Dissertation Writers: Life Interview Questions – The Present, Aging, Life Lessons and Legacies
In interviewing the participant, be sure to tell him/her that the interview is for a project for your course in development. Assure him/her that he/she has the right not to answer any of the questions and may stop the interview at any time. Let him/her know that no one will see the answers to the interview questions and that their names will not be used. In giving the interview, write down as much of his/her responses as you can. You might consider tape recording the interview to avoid taking time to write the answers during the interview. Be sure to ask permission to use a tape recorder and assure him/her that the tape will be erased.
Feel free to add questions to the interview as appropriate while talking to the participant, but be sure to cover all of the issues included. Many of the questions are meant to have more than one or two sentence answers. You will need to practice using follow-up probes to get longer answers: –Can you tell me more about that? –I don’t understand. Can you give me an example? –How does that make you feel? –How important is that to you? –using “uh-huh” and head nodding may also lead to more responding
Incorporate questions about culture as appropriate. Culture includes religion, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, gender, etc.
Life Interview Questions – The Present, Aging, Life Lessons and Legacies
Do you have any hobbies or special interests? Do you enjoy any particular sports?
What’s your typical day like now? How is it different from your daily routines in the past?
Is the present better or worse than when you were younger?
What do you do for fun?
Who do you trust and depend on?
What things are most important to you now? Why?
How have your dreams and goals changed through your life?
What do you remember about your 20s? 30s? 40s? 50s? 60s? What events stand out in your mind?
How was each age different from the one before it?
There are some ages we don’t look forward to. What birthday were you least enthusiastic about? Why?
If you could go back to any age, which age would it be and why?
How do you feel now about growing old? What’s the hardest thing about growing older? The best thing?
What were your parents like when they got older?
Did you have any expectations at points in your life about what growing older would be like for you?
How should a person prepare for old age? Is there anything you wish you’d done differently?
Do you think about the future and make plans? What are your concerns for the future?
If you live another 20-30 years, what will you do? Do you want to live another 20-30 years?
What do you look forward to now?
What’s your most cherished family tradition? Why is it important?
What have you liked best about your life so far? What’s your happiest or proudest moment?
What do you feel have been the important successes in your life? The frustrations?
What’s the most difficult thing that ever happened to you? How did you deal with it?
What do you think the turning points have been in your life? What were you like then?
Are there times of your life that you remember more vividly than others? Why?
What have been the most influential experiences in your life?
Describe a person or situation from your childhood that had a profound effect on the way you look at life.
If you were writing the story of your life, how would you divide it into chapters?
What, if anything, would you have done differently in your life?
What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were young?
What have you thrown away in your life that you wish you hadn’t? What have you held on to that’s important and why is it important? What “junk” have you held on to and why?
Over time, how have you changed the way you look at life/people?
What advice did your grandparents or parents give you that you remember best?
Do you have a philosophy of life? What’s your best piece of advice for living? If a young person came to you asking what’s the most important thing for living a good life, what would you say?
How do you define a “good life” or a “successful life”?
Do you think a person needs to first overcome serious setbacks or challenges to be truly successful?
In what way is it important to know your limitations in your life or career?
If you had the power to solve one and only one problem in the world, what would it be and why?
What do you see as your place or purpose in life? How did you come to that conclusion?
What would you like your children and grandchildren (if you have any) to remember about you?
Student question. Based on what you’ve learned, ask at least one more question; what else
would you like to know about this person’s life?
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After you describe the interview, discuss your reaction (three paragraphs).
1. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you?
2. How did you feel during the interview?
3. What changes (if any) have occurred in your perception of older adults? (What did you think
before? What do you think now?)
In interviewing the participant, be sure to tell him/her that the interview is for a project for your course in development. Assure him/her that he/she has the right not to answer any of the questions and may stop the interview at any time. Let him/her know that no one will see the answers to the interview questions and that their names will not be used. In giving the interview, write down as much of his/her responses as you can. You might consider tape recording the interview to avoid taking time to write the answers during the interview. Be sure to ask permission to use a tape recorder and assure him/her that the tape will be erased.
Feel free to add questions to the interview as appropriate while talking to the participant, but be sure to cover all of the issues included. Many of the questions are meant to have more than one or two sentence answers. You will need to practice using follow-up probes to get longer answers: –Can you tell me more about that? –I don’t understand. Can you give me an example? –How does that make you feel? –How important is that to you? –using “uh-huh” and head nodding may also lead to more responding
Incorporate questions about culture as appropriate. Culture includes religion, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, gender, etc.
Life Interview Questions – The Present, Aging, Life Lessons and Legacies
Do you have any hobbies or special interests? Do you enjoy any particular sports?
What’s your typical day like now? How is it different from your daily routines in the past?
Is the present better or worse than when you were younger?
What do you do for fun?
Who do you trust and depend on?
What things are most important to you now? Why?
How have your dreams and goals changed through your life?
What do you remember about your 20s? 30s? 40s? 50s? 60s? What events stand out in your mind?
How was each age different from the one before it?
There are some ages we don’t look forward to. What birthday were you least enthusiastic about? Why?
If you could go back to any age, which age would it be and why?
How do you feel now about growing old? What’s the hardest thing about growing older? The best thing?
What were your parents like when they got older?
Did you have any expectations at points in your life about what growing older would be like for you?
How should a person prepare for old age? Is there anything you wish you’d done differently?
