Interviewing skills

• Keep your list of questions short.
  
  
• Use simple words. Try not to use technical terms unless you are sure that people will understand them.
  
  
• If you use an acronym, make sure you know what it stands for (e.g. P.E. means Physical Education).
  
  
• Think about which question to start with. If it is interesting, people will want to carry on talking to you.
  
  
• Think about which order to put your questions in. It is good to ask a more general question, and then maybe a more detailed question.
  
  
• You should use a mixture of open and closed questions.
  
  
• If you do let people select their answer from a list, make sure that the list isn't too long or people may have difficulty in choosing an answer.
  
  So instead of asking
  
  "Which topic should children be taught in science"
  
  and giving a list of every single subject available, just focus your list on those subjects that you are most interested in finding out about.
  
  If your list is too long, then maybe think about splitting up your questions.
  
  
• Don't ask a leading question. For example don't say
  
  'Mushrooms are really tasty, aren't they?'
  
  but ask 'Do you like the taste of mushrooms?'
  
  
• Make sure you only ask one thing in each question. For example don't ask
  
  'Do you think that children should be allowed to play in the park and on the road?'.
  
  Instead ask two questions,
  
  'Do you think children should be abllowed to play in the park? Do you think that children should be allowed to play in the road?'
  
  
• Practice your questions on some friends first, to see if they understand your questions.

Choosing a topic

• Climate change
• Science in school
• Energy sources
• Saving energy
• Vaccinations
• DNA databases