At the end of the busy summer season, the guide of our company is Sukhanov Leonid Sergeevich, a guide of the 1st category, a methodologist, a member of the working commission for the accreditation of guides of the City Tourist Information Center (St. Petersburg State University GTIC), history teacher of school No. The tour guide of the company "Nevsky tour primo" gave an interesting interview, in which, among other things, the word "love" is very common. It turns out that without this feeling in this profession there is definitely nothing to do.
Leonid Sergeevich, what necessary qualities (besides professional ones) should a guide have? What kind of guides do tourists like?
Tourists love good guides. But how to determine whether a guide is good or not is a question. And everyone has their own scale of measurement. I believe that the main quality of a guide is love for the city, for his profession, for people. Love, but not fanaticism in various matters of our work, not subservience. A person who represents such a majestic city must be adequate. Today there are many people who came to the profession with one goal - to earn money, it often happens that they do not even think about the essence and purpose of our work. Therefore, it is possible that the main quality, in addition to all professional adequacy and an inexhaustible desire to show tourists our city, to fall in love, as the guests of the city themselves say, with St. Petersburg.
What kind of tourists do you like? Are there any differences in the preferences and perception of excursion programs and routes by tourists from different regions of the country and neighboring countries? (For example, tourists from Vologda like this more, and something else from Murmansk). Is it possible to trace such interesting relationships?
I... I love tourists the way tourists love tour guides - good ones. Again - how to determine? Tourists are different, and every professional tour guide or guide-interpreter must respect a tourist from any region. But today, more than ever, the difference between the regions is felt. But if earlier the differences were geographical, now they are exclusively material: oil regions and agricultural regions are a big difference. Some may not perceive anything, the main thing for many now is the “star” of the hotel, which is certainly important, while others perceive everything, admire everything and everything is interesting. But not because they do not know anything, because their current economic situation has not destroyed them as people who think and are interested.
Who do you think is more interesting to work with?
I have groups from Yoshkar-Ola several times a season. When I first worked with them, during a sightseeing tour, I had the feeling that everyone was sleeping, because I could hear the noise of the bus engine, I turn around - they listen, look, almost breathe every other time. Recently, tourists are less and less asking questions about the city, history, literature, past, present and future. The only question that comes up very often - about the present - is how much apartments in St. Petersburg cost. This is how the tourist changes.
Despite the fact that you are very young, you have been working in tourism for a long time. How is domestic tourism changing in St. Petersburg? Are there any qualitative changes?
Despite my age (by the age of 28, 16 years of experience as a guide), I remember, as they say, those times in tourism. The main changes in tourism, as in any service sector, are ups and downs. Now, it seems to me, domestic tourism in St. Petersburg is on the rise. As for the qualitative changes... The people became less interested in a certain behind-the-scenes history, the topics of the excursions "Love and the Crown" and "Mystical Petersburg", fortunately, fade into the background. In one review of tourists there was a request to talk more about 1917, the sports life of the city. I remember there was such an excursion "Sports Leningrad", today, when new sports facilities are being built, it seems to me that the revival of such a topic is very relevant. People were drawn from "strawberries" to history, facts, to information about the development of the city. And that's great. After all, the task of the guide is not to work for the needs of the day, but to raise the level of knowledge, interests, culture of the tourists higher. Another important change is fewer one-day firms. More serious companies that control the quality of service are entering the market.
Which of your excursions do you consider the most interesting and bright?
I do the same job! (smiles). I really like to wage war, as they say in our profession, I love route excursions - Novgorod, Vyborg, Staraya Russa, etc. There are plenty of opportunities on the track in 3 hours to reveal almost the entire history of the Russian state, tying it all to specific display objects. Everyone loves to drive. I love my profession, I love the city, so when I put the microphone down I always want to pick it up again as soon as possible. And the brightest, probably, at night in the city.
What would you recommend to visit without fail for a tourist who came to St. Petersburg for the first time?
Piskarevsky cemetery. Not from the station, of course, to go there, but choose a travel agency that offers a sightseeing tour of St. Petersburg with a visit to the memorial, as it always was. In St. Petersburg-Leningrad, it is imperative to bow to those who fell defending the great city. The feat of Leningraders is that they did not save themselves, they saved the city. And only then the Hermitage saved by the Leningraders, the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the cruiser Aurora, the recreated Peterhof, Peterhof, of course - its fountains are incomparable. For the first visit to St. Petersburg, I think it's enough.