Do you think about the future and make plans? What are your concerns for the future?
If you live another 20-30 years, what will you do? Do you want to live another 20-30 years?
What do you look forward to now?
What’s your most cherished family tradition? Why is it important?
What have you liked best about your life so far? What’s your happiest or proudest moment?
What do you feel have been the important successes in your life? The frustrations?
What’s the most difficult thing that ever happened to you? How did you deal with it?
What do you think the turning points have been in your life? What were you like then?
Are there times of your life that you remember more vividly than others? Why?
What have been the most influential experiences in your life?
Describe a person or situation from your childhood that had a profound effect on the way you look at life.
If you were writing the story of your life, how would you divide it into chapters?
What, if anything, would you have done differently in your life?
What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were young?
What have you thrown away in your life that you wish you hadn’t? What have you held on to that’s important and why is it important? What “junk” have you held on to and why?
Over time, how have you changed the way you look at life/people?
What advice did your grandparents or parents give you that you remember best?
Do you have a philosophy of life? What’s your best piece of advice for living? If a young person came to you asking what’s the most important thing for living a good life, what would you say?
How do you define a “good life” or a “successful life”?
Do you think a person needs to first overcome serious setbacks or challenges to be truly successful?
In what way is it important to know your limitations in your life or career?
If you had the power to solve one and only one problem in the world, what would it be and why?
What do you see as your place or purpose in life? How did you come to that conclusion?
What would you like your children and grandchildren (if you have any) to remember about you?
Student question. Based on what you’ve learned, ask at least one more question; what else
would you like to know about this person’s life?
******************************************************************************
After you describe the interview, discuss your reaction (three paragraphs).
1. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you?
2. How did you feel during the interview?
3. What changes (if any) have occurred in your perception of older adults? (What did you think
before? What do you think now?)
In interviewing the participant, be sure to tell him/her that the interview is for a project for your course in development. Assure him/her that he/she has the right not to answer any of the questions and may stop the interview at any time. Let him/her know that no one will see the answers to the interview questions and that their names will not be used. In giving the interview, write down as much of his/her responses as you can. You might consider tape recording the interview to avoid taking time to write the answers during the interview. Be sure to ask permission to use a tape recorder and assure him/her that the tape will be erased.
Feel free to add questions to the interview as appropriate while talking to the participant, but be sure to cover all of the issues included. Many of the questions are meant to have more than one or two sentence answers. You will need to practice using follow-up probes to get longer answers: –Can you tell me more about that? –I don’t understand. Can you give me an example? –How does that make you feel? –How important is that to you? –using “uh-huh” and head nodding may also lead to more responding
Incorporate questions about culture as appropriate. Culture includes religion, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, gender, etc.
Life Interview Questions – The Present, Aging, Life Lessons and Legacies
Do you have any hobbies or special interests? Do you enjoy any particular sports?
What’s your typical day like now? How is it different from your daily routines in the past?
Is the present better or worse than when you were younger?
What do you do for fun?
Who do you trust and depend on?
What things are most important to you now? Why?
How have your dreams and goals changed through your life?
What do you remember about your 20s? 30s? 40s? 50s? 60s? What events stand out in your mind?
How was each age different from the one before it?
There are some ages we don’t look forward to. What birthday were you least enthusiastic about? Why?
If you could go back to any age, which age would it be and why?
How do you feel now about growing old? What’s the hardest thing about growing older? The best thing?
What were your parents like when they got older?
Did you have any expectations at points in your life about what growing older would be like for you?
How should a person prepare for old age? Is there anything you wish you’d done differently?
Do you think about the future and make plans? What are your concerns for the future?
If you live another 20-30 years, what will you do? Do you want to live another 20-30 years?
What do you look forward to now?
What’s your most cherished family tradition? Why is it important?
What have you liked best about your life so far? What’s your happiest or proudest moment?
What do you feel have been the important successes in your life? The frustrations?
What’s the most difficult thing that ever happened to you? How did you deal with it?
What do you think the turning points have been in your life? What were you like then?
Are there times of your life that you remember more vividly than others? Why?
What have been the most influential experiences in your life?
Describe a person or situation from your childhood that had a profound effect on the way you look at life.
If you were writing the story of your life, how would you divide it into chapters?
What, if anything, would you have done differently in your life?
What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were young?
What have you thrown away in your life that you wish you hadn’t? What have you held on to that’s important and why is it important? What “junk” have you held on to and why?
Over time, how have you changed the way you look at life/people?
What advice did your grandparents or parents give you that you remember best?
Do you have a philosophy of life? What’s your best piece of advice for living? If a young person came to you asking what’s the most important thing for living a good life, what would you say?
How do you define a “good life” or a “successful life”?
Do you think a person needs to first overcome serious setbacks or challenges to be truly successful?
In what way is it important to know your limitations in your life or career?
If you had the power to solve one and only one problem in the world, what would it be and why?
What do you see as your place or purpose in life? How did you come to that conclusion?
What would you like your children and grandchildren (if you have any) to remember about you?
Student question. Based on what you’ve learned, ask at least one more question; what else
would you like to know about this person’s life?
******************************************************************************
After you describe the interview, discuss your reaction (three paragraphs).
1. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you?
2. How did you feel during the interview?
3. What changes (if any) have occurred in your perception of older adults? (What did you think
before? What do you think now?)
