as a broader one
beyond the immediate one of getting information for diag-
nosis, may try to prepare the interviewee for the fact
that the help he can be offered will be limited, or de-

layed, or require referral to another agency.

The Role of the Interviewer Differs With the_3e1ationship

 

All of the previously noted differences in the roles
of the interviewers in respect to need, purpose, and setting
become an entity in forming the differences in the inter-

viewers' uses of relationship.

The Research Interview:- The interviewer in the
research study had one encounter with his respondent to
get answers to a set of questions. As far as they both
knew this was their first and only meeting. The respond-
ent was volunteering his time as his contribution to
scientific inquiry. (Sometimes he did not know the
length of the interview, or it took longer than he an-
ticipated.) The subject matter related to things out-
side himself. What he took from the experience and in-
corporated as his own was principally his concern; the
interviewer was concerned with creating a relationship
that elicited accurate information.

So in the relationship the interviewer had no
responsibility for maintaining a reality base as a limi-
tation to the respondent. No one person's answers were
more valuable than another, although they might differ in
profundity and understanding. An answer could be factually
wrong by standards of truth in the community but not for
a research study. The important value was that the ans-
wer'represented the sincere opinion and best knowledge
of the respondent.

During the first moments of the research study,
the interviewer assumed an active persuasive role. His
Jfixrther participation in the interview as it proceeded
was; determined by the degree of dependency of the inter-

viewce.

U“.
D.)

An easy, comfortable relationship between inter-
viewer and rcsnondent was important to the satisfactory
completion of the schedule. The respondent had to develop
trust in the interviewer in order to give the personal
data information and to be honest in expressing opinions
in areas of controversy. He needed to feel certain that
his confidentiality would be respected and his frank ex-
pression would not damage the family welfare. When his
opinions or answers were contrary to what he thought were
the community's cultural expectations, the respondent
was helped to express himself freely by a supporting rela-
tionship with the interviewer.

The Intake Interview:- With the intent of helping

 

the intake interviewer in the Child Guidance Clinic saw
the client to learn what he was able to tell him about a
personal problem. Initially the interviewer did not know
what the difficulty was. The client might know but was
still unable to help himself. Together they sat down to
try to find the way together. It could be the beginning
of hundreds of meetings together, or it could be the only
one. In contrast to the research interview the focus was
upon the client and the insights that could be gained to
enrich his life situation. The interviewer concentrated
uDoncreating a permissive atmosphere in which his client
was freed from the usual self-defensive tensions.

The permissiveness of the client-interviewer re-

lationship in which any attitudes and feelings can be ex-
pressed without censure distinguishes it from other life
relationships. Ideally the interviewer created a climate
in which the interviewee felt that no feelings were too
shameful for expression and the interviewer would be trust-
worthy in his use of information. Because of his need for
help, the client at intake was usually motivated to pre-
sent the truth as accurately as he understood it. If he
did not impress the worker with the seriousness of his
child's situation, help might be denied. With a few par-
ents whose presence at intake was due more to societal
pressures than their own desire, the relationship was hin-
dered and truth-telling became more difficult for the
client. Cultural expectations were more apt to be deter-
mining factors in the content of the interview and the
nature of the relationship.

The interviewer's responsibility to his client in-
cluded recognizing what the client's conception of agency
function was and to help him toward an understanding of what
he could in reality expect. Ideally the problem.of his
family was clarified in his mind: he could evaluate what
he had already done, how deeply motivated he was to use
help, and whether he could accept the conditions of the

specific agency setting in order to get help.1

 

.___. “-.—‘-

1 Delwin M. Anderson and Frank Kiesler, "Helping
Toward Help: the Intake Interview" Social Casework, Vol.
XXXV, NO. 2, (1051;), p072

 

51+

Even though acceptance for treatment were a cer-
tain outcome, the intake worker at the Child Guidance
Clinic did not necessarily continue with his interviewee
beyond the intake process. This fact operated in the kind
of relationship that developed, limiting the depth of the
information given, the amount of dependence upon the inter-
viewer and the interviewer's involvement in giving help.
It was a relationship limited to exploration of a problem
and was not treatment, although it might have therapeutic
results.

The relationship in the Child Guidance Clinic was
personal to the interviewee. Although parents realized
it at varying levels of understanding, the subject of
the interview--their child's problemr-related directly
or indirectly to self. There was no interposing pre-
established tool such as the interview schedule on which
the interviewerczould rely. The interchange of questions,
statements, answers, or replies was a direct spontaneous
one focussed upon the client's immediate feelings and needs
and the interviewer's representation of his agency.

In the intake interview movement of feeling, of
insight, and of involvement was essential as a prologue
to social treatment. Growth in self-awareness was not
essential to the effective completion of a research inter-
view, although a positive development of interest in the

schedule was important. The level of participation on the

part of both interviewer and interviewee in the two settings
was different. What the interviewers and interviewees in-
vested in the two settings differed in degree and in kind,
creating distinctions, as well as similarities, in the

uses of relationship.