Why do we need a guide at all in our super-information time, there is the Internet (and even we already have quite mobile ones - I-Pads, I-phon, other communicators), everything is available to everyone. Is the tour guide a relic of the past? Or is it for the lazy tourist? How have the functions of a tour guide changed in the 21st century?
After all, the guide is not a repeater. The main task of the tour is to show!!! As our great guide, now deceased, Sergei Sergeevich Bortin, said, "first you need to saturate your eyes, then your ears." I learned this rule from my first and main teacher of professional skills, Natalia Vasilievna Shchegrova, to whom I am always grateful for giving me a profession. The guide knows what and how to show, and what to tell from the total amount of information. No technical means can show the city, only tell about it. And very important - live communication, which can fall in love with the city, as we have already said. It is unlikely that modern means can do this better than a person who loves his city with all his heart.
Leonid Sergeevich, since you are still working as a school history teacher, we would like to ask you one more thing: is it possible to assert that, just as foreign languages are easier to remember and assimilate with complete immersion in the language environment, the course of national history is certainly more interesting, useful and easier for schoolchildren to remember with the use of excursions, what is called on the ground? After all, St. Petersburg is actually a unique huge museum of the history of the Russian Empire?
Yes! There can be no other opinion. Of course, you can study history, even the history of St. Petersburg, without leaving school. But it is impossible not to use the potential of the city. At the school where I work last year we held a seminar "The Potential of St. Petersburg Culture in Additional Education". But there is even greater potential in basic education. In St. Petersburg, you can conduct excursions in accordance with the program in literature, history, the history of the city, world art culture, music, biology, astronomy, chemistry, physics and a number of other subjects. How wonderful, having studied the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky, to see the quarters where the action of the novel unfolds, to see the house where the writer created this "most St. Petersburg work of Russian classical literature." Speaking about the work of Russian or foreign painters, visit the Russian Museum, the Hermitage, the Academy of Arts, Repin's estate "Penates". The excellent laboratories of our scientific institutes and universities are always happy to provide opportunities for experiments, for getting acquainted with their collections, which have been collected for centuries. After all, an excursion will not replace a lesson, but it should not be only entertainment, an excursion is a wonderful illustration of the curriculum material, a great opportunity to give additional material. Petersburg is a treasure trove in this sense.
If so, what excursions would you recommend for students and schools?
If, a few examples, then this is the whole literary subject - A.S. Pushkin, N.A. Nekrasov, F.M. Dostoevsky in St. Petersburg, Poets of the Silver Age and others. Definitely a military theme. For schools with an artistic bias - art history and architecture topics. I want to say that the selection of topics for each particular class is individual. Topics must be chosen wisely. The rationale for the teacher's choice should not be the thought "but I haven't been here yet or haven't been here for a long time." Children should be interested and understand what the guide will say, moreover, the student should be able to. motivation. Often this motivation is specific tasks on the topic of the excursion. Therefore, I always urge my colleagues (teachers) to include excursions as often as possible in the plan of extracurricular work on the subject and in the plan of educational work with the class. I know very well that today it is difficult for teachers to work for a variety of reasons, including. low cultural level of schoolchildren, but it seems to me that introducing children to beauty should be of help.
Sergei was an ordinary office worker, and despite a good salary, he realized that his lifestyle was not what he dreamed of. He decided to quit everything and go to work in India, where he became a guide. Now he organizes author's trips around the world.
The evolution of Yuga.ru asked him how he managed to change his lifestyle, whether he manages to earn money, how his family feels about traveling and how to prepare for a big trip to an unfamiliar country.
traveler
— I have been traveling for 6 years. I never set myself the goal of becoming a traveler: I graduated from Kuban State University, worked in Krasnodar as a PR man in nightclubs and cafes. By the age of 25, I realized that, probably, in ten years I would have a better car, a bigger apartment, more expensive clothes. I realized that this result of my work is not very interesting for me and something needs to be changed.
When you follow the flow with everyone and do not look back, you can live calmly and well. But then something made me stop and listen to myself. I tried to figure out what I really need.
As a child, I loved historical and adventure literature. All this was madly liked and inspired, but I did not try on this image for myself. And I would not say that I had a monotonous job - it was interesting and not boring. But I experienced a lack of meaning in my activities, some kind of existential torment, relatively speaking.
