Interviewers probed indirectly rather than asking subjects directly about sensitive topics

Evidence

Within each subtopic the interviewer was to have in mind a set of critical underlying questions which were to be answerable from the talk of the interviewee. In the case of subtopic 4b (Family Figures: Personal Aspects) the underlying questions concerned the “Subject’s Conception of Parent Figures” and the “Pattern of Power Relations between Father and Mother.” These underlying questions were not to be asked in any direct form. One does not ask: “What was the power relation between your father and mother?” The interviewer’s task was, instead, to ask more specific questions couched in familiar language and to continue asking such questions until he judged that material had been obtained which would enable a coder of the protocol to answer the underlying question. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 502

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the ‘underlying questions’ technique of indirect clinical interviewing.
• XREF: connects to: Unconscious media effects resist direct interviewing methods — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 849; The participant interview method traded statistical rigor for conversational candor about sensitive attitudes — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1556; Ethnographic interviews aim at informants’ self-understanding, not factual truth. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 947 (+1 more)