1) Choose a Senior
Choose someone to interview. Your interviewee can be a parent, grandparent, other relative (aunt, great-uncle, parent-in-law), a neighbor, a coworker, a friend, a friend’s friend or friend’s relative, etc. The only stipulation is that the person must be at least 65 years old.
Ask Questions (such as living situation, stereotypes and media images, fear of dying, fear of victimization, policy like Social Security or Medicare, etc).
One of your interview questions should be: “What factors do you think lead to a healthy, fulfilling old age?”
You must write at least 5 additional interview questions.
3) Conduct your Interview
Conduct your interview by asking your pre-written questions. You may also ask follow-up questions during the interview (or anything that comes to mind in the moment), as your interviewee’s responses might prompt additional questions.
You can conduct your interview in-person, via video chat, on the phone (you can conduct it through email, but use this as a last resort and non-verbal communication like tone of voice are important in interviews). If conducting your interview in-person, via video chat, or on the phone, jot down notes during the interview (people are usually happy to pause while you type or handwrite notes in between questions). If you would benefit from listening to the interview again later, you can ask your interviewee if they would mind you recording it – but only record it if they consent.
4) Write a Report
To write your report, do all of the following:
Include an introductory paragraph in which you:
Describe your relationship to your interviewee (are you related? are they a friend? etc).
State when, where, and how you conducted the interview (date, time, in-person versus video chat versus email, etc).
Include at least 3 body paragraphs in which you:
Provide a brief overview of what you learned from the interview.
Connect your interviewee’s statements to at least 4 class concepts. For each class concept:
State the concept (refer to it by name).
Include an in-text citation to show where you obtained information about the concept (when referencing the textbook, include the page number of the concept; when referencing the mini-lectures, state the title of the specific mini-lecture in Canvas).
Explain how the interview supports, relates to, or illustrates the concept.
Include a conclusion paragraph in which you:
Reflect on your experience conducting the interview (did anything surprise you? were you nervous? was it fun? etc).
Sum up what you learned from the interview.
Include a Works Cited in which you:
Include full bibliographic information for each source you referenced in your body paragraphs (your sources will likely include the Canvas mini-lectures, the required textbook, and potentially a specific article that was required reading or video that was required for discussion/assignment participation).
Include an Appendix in which you:
List your pre-written interview questions.