How to become a tour guide in India
When I left my job here in Russia, I decided to prepare for a trip to India and find something similar to my PR activities there. But my expectations were not met. I thought that it would be possible to promote institutions there, things that are familiar to me. But when I arrived there, I realized that nothing would work out: everything is different there, the business is arranged differently. People are not ready to pay money for what I was paid for in Russia.
I had a one-way ticket, very poor English, and a not entirely clear job prospect. But everything worked out as it should.
At first, I handed out flyers to Russian tourists on the coast in Goa: I suggested visiting some waterfalls, swimming with an elephant - a standard set. I did this for a travel agency that had tour guides. Later, I myself began to take tourists to popular places.
I soon realized that this is exactly what I wanted to do all my life - to study the history, architecture, traditions of the region and tell people about them.
When I returned from India and looked back at what had happened, I thought: “Lord, it was some kind of heavenly dream! Do I need to wake up and continue living in Krasnodar?”
After India, through acquaintances, I was offered to work as a guide in several more places. I went to Greece, worked in Crete, led excursions to Athens, Santorini, showed the Parthenon and the Acropolis.
So I worked for several seasons as a tour guide, after which I realized that I lacked depth and duration. On the tour came people who needed it for the sake of appearances. And I wanted to show the region from an unusual side, which I know more deeply, for those who are interested.
How author travel appeared
I began to travel for a long time on my own, and to not the most touristy places - in order to immerse myself in the culture and history of the country, get a separate experience, live a small life. 2-3 weeks stay, even a month is not enough for me. I come for a long time, and when I already begin to feel the country, only then can I show something to other people.
I lived, worked, learned routes in the USA, Norway, Iceland, China, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and Bhutan. He organized the project "Russian Heritage of the Himalayas" in cooperation with the Russian Geographical Society.
Before I go to a new country for the first time, I try to emotionally tune in to it. Fiction helps a lot with this when you read writers from this country - almost every one has outstanding authors. Secondly, of course, I read historical literature.
I don't study the things that you can find on travel forums: how to get there, how many dollars a ticket to attractions costs. All this I know very well myself and get my experience on the spot. I do not really care about someone else's opinion and someone else's view, especially, as a rule, incompetent people. When they write: “Be sure to go there, it’s very cool there, but you don’t need to go there,” I’m not interested.
After I have lived in the country for a long time and studied it enough, I can share my experience. The long trips that I organize for others I don't call excursions, but trips. This work is only with Russian-speaking tourists in groups of 5-8 people.
How author's tours work
As for accommodation, these can be completely different formats depending on the high cost of the region and the circumstances - good hotels, rented houses, loggias in the Himalayas with the most primitive basic amenities. Or even Buddhist temples, local families, tents, mattresses and blankets under the stars in the desert.
The trips that I do are not narrowly focused, as it is fashionable now, tours. Not yoga tours, not surf tours, not pilgrimage and trekking. I try to acquaint people with a country or region in a very comprehensive way, from all possible angles, without starting only from the sights.
In the same region, I visit modern cities, megacities, communicate with people who share global values. At the same time, when traveling, I can show villages where traditional culture has been preserved, where very religious people live. And in order for the puzzle to come together, you need to be interested in completely different things and show them.
The guide is responsible for the life and safety of the participants of the trip. I have such an approach that if people go with me to a country in which they are not oriented, they trust me in everything: I choose the place of residence, transport. Of course, I am responsible for their health and life, for them to have an interesting, unusual experience in this country. Such responsibility increases in some more extreme conditions, in mountain climbing.
Hobbies, work or lifestyle
I do not share work or hobbies. It's all together, one way of life. My story is not about business and not about capturing markets, it's about what I like to do.
I have a family in Krasnodar for which I am responsible. Money is an important component, and I do not deny their importance. My author's tours are a big and difficult job. Over the past year, I organized 12 trips, which is a lot, not counting reconnaissance. I spent six months this year with tourists. I try to travel as much as possible with my family, with my wife, sometimes I even manage to take my parents with me somewhere.
Considering how often I visit Krasnodar, then last year I spent nine months traveling, three months I was in Krasnodar. And then, sometimes I come to Krasnodar for four days, for a week, that is, these three months - they consist of such short visits.
Of danger and adventure
There are various unplanned situations on the journey, but I try to make sure that the people who are nearby do not know that something is going wrong.
