Our current
project leads me to believe that I did not misspend my youth. We interview people all over the United
States, from many different backgrounds.
Many of our respondents speak English as a second language. Most respondents have financial problems and
life issues that go along with financial problems. The 30-minute interview contains many more demographic
questions than most market research surveys. Many of these demographic questions are at
the beginning of the survey, and the answers drive whether we ask other
demographic questions at the end of the survey.
We usually have all of the demographic questions at the end of the
survey, to give us a chance to build rapport with respondents. Most respondents received a letter before we
started calling.
Some things
I did as a young person that seemed pretty knuckleheaded at the time prepared
me for this challenge. I was a globe
spinner in elementary school. In junior
high and high school I often put aside my homework while in the library so that
I could randomly page through the encyclopedia or magazines. When I was old enough to ride the city bus on
my own I would hop on random bus routes to explore Minneapolis and St. Paul. I spent the summer of my 21st year
on a hitchhiking tour of the United States.
At different times I have avoided college, television and owning a car because
I believed I could experience life better without them. I intentionally sought work, live music,
volunteer activities and recreation that would broaden my experience. I struck up conversations with many
interesting individuals while engaged in these activities. This exposed me to many cultures and taught
me to not feel sorry for myself.
My diversity
of experience taught me adaptability, which we need to get the job done. On our present project the interviewer and
the respondent sometimes have to work together to figure out the best person in
the household to answer the questions. Diverse
experience as well as my present career gave me many pieces of information
about human beings that I can put to use.
I am grateful that my parents encouraged me to study foreign languages
while I was in school. It now makes it
easier to understand foreign accents and pronounce names correctly.
Recently,
one of the interviewers I supervise had a difficult interview. He and the respondent had difficulty
understanding each other’s accents. The
interviewer became frustrated and wanted to terminate the interview. He worked very hard to speak slowly and
clearly. I told him to repeat a question
once and mark “Don’t Know” if the respondent still did not understand. Afterward, I found a tactful way to tell him
to listen to his own accent. I invoked
the name of a former coworker from China.
She sometimes did not understand things I said until I used a British
pronunciation or spelled a word.
I told the
interviewer to try to use a Mid-Atlantic accent. I told him to imagine an island in the
Atlantic Ocean somewhere between New York and London. A person who grew up on this island would
have an accent somewhere between an eastern American accent and a British
accent. Such an accent can be helpful
when talking to people who speak English as a second language. For many such people, the Queen’s English was
their first exposure to the language.
The conversation was effective.
The interviewer responded to my coaching and had a much more productive
shift on his next shift. He had a better
attitude about interviewing foreign respondents. I learned about the Mid-Atlantic accent from
recreational reading. I have coached
other interviewers on not being shocked when respondents tell about their
financial problems or family problems.
Neutrality
and being able to instantly establish a rapport with a respondent are useful
skills for any telephone survey, but they are especially important for our
present project. A sense of adventure and
love of people are also quite useful. Being
well-read and well-traveled is helpful for any interviewer. I understand why my father said that every
young person should go on an odyssey. He used to say that if a person goes to
college, the college should be far away from home. The world is much bigger than we imagine.