Common Elementg'ig the Roles 2f the Interviewers

 

As differences in the roles of the interviewers
in the social research survey and at intake in a Child
Guidance Clinic are noted, likenesses are also indicated.

Both employ gimilgg techniques and methods:- Both

 

interviewers establish communication between themselves

and another person previously unknown by similar methods
of talking, listening, observing, questioning, etc. In

utilizing these methods both interviewers identify with

their respective roles in relation to the purpose, need,
and setting of the interview, not with the respondent or
his feelings.

Both have 33 organizationa;_gtrgcture:- Both types
of interviews have organization in keeping with their in-
dividual purposes. To secure reliability and validity the
research study depends upon a uniform structure: hence,
the ore-written unvarying schedule of questions. With the
respondents' reactions in mind, the organization of the
schedule is designed to encourage accurate answers for

valid reliable data.

The intake interview has a flexible structure for
the client's use in keeping with the permissiveness of the
setting, the ultimate purpose and relationship to a worker
in the agency. The interviewer has in mind an interview
guide of general information necessary for the diagnostic
process. So long as these_points are covered, the chrono-
logical order in which they are given can be determined by
the interviewee. Every client's problem is unique to him,
and this is reflected in the way in which he approaches its
expression at intake.

However, within this variance of organization
both types of interview structures have an introduction,

a body, and a close. If the body of both types were re-
corded verbatim, perhaps one could detect in the product-
ive interviews a similar phenomena taking place in regard
to the interviewee's initial "feeling out" of the inter-
viewer and growing interest in the purpose and subject of
the interview. This reaches a clbmax when the interviewee
accepts his involvement, wants to cooperate, and responds
without undue resistance to the task at hand.

Both utilize knowledge of human behavior:- To be
effective the social worker has to know the fundamentals
of personality development. The sociologist is concerned
with knowing the generic, or common and repeated, aspects
of sociocultural phenomena. Both social worker and soci-

ologist are concerned with understanding human behavior,

S?

but from different points of view and for different pur-
poses. However, both must have basic psychoanalytic knowl-
edge of human behavior if the purposes of the research and
intake interviews are to be realized.

Both respond to expression of feeling:- Regard-
less of different purposes and.emphases, both interviews
proceed on a feeling basis. Neither can be a routine,
mechanical encounter of questioning, talking, and record-
ing.

The research questionnaire design takes into account
knowledge of human.motivation, pride, fears, prejudice, and
intelligence. His primary role as the helping person fore-
most in mind, the intake interviewer responds to the client's
expression of feeling more actively than the research in-
terviewer is permitted do within his purpose and structure.

Both recognize the interviewee's involvement:-

In both interview settings there is an emotional involve-
ment on the part of the interviewee. The variety of re-
actions that there can be to a research study have been
recounted: One respondent might answer the questions in an
objective scientific spirit, involved insofar as he sees
value in the research, replying to questions seriously
with a desire to add to knowledge. Others might relate
their own or their family's personal echrience to the
topic of the study and become interested as it reveals

answers concerning their family. Another might be a come

58

munity leader, and if the study related to community in-
stitutions whose policies he could influence, he might
become interested in what could be done in the future.
Many people enjoyed testing new ideas and found the ques-
tionnaire a welcome stimulant to their everyday thoughts.
Another person might be so detached from the tepic, from
the purposes of the study, or withdrawn from people in
general that he could not be motivated to answer any of
the questions or to strive for accuracy in the responses.
The attitude of some said, "It doesn't matter. The
schools--the world, peeple, my life--are unchangeable
anyway."

Similarly in the Child Guidance Clinic setting
there were varying levels of emotional involvement.
Common psychological forces were at work--fear, shame,
guilt, anger--determining the attitudes and feelings that
people brought into the interview situation. There was
a parallelism in the attitude of non-recognizing the pos-
sibility of change found in the research interviews: "My
child's personalityh-my pers nality--is unchangeable. No
one can help us." By the nature of the problems brought
to the clinic greater self-involvement on the part of the
interviewee was predictable. However, involvement ran the
gamut from acceptance of responsibility to what seemed
like wide separation in a parent's feeling from any ac-

countability in his child's personality difficulties.

59

Both establish. a relationship:- In.both types
of interviews a relationship was established. This was
a positive controlled relationship, manifesting confidence
in the interviewer's competence. It was at once a com-
fortable and a professional relationship. In research
the relationship developed as the interviewer asked for
the respondent's cooperation in a mutual enterprise, and
the resnondent, complying, found that there was satis-
faction in c00perating. It was most important that this
relationship be developed quickly for valid, reliable
data throughout the schedule. Its early establishment
was not so critical at intake.

The relationship in the intake interview devel-
Oped as the client, describing a personal family problem
and reviewing his child's history, sought explanations of _
causes SO that a change Could be made. This, too, was
a mutual endeavor in which the interviewer guided his
client into relevant information areas. The helping
relationship of treatment had a significant beginning in
the helping relationship at intake in the (Shild Guidance

Clinic.

CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The interviewers at intake and in research emr
ployed shmilar methods and techniques but with different
emphases. Interrogation was the principal method of the
research interview, while at intake ouestioning was used
concomitantly with several other methods.

The questionnaire schedule standardized the use
of methods in the research interview. The intake inter-
viewer adapted his methods spontaneously to the specific
client and the situation.

Because of the uniformity which the schedule in-
duced, the research interview was in one sense more di-
rective. The intake interview had flexibility of struc—
ture, the interviewer giving little guidance in details
and content. At times the interviewer provided definite
direction if he thought it was needed for a productive
interview. Both interviewers had an organizational plan
and maintained the necessary guidance in accordance with
the plan.

Writers of the interview schedule, taking into

60

61

account the psychodynamics of human behavior, made a numr
ber of assumptions in preparing the interrogations before-
hand. Specific hypotheses were being tested. In meeting
his client for the first time the intake interviewer knew
about human behavior and the structure of individual per-
sonality but little about the specific client as an in-
dividual. Therefore, the "listening before talking"
method assumed greater meaning and appropriateness to the
intake interviewer.

Both interviewers identified with their respective
roles in their uses of methods and techniques. These
roles differed with the purpose of the interview, with the
need of the persons involved, with the setting, and with
the relationship to be formed for fulfilling the purpose.
The research interviewer was an information-getter, and
the intake interviewer was a helping person.

Insight into individual psychology was a primary
purpose of the intake interviewer in a psychiatric clinic
for diagnosis and possible treatment. Understanding human
behavior was helpful to the interviewer in eliciting rel-
evant information, which in turn helped the client toward
insight into his problem. The subject of the intake in-
terview related to the client's "self" in contrast to
the research interview in which the topic related to some-
thing outside of self, the schools.

Trained insight into human behavior and acute aware-

62

ness of socio-cultural phenomena were not necessary to
the research interviewer, for the expert's knowledge was
contained within the schedule's design. If the inter-
viewer effected insights, the purpose of the study and
its pro-established controls could become distorted. The
research was concerned with "social discovery" and anal-
ysis of basic processes in socio-cultural phenomena, not
in diagnosis.

In both types of interview a relationship was
established. In both his was ideally a positive con-
trolled relationship. The interviewers endeavored to make
it a comfortable and professional relationship which en-_

abled the respondent to give reliable, valid information.

Implications

 

Can an interviewer switch from one type of inter-
view setting easily? Is there a generic skill common to
all interviewing situations? The conclusions of this
comparative project would seem to indicate clearly that
there is a basic skill applicable to different types of
interviewing. Because of the skill and.knewledge in-
corporated within the pro-written schedule, it would per-
haps be easier for the caseworker to switch to the research
interview than for the research interviewer without a tool
to go into the clinic intake setting. Certainly the common

elements of interviewing for intake and for research do

63

not permit one to view them as processes at opposite
ends of a continuum. The two functions, "knowing" for
research and "helping" for treatment, can not be abso-
lutely or rigidly separated.

By using the interview as a method of investi-
gation for research, the academic field of social science
would seem inevitably to affect human behavior and human
relations. It seems reasonable to suppose that elements
common to both types of interviews make for some common
consequences.

Recently the writer passed through the village
where the pilot project of the Michigan Communications
Study was done and noticed that a large beautiful addition
to the high school was completed. Questions on the sched-
ule relating to equipment, special rooms, building capac-
ity, and pupil population had pointed up to participating
citizens that the present building was inadequate. .At the
time of the study an addition.was being tentatively planned.
By including the community in the school problem.through
participation in the interviews, were townspeople better
informed and more positively disposed toward a tax-supported
building plan? Did the research improve the quality of
building, permitting a cafeteria, a nurse's room, a swim-
ming pool?

As a communications study, attention was focussed

on citizen information about his community. Is it possible

on

that other aspects of community well-being were stimulated
as a result of the study?

The success which the academic field of the social
sciences has had in the use of the interview as a research
method highlights social work's neglect of the potential-
ities of the interview for social work research. Perhaps
social workers have thought too long of the interview as
principally a method of practice and treatment. With ver-
batim recordings, could not the processes of the inter-
view, the psychodynamics of the interaction, the phenom-
ena of relationship, the measurement of need and involve-
ment, etc., be more specifically categorized? (More spe-
cifically, that is, than "relationship," "function," "role,"
and the general description of methods, i.e., observation,
listening.)

Interviewing in social work is still a highly in-
tuitive process, "an art" not a science. More specific
measurement of the phenomena of interviewing would be a
valuable contribution to research in social work. Validity
of data would be increased by the accurate separation of the
interviewer's subjective interpretation from the objective
evidence of fact, testimony, and observations of behavior.
With fuller development of the potentialities of the inter-
view, it would seem indicated that both research and prac-

tice would be immeasurably advanced.

BI BLI OGRAPHY

66

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68

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‘- '7‘...

”--m_ x-v

 

 

 

fa—

.1