And alone, a lot of interesting things happen to me. For example, I once spent four days on the Nicobar ferry in the Andaman Islands, and a riot of hungry Indians began on the ferry.
It happens that you come to the city, and there is some kind of mass religious holiday, which gathers 10 million people - and all in religious ecstasy. Imagine: a city full of half-crazed people, and you need to find a place to sleep.
In order not to get into this kind of trouble, you need to study the region, its culture and traditions well. The more you know about these people, the more you know how they are guided in their ordinary daily life, the less likely you are to get into some kind of trouble. For example, in a Buddhist dwelling, one does not need to sit down with one's feet to the altar. In many parts of Asia, you can not touch children's heads.
About people and friendship
When traveling, it is very important to have people who will help you in some emergency situations. But I do not share life in travel and outside of them, I easily understand whether a person sympathizes with me or not.
For example, in the same Myanmar, when I was for the first time on Inle Lake, where there are floating villages and all the locals travel by boat. I went to an agency where you can buy bus tickets. There I got into a conversation with a local, he invited me to his house. We sailed up to the house on a boat, he introduced me to his family, we had a wonderful conversation.
The next time I came with a group and contacted him. He was glad to see me, so we did not take a boat, as all tourists do, we just immediately met this friend. On his boat we went to places that tourists do not suspect there, came to visit for lunch, talked with his family. It's one thing to look at all these houses from the outside, it's another thing when you're inside, tasting the food that the locals eat, looking at their way of life. This is a completely different level of immersion in the environment.
I try not to fence myself off from reality with artificial walls that people like to surround themselves with for big money - live in expensive hotels, drive in tinted cars
I try not to fence myself off from reality with artificial walls that people like to surround themselves with for big money - to live in expensive hotels, to drive in tinted cars. So you look at the surrounding reality just like a picture that changes outside the window.
If you just want a flat picture, it's enough, I don't know, to watch Heads and Tails or any other TV travel show. And for me it is important to be a part of what is happening.
In some countries people are more hospitable than in others. My two favorite countries in this regard are Nepal and Burma (Myanmar). If we talk about the most unfriendly countries, then India is famous for its trait: if you are an ordinary tourist and drive through local attractions, then you are immediately attacked by an army of local merchants, rickshaws, some incomprehensible semi-guides who want to sell you something. The tourist is perceived as a wallet with legs.
But if they see that you are not the first time in this country, they are not very interested in communicating with you, because you understand how much something really costs. In general, there are a lot of swindlers, they are in any country.
And if we talk about Iceland and Norway, then in these countries people are not only more closed, they are more restrained. They are pleasant, very conducive to themselves, confident and knowing their own worth.
In terms of local willingness to help, I like Asia more. Let's say that in Europe you didn't have time to book a hotel, but you need to stay somewhere. You find the only hotel 100 km around, and they answer you - there are no places, we can't help you.
In Asia, in a similar situation, something will definitely be invented - in some unimaginable way, a neighboring hotel will appear, some uncle, matchmaker, brother, parent, who, perhaps, will organize something.
About the contents of the backpack and the choice of tickets
I travel light - it seems to me that the lighter the backpack, the freer you feel. I try to always have a sleeping bag in my backpack so that I can sleep anywhere. First aid kit, headlamp.
I don't take my camera with me. Previously, I didn’t take pictures at all for many years, for which everyone scolded me. Now I can take pictures with my tablet, but usually I don't have a shortage of pictures, because the people who travel with me are always taking pictures.
If you come to my house, you will never think that I travel a lot. I'm not a fan of collecting junk from everywhere. But I can bring friends and relatives some things that I consider suitable for a particular person. It's situational. More often I bring clothes, some functional things. I can bring a cool hat.
If you come to my house, you will never think that I travel a lot. I'm not a fan of collecting junk from everywhere
In terms of tickets, I can’t say that I take the first ones that come across. I used to focus on the price of tickets, now I look at the duration of transfers and try to make flights more gentle. And if there is a transfer, then it's great if there is an opportunity to go to the city, spend a day there.
About plans
In the autumn I plan to discover a new region for myself - South America. Now I am developing a route, and in November there will be a big trip with tourists. Before the end of the year I will spend a couple more trips to India, and also to Nepal. I'm going to Norway for the whole summer.
