In many fields—whether academic research or industry practice—we rely on interviews to collect people’s experiences and perspectives on products or issues from research participants or users.
So, how do you conduct a good interview? This is a question every interviewer has likely asked themselves.
In Listening to People, Annette Lareau shares decades of her interviewing and fieldwork experience in rich detail. As a professor in sociology, Lareau’s examples are mainly drawn from academic research, but many of the concepts and techniques she describes are highly relevant to interviewers conducting user research in industry. The book’s numerous examples come from the real interview records used in her study Unequal Childhoods, giving readers concrete material to observe and learn from.
The three stages of interviewing
The book divides interviewing into three stages: preparation before the interview, the interview itself, and post-interview analysis. In each stage the author offers abundant case studies and practical advice, allowing readers to see the full arc of an interview from beginning to end. Anyone who has conducted interviews will likely find many of the book’s details deeply resonant.
Below are three key insights I took away from the book.
1. Before the interview: questions about sample size and representativeness
As a qualitative method, interviews differ from quantitative research’s emphasis on the “breadth of data.” Qualitative interviewing values the “depth of experience.” Researchers in qualitative work focus on differences between individuals and the contexts of their thinking, not statistical generalizability. Therefore, sometimes just five in-depth interviews are enough for analysis.
The author offers a simple rule of thumb: when no new information is emerging from interviews, data collection has likely reached saturation.
So when someone asks, “How can such a small sample represent the whole?” you can respond: “Qualitative interviews do not aim for statistical representativeness; they aim to understand the meanings behind phenomena through deep data collection.”
2. During the interview: the researcher’s identity shapes what they see
During interviews and observations, a researcher’s background and experience influence what they consider “important” and “worth recording.” Moreover, one’s social position—age, race, gender, and other social markers—affects how others perceive and treat us, and that treatment, in turn, shapes our behavior.
The author notes that subjectivity is unavoidable, but the key is “awareness” and “reflection.”
She gives examples showing that differences in field notes among research assistants often stem from their childhood experiences. For instance, an assistant from a middle-class background who is used to children calling adults by their first names might find it striking—and therefore note it—when children in another context use honorifics to address adults.
To address such differences, the author recommends: know yourself and continuously engage in self-reflection.
When we recognize that people who share our social position are likely to interpret behavior in certain ways, we can deliberately try to take other perspectives. Additionally, establishing observation priorities in advance reduces the influence of personal background on what we record. Ultimately, understanding your own assumptions and preferences is the first step to “coexisting with bias without being led by it.”
3. After the interview: let analysis run through the whole study
In qualitative research, analysis is not confined to the end; it runs throughout the research process. As data accumulate, researchers continually evaluate emerging findings, consider competing explanations, and gradually sharpen the study’s focus.
The author suggests that researchers can act like film directors and choose a single guiding theme word for their study.
Director Francis Ford Coppola, for example, said his theme for The Godfather was “inheritance,” while the theme for The Conversation was “privacy.” He explained that having a one-word theme helps guide countless decisions on a film set—when he wonders whether an actor should have long or short hair, wear a suit or a dress, drive or bike, he asks himself, “What is the theme?” and uses it to refocus.
Similarly, researchers can pick a key word to help maintain focus amid a large volume of data.
Holding fast to that central thread helps you sort out the core of the research and temporarily set aside unrelated side issues so you can concentrate on what matters most.
Listening is more than the art of asking questions
Beyond the three stages highlighted above, I particularly appreciate how the book presents actual interview dialogues and analyzes them line by line—what makes a good prompt and follow-up, how to steer a conversation toward an area of inquiry, and, most importantly, how to build rapport with interviewees.
Whether you are a novice researcher, a designer, or simply someone interested in the practice of listening, Listening to People offers rich insights. It reminds us that a true interview is never merely the art of asking questions; it is the craft of understanding others.