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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Tell me about your favorite thing to do in Denver, off campus.

2. Why is this activity your favorite? What do you enjoy about it?

3. Walk me through the experience of that activity. With whom do you interact, and how? Is there a “process” to the experience, with “steps”? If so, what are they? If not, what “shape” would you say the activity has, and how could you break it down?

4. Let’s get back on campus: What classes are you taking this term? Have you declared a major? If so, what is it?

5. Walk me through a typical school day. With whom do you interact, and how? ? Is there a “process” to your day, with “steps”? If so, what are they? If not, what “shape” would you your day has, and how could you break it down?

6. How would you, personally, define the difference between your on-campus life and your off-campus life? That is, what does that difference mean for you?

7. Are there other ways of dividing up the dimensions of your life (i.e., besides on-campus/off-campus) that are meaningful for you? What are they, and why are they meaningful to you?

DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS

Descriptive questions ask the interview subject to talk about their experience in their own terms.

For example:

Tell me about your favorite thing to do in Denver, off campus.

Why is this activity your favorite? What do you enjoy about it?

STRUCTURAL QUESTIONS

Structural questions ask the interview subject to break their experience down and draw connections.

For example:

Walk me through the experience of that activity. With whom do you interact, and how? Is there a “process” to the experience, with “steps”? If so, what are they? If not, what “shape” would you say the activity has, and how could you break it down?

CONTRAST QUESTIONS

Contrast questions aim to bring out the meaning of the interview subject’s experience by asking them to compare and contrast the different aspects of it.

For example:

How would you, personally, define the difference between your on-campus life and your off-campus life? That is, what does that difference mean for you?

Are there other ways of dividing up the dimensions of your life (i.e., besides on-campus/off-campus) that are meaningful for you? What are they, and why are they meaningful to you?

HOMEWORK

Imagine that you were going to interview some people who live in, work in, play in, or otherwise use the space you’ve proposed to write about. Write at least FIVE interview questions. Your question list should include at least one descriptive question, one structural question, and one contrast question. (And be sure to label your questions as such.)