In the future, it is interesting to explore Antarctica. I want to make trips with crossings through the desert. If we talk about what you want to do for yourself, then these are some expeditionary things - so that for a long time and autonomously. Crossing the desert, hard travel, climbing.
I really like what I do, and what form it will take is not so important. Maybe it will be possible to create something new at the intersection of technology and travel, a blog, maybe some kind, I don’t close such opportunities for myself.
14. In-Depth Interview in Sociological Research. Research objectives. Types of interview: semi-structured, free, narrative, dialogue. Selection of study participants. Compiling a guide. Processing and analysis of the obtained data. Expert survey in youth research.
1. Drawing up a research program is limited to setting goals and objectives, highlighting the object of research, describing the principles for selecting participants, and interpreting concepts. Hypotheses are not formulated, since the method is not aimed at confirming / refuting existing information, but at searching for fundamentally new knowledge.
2. The selection of participants is not of a probabilistic nature - rather, it is a so-called "theoretical sample" - the object of study should be "typical" among others or, on the contrary, embody extreme tendencies.
3. The sample size, as a rule, does not exceed 30 people, and is often limited to 10 - 15. The following rule applies to determining the sample size: we stop conducting a study when we stop receiving new information. Or when we explore the community, they stop giving us new names.
4. The goals and objectives of the study can be adjusted (specified) directly during the field stage.
5. The role of the person directly carrying out the field stage is extremely important, he must have the necessary skills and qualifications, as well as a certain set of socio-psychological characteristics that contribute to establishing and maintaining contact with the respondent.
6. Interview time is usually 1.5 - 2 hours. These are average figures, very dependent on the individual respondent. If it is necessary to conduct an interview longer, then several conversations with one person at different times are preferable.
7. As a rule, the interview is recorded on a dictaphone, sometimes video recording is carried out. In the case when the interviewee objects to keeping a record, the researcher has to either refuse the interview or rely on his memory - as a rule, the latter is chosen, especially in the case when it is important for us to learn specific facts from the narrator, that is, WHAT was said, and not HOW it was said.
Also in sociology, the principles and rules for conducting “field notes” have been developed - here the main difficulty that confronts the researcher is that he is forced to solve the problem of data selection on the spot, since it is not possible to record everything. To facilitate the work of fixing information, special signs and symbols have been developed that correspond to various speech forms, features of conversations,.
Sometimes keeping any kind of records has an extremely negative effect on contact with the respondent. In this case, the researcher tries to remember the information. An important problem in the case of recording interview data "from memory" is the reproduction of the text, which is called the "natural vocabulary" of the research object.
Types of interviews.
Semi-structured interview.
This is an interview with a guide (guide) - a list of questions that will be asked. The wording and sequence of questions may change during the course of the interview.
Guide Techniques:
1. One of the techniques is the "funnel principle": focusing questions - from general to specific, from less personal topics to more intimate ones. There is a "reverse funnel" - at the beginning, questions of a private nature are asked, then - general ones.
2. Another technique is to divide questions into thematic blocks.
Narrative interview: the free narration of the narrator with minimal intervention of the interviewer - he can only “cheer up” the respondent with approving exclamations or interjections.
free interview.
Unlike a semi-structured interview, there is no pre-compiled list of questions, but the topic of the conversation is predetermined, as well as a number of issues that need to be touched upon in the conversation. The researcher and the narrator talk to each other on the chosen topic, but the narrator only plays the role of a full-fledged participant in the conversation, because remains emotionally uninvolved, objective, not expressing his own opinion, etc.
Dialog interview.
The difference from the previous technique is that the interviewer takes an active position in the conversation, expresses his own views, and gives arguments that confirm his point of view.
Expert survey.
A special kind of interview is a survey of experts. Here, as a rule, a pre-compiled guide is used, although the researcher may deviate from the previously planned plan in accordance with the information that he receives. A feature of this type of interview is the specificity of the object of study. Experts on the research problem are selected as interviewees. The main selection criteria may be work experience, position, professional knowledge of an expert.
Always surprise, amaze and challenge others - this is the life motto of an interesting girl Vlada, our guide from Vienna.
How did you decide to become a guide?
I am a journalist by profession and at heart. I like to look for interesting stories, destinies, facts. To convey mood, emotion, to spur interest, to achieve a response is a paramount task for me. I like to challenge - when people's eyes widen. Surprise and amaze - this is for me. Just talking is a pleasure for me, and talking about what you love is a double joy.
