Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Asyouconducttheinterview,besure,onceagain,toaskopen-endedquestions.Remember
that open-ended questions are apt to elicit better responses from your participants. Ask the
participantsquestionsregardingtheirdailywork,howtheorganizationfunctions,andwhat
typeofissuestheybelieveneedtobeaddressedbythedatabase.Encouragethemtodiscuss
as many facets of their work and the organization as they possibly can. As they reply, try
to record each response as a declarative sentence. You'll find it is much easier to transform
a sentence into a mission objective if you can do this. Here are just a few examples of the
types of questions you could pose during the interview:
What kind of work do you perform on a daily basis?
How would you define your job description?
What kind of data do you work with?
What types of reports do you generate?
What types of things do you keep track of?
What types of services does your organization provide?
How would you describe the type of work you do?
All of these questions are likely to evoke a good, lengthy response from the participant.
Oneoftheadvantagesofquestionsliketheseisthattheyprovidetheopportunityforyouto
ask follow-up questions. For example, say you received the following response to the last
question in the list:
“First, I try to determine the general problem with the vehicle.
Then I fill out a work order and note my assessment of the prob-
lem.Finally,Isendthevehicletothenextavailableserviceteam.”
You'll immediately notice that it's a lengthy response, which is fine. You should also note
that you could easily ask a follow-up question, such as the following:
“Is there any type of customer information incorporated within
the procedure you just described?”
Even if the reply is “No,” the question is still open-ended enough for the participant to
elaborate further on his original response. This type of follow-up question could also jar
his memory and cause him to relay other information, which may be related to the subject
of the original response.
Here is a set of mission objectives that you could derive from the participant's original re-
sponse:
Maintain information on customer vehicles.
Keep track of work orders.
