Interview Purpose

Interviews take place in order to get information or opinions from the interviewee. There are five different purposes for interviewing someone. The purpose determines how the interview will go and what response the interviewee will give. However, these purposes can sometimes overlap when conducting an interview. There purposes are separated into these five categories:

 

-Research

-Understanding

-Interpretive

-Inform

-Emotional

Research:

 

Research interviews are conducted with an expert in order to get knowledge on a subject. Again, these are most likely found in documentaries as they are to give the audience the knowledge on the subject of the documentary. They are usually open questions as they interviewer wants to get as much knowledge and information out of the interviewee as possible as they are an expert in this field. The example is a documentary about legendary Manchester punk group, Joy Division. Many of the people interviewed are experts in music as they are professional music journalists and authors. They aren't giving their opinion, like other people in the documentary, but giving the audience knowledge on the music scene at the time at the impact of Joy Division throughout history. The viewers know they can trust these people as they are experts and have a good reputation in the industry.

Understanding:

 

Understanding interviews are conducted in order for the audience to gain more understanding on a subject. Understanding interviews are often found in hard news and documentaries as they involve giving the audience a greater understanding on a topic. The interviewer would use open questions as they need to get a lot of detail out of the interviewee, in order to give the audience as much information as possible. The example is a documentary by London-based radio presenter, Rowena Alice Lewis, about feminism in rock music. Throughout the documentary, there are several understanding interviews as they are all women in different areas of the music business so they can give knowledge in different areas, therefore the audience have a wider understanding on the subject.

Interpretive:

Interpretive interviews are conducted in order to gain the interviewee's opinion on a subject. Vox Pops are a common example of interpretive interviews as they are a quick way to get information from many members of the public. Although Vox Pops don't use open questions, the interviewer allows the interviewees to respond in as much detail as they like. The example chosen is a Vox Pop at Reading Festival, asking the audience if they think there are enough female headliner acts. This is an interpretive interview because they are asked their opinion on the subject by using direct questions like "Which female artists would you like to see headline a UK festival?" They are not expert on the subject, they are merely stating an opinion.

Inform:

 

These interviews are used to share information with the audience on a subject or event. They don't feature any opinions on the subject as they are only there to share information with the audience. They use both open and closed questions as the open questions allow the audience to find out as much information as possible on the topic whereas closed questions are simply for clarification purposes. In the example, Melvin Benn informs the interviewer of the types of musicians playing Leeds festival and the work that goes behind preparing it. Its an Informing interview because he isn't giving his opinion on the festival, he's telling just the audience who will be playing and how ticket sales have been going. This gives the viewers more information on Leeds Festival, helping them make a decision on whether to go or not.

Emotional:

 

Courtney Love: Life Without Kurt

 

Emotional interviews are used to get someone else's point of view on a story or event, so the audience see it form another point of view. It can be used in a range of styles as emotional interviews can be used in hard news on important stories, which affect everyone, and soft news, where only a selection of people will be affected. In the example, Courtney Love is being interviewed about dealing with her husband, Kurt Cobain's, suicide. This interview is the only time she would talk about his death so it was up to the interviewer to get as much detail as possible from Love. She is asked open questions like "What goes through your mind when you're onstage?" as it allows her to give a longer, more thought out response. This is an emotional interview as she talks about what it was like living with Cobain, showing the audience what it was like from her point of view, not just her opinion.