Was the choice of the country in which you work was deliberate or was it a fateful event?
It was love at first sight. And then it grew into a deep feeling, into affection, into a need. My lungs need Viennese air, my eyes need Viennese palaces and parks, my ears need the music that sounds from every window and, of course, the smell of Viennese coffee….
Is a guide a hobby or a job?
Happy is the man who is happy to go to work and happy to return home. I'm one of those happy people. For me, a hobby has become a job.
Who is more likely to book excursions for men or women?
Couples usually come to Vienna in search of romance or a family with children for educational purposes. For those and others, I have developed an individual cultural program.
Are there sights in your itineraries that you talk about with more pleasure than others?
Each attraction can be served tasty and not tasty. It all depends on the mood of the guide. I tell what I myself find remarkable.
Are there places where you do not want to go with tourists at all? If yes, what is the reason for this?
I don't like going to crowds. I prefer individuality.
What do you like most about your work?
In the work of a guide, I like communication with a wide range of different people, the possibility of self-study, visiting current events. Seeing beautiful things, talking about beautiful things, showing people beauty - isn't that happiness?
In what professional field can you imagine yourself besides tourism?
In journalism, on television, I feel like a fish in water. We have already launched a Russian television project in Austria. Watch me on www.russische.tv or live on excursions.
Interviewing, like other survey methods, is a kind of technology that includes the following steps:
– interview preparation, including general and specific preparation;
- Start;
- main part;
- completion;
– processing of results.
An in-depth interview questionnaire is fundamentally different from a closed-ended questionnaire. If the structural unit of the questionnaire is a question or a block of questions, then the structural unit of an informal interview is THEME. The topic is a coherent (possessing semantic unity) presentation of a question.
The questionnaire of a deep non-formalized interview is a list of topics to be clarified. This list does not have to be in the form of interrogative sentences. Topics can be formulated in both narrative and interrogative form.
The central problem in designing questionnaires for in-depth interviews is determining the sequence of topics and their level of detail.
Depending on the type of semantic connection, the topics are divided into narratives, descriptions and reasoning. This typology was developed by medieval logicians, and introduced into Russian scientific culture by M. Lomonosov.
Narration- this is a presentation of the course of events in time or a sequential display of parts of a complex event. The constituent parts of the narrative follow each other in the order determined by the connection in time of the events described in them. In interviewing guides, narrative is also referred to as a "chronological" sequence. Variations of this sequence are : forward and reverse chronologies, forward chronology with digressions. Sometimes the interview is centered around some central event. In this case, questions are asked: what happened before, during that, after that? The chronological sequence can be measured in years, months, days, hours, minutes. The speed of describing events during an interview is usually not uniform: key events can be described in hours and minutes, while ongoing processes can be described in months and years. As a result, the time frame of the narrative during the interview is constantly changing, expanding and narrowing.
Description- this is a sequential display of the constituent parts of a complex object or phenomenon. The relationship between the elements of the description may be based on spatial, functional or other relationships. The description is also called a "spatial" sequence, meaning that the totality of the component parts, attributes or functions that form the object form, in the language of mathematicians, an attribute or functional space.
In an interview, when a respondent lists factors, reasons, or components, it is advisable to ask him, if possible, to rank them in order of importance or otherwise arrange his presentation.
Descriptions differ in the location of their common part (the general characteristic of the object of description). In some cases, this part opens the topic, in others it closes it. M. Lomonosov called the first type of description dividing (first the object as a whole is presented, and then the constituent parts), and the second - connecting (first the constituent parts, and then the object as a whole).
Reasoning or causal sequence is a type of semantic relationship based on cause and effect relationships. Reasoning is a thought moving from premises to a conclusion, for example, in the form of a conclusion, proof, refutation. Types of reasoning: from statements to generalization; from the thesis to the arguments and from them to the conclusion; from fixing changes to analyzing their causes; from elements to their connections; from the establishment of the law - to the disclosure of its modifications; inductive and deductive reasoning.
When compiling questionnaires, topics related to reasoning, it is advisable to put at the end of the interview, after the factual side of the matter has been clarified in the course of narration or description (or a combination of both).
