Individual Differences between Interviewers and their Effect on Interviewees' Conversational Behaviour

Flexibility in adjustment on the part of the interviewer is commonly regarded as one of the main qualifications for good interviewing and part of an interviewer's skill. The high estimation of the spontaneity of the interviewing situation, which has been one of the main reasons why the interview as a technique has retained its popularity against more standardized and reliable methods, rests largely on the presupposition that skilled interviewers can adjust their own behaviour and steer the interviewing situation freely so as to obtain optimum rapport and maximum information. Thus Oldfield (5) considers changes of topic, attitute and tempo of great significance for the conduct of the interview. He particularly stresses the importance of changes of tempo; pauses in the conversation, he says, if “badly chosen may easily break the trend of the relationship which is being built up. On the other hand, if well chosen, they may contribute markedly to the success of the interview.” No evidence, however, exists to show to what extent skilled interviewers actually are free to adjust themselves to any particular interviewing task or which aspects of their interviewing behaviour are more subject to adjustment than others.