How to Write an Interview Paper: Key Pointers to Remember

An interview assignment paper is a mandatory undertaking for candidates pursuing a degree in any field of communication. This paper is geared to gain an expert analysis on an issue and is thus based on an interviewee’s mastery as opposed to documented research.

The paper may argue ideas based on the views of one or more interviewees with a vast mastery of their field. Read on to master the format and tips for writing an interview report paper without incurring the inconveniences that many students encounter. 

How to write an interview paper

Like all narrations, an interview paper should be written in a manner that is engaging and easy for a reader to follow through. A great paper may even give your reader the illusion of directly asking the questions to your interviewee. 

Additionally, these papers should address pertinent topic issues to guide readers to relevant information. To achieve this, you need to commit much of your time to planning, topic research, and editing. 

After researching your paper, you may either present your paper in a narrative form, a Q&A format, or a conversational style. The narrative style requires some commentary to guide the reader through your discussion whereas the latter present the narrative leaving the onus of deducing various ideas to the reader. 

How to start an interview paper

The same approach for writing a scientific paper should be employed in an interview. Your interview paper should be preceded by quality research to familiarize you with the topic in discussion and the key question your reader may have in mind. 

The steps to follow for a quality interview paper are:

  1. Select a research topic

Unlike a paper where you can change your thesis midway, your interviewee may not be available for multiple interviews. We thus recommend that you settle on a topic and analyze the key questions your audience has on the topic.

You could start by examining trending topics within the assignment question and settle on a specific idea that can be exhausted in a 5-page interview. 

  1. Define the goals of your interview

After settling on a topic answer the following questions. Why is this topic relevant? What do readers want to know regarding the topic? Who is the ideal interviewee? What are the overall dispositions of experts on the topic?

These questions will guide your efforts in research and guide you to find an ideal interviewee. 

  1. Perform extensive research on the topic and subject

A good interview paper should ask questions regarding problems or issues that readers are keen to learn about. For this, analyze various approaches towards an idea and the key concerns of readers in the field. 

For this, you may check related interviews or reach out to readers on various platforms and identify the key problems to highlight in your interview paper. 

  1. Draft your questions

After establishing the ideas your readers want to learn about, formulate probing questions to pose to your interviewee. Ideally, have more open-ended questions in your paper, allowing your interviewee to delve deeper into various ideas. 

We recommend that you prepare more questions than you need and sort them in order of their importance. Doing so will allow you ample wiggle room to handle any perspective that your interviewee will have regarding a topic. 

How to interview someone for a paper

When interviewing someone for a paper:

  • Reserve a sit down in advance and inform them of the topic so that they can prepare themselves in advance.
  • Take time to learn about your interviewee and ask questions that lead them to explain their standpoint on a topic.
  • Remain impartial as you ask the question regardless of your biases towards your interviewee’s opinions
  • Plan your questions in order of importance and group related questions together. This will allow you to direct the interview and get the key answers your audience is interested in. 

Interview paper format

The interview paper is divided into an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

  • The introduction introduces the importance of the topic, highlights the reasons that necessitate the topic, and introduces your thesis.
  • The body then tackles the conversation with your interviewee. Refrain from adding or excluding information to the interview as this may lead to some statements being taken out of context. 
  • Finally, the conclusion should tie your ideas down and highlight the major takeaways from your interview. 

Final take

We hope that this guide has helped resolved various issues you might have encountered when addressing your interview analysis paper. Be keen to seek an interview paper sample and familiarize yourself with the best manner for interrogating your interviewee. 

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