Questions planned in advance and questions formulated during the interview. Questions asked to the respondent are divided into those that are prepared in advance and summarized in a questionnaire plan, and those that are asked directly during the conversation and represent the interviewer's prompt response to the information received. The second type of question is not discussed in this chapter, since it deals only with pre-prepared interview plans. However, it is important for this section that interviews can differ in the ratio of the proportions of questions of both types. The researcher must choose what he will rely more on: pre-prepared or promptly generated questions.
The number of topics in the interview. An in-depth interview plan can include either one topic or several independent topics. The first type of questionnaire can be characterized as simple, and the second - as composite. Composite interviews are less common in the sociological practice of deep interviewing, since the full disclosure of one topic (or several related topics) usually requires a lot of time. Combining several heterogeneous topics in one interview can lead to the fact that not all of them will be fully disclosed. In this regard, our further presentation will be mainly focused on describing the rules for compiling a simple interview questionnaire, firstly, because it is more common, and secondly, because a composite type is made up of several simple ones.
The degree of logical detail of the questionnaire. This is an ideal-typical scale, on one end of which there are questionnaires with a high degree of detail, and on the other - with a low degree of detail. If a detailed plan is formed for the interview, consisting of many questions, and if these questions are components of one general topic, then we are dealing with a detailed type of questionnaire.
The detailing of the questionnaires is carried out by dividing a large general topic into its constituent private topics. The division of the topic is a logical operation, through which its volume is revealed, i.e. the number of objects or phenomena covered by the topic. In accordance with generally accepted logical rules, the division of the topic into its constituent parts (subtopics) should be:
a) reasonable
b) proportionate
c) mutually exclusive
d) continuous
A well-designed complex interview questionnaire should look like a detailed table of contents for a book. The number of stages of division of a detailed interview can reach up to three or four, resembling the heading of a table of contents, including parts, chapters, paragraphs, subparagraphs, etc. The comparison with the table of contents of a book is not accidental, since a well-conducted and well-edited interview (see below for editing) and should look like a logically constructed article or book.
In contrast to a finely detailed questionnaire, which is often a complex layered system of questions, a lowly detailed questionnaire may consist of only one question or topic statement.
A questionnaire with low thematic detail may consist of several independent, but related topics that are not constituent parts. It may also contain some disclosure of the main topic, which makes it closer to the type of questionnaire with high logical detail.
The use of a questionnaire with a low level of detail assumes that some of the questions will be formulated and asked directly during the interview.
The choice of a questionnaire with a high or low level of detail requires a comparative description of their advantages and disadvantages. The problem of determining the appropriate degree of logical detailing of the interview is one of the central ones when compiling the questionnaire. This detail is generally determined by the degree of prior knowledge of the researcher. A low level of prior awareness should be matched by a low degree of logical detail.
One of the techniques that help overcome the contradictions between the advantages and disadvantages of high and low levels of detail is step-by-step detailing, in which its level increases directly in the course of the study, from interview to interview.
The degree of logical branching of the questionnaire. This ideal-typical scale characterizes questionnaires with a complex logical structure. At one end of the scale, the interview plan looks like a line, and at the other end it looks like a branching tree. The need to compile questionnaires of the “tree” type arises in those cases when, when dividing a topic into its component parts, the problem of “logical forks” arises. This problem is relevant when scheduling both formalized and in-depth interviews. A logical fork in this case is a situation in which the researcher predicts that, depending on the answer to a certain question, the sample of respondents will break up into several populations that differ significantly in their properties, each of which will require the compilation of a specific questionnaire. Let us explain what has been said with an example. Suppose that a survey is being conducted aimed at studying the types of perception of a pop song. As a rule, in such surveys it is found that for one part of the respondents, the poetic text is more important, and for the other, music. Since the systems of criteria and the conceptual apparatus for evaluating the verbal and musical components differ significantly, the questionnaire or interview should provide for this fork, i.e., the presence of specific blocks of questions for respondents of various types.
Completeness of the logical structure of the questionnaire. Non-formalized interview questionnaires may have a complete or incomplete logical structure. A complete logical structure occurs when the topics of the interview are divided into sub-topics in accordance with the four rules of division described above (see questionnaire with a high degree of logical detail). However, in reality, the level of prior knowledge of the researcher does not always allow for such a division. Often the researcher has only a general formulation of the topic and, along with this, a set of particular questions that are included in this topic, but do not cover it entirely. Such situations, in particular, arise in applied research, since customers are usually interested in both the general state of the problem and getting answers to a number of specific questions. Sometimes the customer creates a problem by compiling an extensive list of specific questions. In this case, the researcher can take the formal path and draw up an interview plan solely on the basis of a list of questions given by the customer. This approach, however, cannot be considered professionally conscientious, since the customer, most likely, formulated only a part of the questions that are elements of a more general problem. The task of the sociologist is not only to answer the questions asked, but also to try to identify and highlight those questions that are not asked by the customer, but are relevant to the problem of interest to him. This can be done only by including in the questionnaire general questions aimed at highlighting the whole problem as a whole.
