Ethnographers supplement what they learn through participant observation by interviewing people who can help them understand the setting or group they are researching.  It can be useful to interview a variety of people at various points in ethnographic research.  For example, interviews might be helpful when choosing a site, when choosing a guiding question, after much participant observation, when the informants are going through changes that interest you, and other times.  While participant observation lends information about behavior in action, interviews provide a chance to learn how people reflect directly on behavior, circumstances, identity, events, and other things.  This can be very valuable in fulfilling the main goal of ethnography: gaining an insider's perspective.

An important part of the interview is establishing rapport with the informant. The best way to do this is by being a good listener.  It is crucial for ethnographers to listen far more than we talk in interviews.  Conveying genuine interest to the interviewee and doing what we can to make the other person socially comfortable are also high priorities.  We should also endeavor to choose settings where our informants can relax and talk openly.  Depending in the circumstances of the fieldsite or the informant's position within it, it may be important to conduct the interview in a private place.  Be sure that the informant knows that the interview is data for a research project and understands the implications of being interviewed.  (See ethics.)

Before interviewing, we should ask ourselves what we want to learn from the interview.  It is a good idea to make a list of possible questions which can help to hone in on different aspects of the guiding question.  Plan open-ended questions which require paragraph answers.  If the informant goes off on a tangent in answering the question, listen for a while instead of immediately insisting on the prepared agenda.  This often leads to very useful information that we didn't know was needed!  If it seems like nothing useful is coming from the tangent, find a way to gracefully re-direct the conversation.  Don't worry if not all of the questions on the list get asked and answered; it is far more important to come away with information that addresses the guiding question.  Be sure to record important information like the date and place of the interview and why this informant seemed like a good choice for the project.

It is important to tape the interview, with the informant's informed consent.  Even for people who are very good at keeping notes during a conversation, it is extremely helpful to have an actual account of exactly what was said and how so that you can listen to it many times.  In addition, it is possible to focus more attention on establishing rapport, taking in nonverbal clues, and the like if it isn't necessary to write very much during the interview.  Taping also allows us to leave open the possibility of transcribing the interview for later close inspection.  This inspection, known as discourse analysis, can be an additional way of uncovering layers of meaning in what your informants say.  If the informant does not want to be taped, learn from the interview anyway.  After the interview, write down notes about what was learned, following the general formula for four aspects of fieldnotes.

Be sure to test the equipment beforehand, to turn the tape recorder on at an appropriate volume and to turn the tape when necessary. Remember to take extra tapes and new batteries to the interview!!!!!

Transcribing interviews opens up enormous potential for learning from them through close attention to detail.  And yet, it is challenging to find ways to render live conversation accurately on paper, since such crucial elements as tone of voice, facial expression, pauses, and other things can be difficult to capture on paper.  Below are excerpts from actual ethnographic interviews conducted by students.  Notice how the following are included and yet kept separate from one another:

• exact transcription of what was said, including strange grammar, run-on sentences, "ummm-hmmmm", pauses, hesitations, words only partially said, and other ""messy" aspects of actual speech,

• parenthetical descriptions of tone of voice, facial expression, events in the background, or overall manner of the speaker, and

• analysis of what was learned (step 3 as described in fieldnotes.)

"A:  Well, what exactly do you see as the (trail off), we talked a lot in training about the different parts of hospice.  How do you see the spiritual part of hospice coming into play with the rest of it?

Pastor: Ok, well, I see the spiritual part as being essential to the families and the patient being able to have some sense of balance and peace to be able to go through what they're going through.  Because we are all spiritual beings, it's not necessarily about religion it's about spirituality, and we're all spiritual beings, and being spiritual beings that's one of the areas in our life that we have to have some peace in.  Just like we have the physical realm, have a sense of peace about our bodies and the pain that we may be going through.  What I talk about a lot of the time, is that people do experience spiritual pain just like they experience physical pain.  ...

A: Do most of the patients that you see, are they like open to the spiritual component of the hospice, or do you ever see patients who just don't want any part of that at all?

Pastor: Well basically, the patients are just the way they are in life in many terms.

A: (mumbles of agreement)

Analysis: One thing not mentioned (in the interview) as much as I'd anticipated was religion.  During the training sessions, the topic of God was frequently mentioned, not by the staff normally, but by volunteers.  Since the pastor heads the pastoral care for the hospice, I had assumed this would come up more frequently.  Instead religion was pretty much avoided and the idea of spirituality was stressed.  Religion is often a very touchy subject, and with the hospices's focus on inclusiveness and acceptance, I am sure they try to avoid anything that might alienate."
 

Example #2: an ethnography of waitresses in an all-night diner by Reah Johnson.  The following excerpt is from an interview with a waitress who has worked both the day and night shifts.

        "Patty is sitting in the back corner of the bar at a video screen playing a touch-screen solitaire game and smoking Marlboro Mediums.  Her shift ended at 9 pm and she has been relaxing for two hours.  She is a heavy set woman in her fifties with frizzled shoulder length hair that is layered.  She is dressed in all black with an abundance of matching black eyeliner that is smeared about her upper eyelids.  She prefers not to leave her spot because she is tired and wants to continue her card game as she answers my questions.  I squeeze in next to her, forcing the man to my right to scoot his stool further over.  There is a baseball game on tv that is turned up for the entire bar to hear.  Patty's voice is low and wispy; her first word identified at least thirty years of smoking.

P: You okay?  You wanna coke or something?

R: Um, I'm fine thank you.

P: You sure? ... to bartender   Johnny, get this girl a coke, will ya?  She's gonna be asking me questions for school.

R: My first question would be... did you like the graveyard shift when you worked it?

P: overlapping and abrupt   I loved it.

R: What was it... why did you love it?

P:  Nobody bothered you.  Morning people and night people are different.

R:  Ah-ha... taking notes awkwardly in lap

P:  A lot different.

R: Ah-ha... taking notes

P: Ask me questions.

R: Um... what about the night people?

P: They're more friendlier.

R: Ah-ha... how about any regulars?

P:  O-yeah.  We used to have, at one time we had the Inquirer.

R:  You had what?  in a higher pitch

P: The Inquirer drivers.  much louder

R:  Oh, okay...

P:  You know, they'd be in all night long from eleven o'clock till mornin.

Bartender places a coke and straw in front of me.

Analysis:  When I showed up Wednesday night Bernie claimed she was in far too foul of a mood to be interviewed and then led me back to Patty.  ...  Patty acted remotely amused to be research worthy but more so she seemed to be doing Bernie a favor.  My experience accessing this interview was insightful as to how favors are acted out at Holy Joe's, at least on the part of the waitresses.  Overall, both women were happy to do favors.  ...  It appears favors are requested by and of each worker regularly and are necessary within the St. George's work place."

References

Briggs, Charles L.
1986  Learning How to Ask: A Sociolinguistic Appraisal of the Role of the Interview in Social Science Research.  New York: Cambridge University Press.