LARS RAYMUND C.

UBALDO, PhD
History Department
 Technique (Specific procedure/s—
Selection of Informants, Actual
conduct of research using different
tools under a particular condition.
e.g. face-to-face, OL)

Method
(Tools/Research/Investigation
Technique—Interviews, Surveys,
FGD, Archival, Case Study, Online)

Methodology (Framework explaining

the Method—appropriateness,
applicability, role in analysis)
 In-depth
Reason
Explanation

Data Natural
Gathering Setting

Social
Trend
Phenomenon
▪ Intent: collecting “cohesive” account/s or story/ies of an individual
or group of people by way of integrating and synthesizing
recollection of related events.

▪ Intent: uncovering and recognizing themes and contextual

influences that shaped these narratives

▪ Mode of Extracting themes and context: In-depth INTERVIEWS and

DOCUMENTARY research
interview (n.)
1510s, "face-to-face meeting, formal conference,"
from French entrevue, verbal noun
from s'entrevoir "to see each other, visit each other
briefly, have a glimpse of," from entre- "between"
(see inter-) + Old French voir "to see" (from
Latin videre, from PIE root *weid- "to see").
▪ Migration to the virtual world and it is best for
researcher to adapt to this change.
▪ Increase in the number of people with Internet
access and the development of platforms for virtual
interaction (Google Meet, Zoom).
▪ Need to collect information quickly using
computer-mediated strategy.
▪ online technology
that allows users in
different locations to
hold face-to-face
meetings without
having to move to a
single location
together
▪Goals and end-result of the traditional face-to-
face (F2F) interviews do not differ
significantly from computer-mediated
communication (CMC) interview: Eliciting
meanings and perspectives understanding
world-views, and configuring explanations
related to a particular social phenomenon.
▪heavily dependent on personal
recollections of people who participated
in historical events
▪involves eyewitnesses who make their
stories available as they remember past
events that they have witnessed.
▪Involves interviewing people who
▪POSESS FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE
▪have particularly INFORMED
PERSPECTIVES

on an aspect of a specific social phenomenon

being investigated.
▪ Interviews conducted in the digital communications
contexts (strategy used in cyber-
ethnography/virtual ethnography/digital
ethnography/online ethnography).

▪ Intended to understand the social conditions or

situations based on the perspective of the
informants on how they see themselves being
integrated into a particular setting.
▪ Identification of possible informant/s;
▪ Preliminary research and review of related texts;
▪ Preparation of guide questions;
▪ Consultation with the possible informant/s;
▪ Actual interview;
▪ Transcription of the interview;
▪ Validation and “editing” of the transcription;
▪ Establishment of a data archives;
▪ Evaluation of the research project, and
▪ Dissemination
▪ Assemble your equipment and your
program/platform for video and audio
conferencing to fit your purposes.
▪ Use an external microphone for better sound
quality.
▪ Test your equipment and your platform
beforehand and get to know how it works under
various conditions.
▪ Plan for the archiving system that you will use in
storing your recording.
▪ ASSUMPTION: strong internet connectivity/stable network
▪ Introducing Questions- opening
(Do you remember an occasion when…?)
▪ Follow-up Questions- extension of answers
(Could you elaborate more about that?)
▪ Probing Questions- probing the content
(Could you give a more detailed description of
what happened?)
▪ Specifying Questions-
(What did you actually do?)
▪ Direct Questions- researcher introduces direct
topics
(Have you ever received…?)
▪ Indirect Questions- projective questions
(How do you believe other people regard…?)
▪ Structuring Questions- breaking “irrelevant”
topics
(Politely introducing a new topic)
▪ Interpreting Questions- rephrasing an answer
(Is it correct to say that…?)
▪ Silence- allowing the source to have enough
time to reflect and break the silence
themselves
▪the researcher should clarify the objectives of
his/her project as one way of convincing
his/her informant.
▪we can always ask the help of a third party
[Filipino: TULAY] to mediate and facilitate the
interview.
▪we should understand first the dynamics of
the society of our informant.
 Levels of Social Interaction
Hindi ibang tao (taga-loob) Ibang Tao (taga-labas)

Pakikipagpalagayang-loob (mutual Pakikitungo (civility)

acceptance/rapport)
Pakikisangkot (getting involved) Pakikisalamuha (mixing)
Pakikiisa (full trust/fusion/oneness) Pakikilahok (participating)
Pakikibagay (Conformity)
▪ critical thinking instructs us that the conduct of interview is
not just a simple collection of testimonies.
▪ we should listen carefully and attentively to the narrative,
evaluating the details, looking for “hidden” information and
tracing the consequence of the story
▪ we should also note the contradictions within the narrative
and observe the way our informant resolve these
contradictions.
▪we should bear in mind that we are not
interviewing “oral sources” but people
▪we are challenged to design our project
not only for our own gains but for the
benefit of our informant/s as well
PURPOSE: to make it clear to the interviewee, without question,
how the interviews will be used, minimizing the chances for
misunderstanding.
PURPOSE: to remind the researcher that the interviewee grants
us the privilege of using something that does not belong to us.
CONTENT: project details, interviewee's name and signature,
the interviewer's name, the date, a statement of permission to
use the interview, the name of the person or institution
receiving the permission, and the purposes to which the
interview will be put.
▪ Be aware of and sensitive to the psychological forces at work during
the interview.
▪ Always observe body language and other kinds of social cues
▪ Limit interviews depending on the fatigue levels of you and your
interviewee.
▪ Wrap up the interview with lighter talk.
▪ Do not drop the interviewee abruptly after an intense interview.
▪ Write a thank-you note.
▪Collects spontaneous, rich,
specific and relevant answers from
the source
▪PRINCIPLE: the shorter the
questions and the longer the
respondent’s answers, the better.
▪Ideal interview is to a large extent
INTERPRETED throughout the interview
▪The interview is SELF-
COMMUNICATING, i.e. a story contained
in itself that hardly requires much extra
descriptions and explanations