Thus, a questionnaire with an incomplete logical structure is a mixed type of non-detailed and highly detailed questionnaire, in other words, a combination of general and specific questions, the logical space between which remains unfilled. In this case, the general question is put before the private ones, and private questions are asked only after the respondent has independently and fully disclosed the topic formed in the general questionnaire. In the course of answering a general question, respondents may, and this happens quite often, highlight some of the specific questions provided for in the plan. The need to set them in this case disappears by itself.
The formulation and disclosure of a general question before moving on to specific ones, without eliminating private questions from the interview plan, at the same time allows you to identify:
a) unaccounted for logical forks and fundamentally new directions for the disclosure of the topic. A new and unexpected turn of the topic for the researcher often makes the rest of the detailed questionnaire meaningless if the researcher hastened to compile it;
b) unaccounted for reasons for dividing the topic, revealing the object from an unexpected angle;
c) the incompleteness of the typology given by the researcher, which the respondent can supplement with new objects, phenomena or variables;
d) the ranks of the significance of the elements of topics, the constituent parts of the objects or phenomena under study, as well as their interrelationships in the mind of the respondent.
Direct and reverse "funnel". A series of questions, in which each subsequent one has a smaller logical volume than the previous one, is called a "direct funnel" sequence. The opposite type, in which the general question is placed after the specific one, is called a "reverse funnel". These types of sequences can characterize either the entire interview as a whole, or its individual topics or subtopics.
The "straight funnel" sequence is the most commonly used. We can say that it is used in all cases where there are no special methodological grounds for making the opposite decision. Among the main advantages of the "forward funnel" sequence are the following:
a) if the purpose of the interview is to obtain a detailed description of an event, situation or problem, posing a general question avoids many specific ones.
b) the “forward funnel” sequence allows the respondent to build his answer more coherently and recall details more effectively, following his own path of associations
c) starting the interview with a general question, the researcher insures himself against introducing his own view into the conversation or setting his own frame of reference before he receives information about the respondent's ideas.
d) if the purpose of the interview is to discover unforeseen relevant answers, it is methodically more correct to pose a general question, since particular questions do not achieve this goal.
The main advantages of the direct funnel sequence have been listed above. It is clear that the use of the inverse principle negates these advantages. However, there are special methodological reasons that may incline the researcher's choice to use the "reverse funnel" sequence. There are at least three such grounds (it should be borne in mind that real questionnaires may contain combinations of two types of sequences at the subtopic level):
a) the respondent does not have sufficiently strong motivations to provide information on the topic of the interview. Such a situation may, for example, arise when the experience of the respondent, relevant to the study, seems to him unimportant and uninteresting, or it is too distant in time and largely erased from memory.
The sequence of questions in the interview must meet the following requirements:
In the course of the survey, the interest of the respondent should grow.
more difficult questions should follow the easier ones.
b) the need to create a common frame of reference for different respondents.
c) In certain respects, the sequence of the "reverse funnel" has about the same effect on the interview as a leading question. As with the leading question, the biasing effect of the reverse funnel sequence should be considered an undesirable effect in all cases where it does not have strong methodological justifications.
Special types of sequences. This group combines various types of sequences designed to achieve certain specific goals. Let us give examples of some such sequences.
"Thematic" sequence. It is used when the purpose of the interview breaks down into a series of parallel topics. For example, when researching opinions about presidential candidates, each candidate can be viewed as a separate topic, formed from the same questions. In this way, comparability of results for each topic is achieved.
The "problem-solution" sequence was proposed by the American researcher D. Darvil. Includes 5 following questions: What is the core of the problem? What is its cause? What are the possible solutions? What is the best solution? How can this solution be implemented?
The Gallup Funnel, consisting of five questions, is used to compile both formalized and non-formalized questionnaires. The first question is designed to find out whether the respondent is aware of the problem at all and whether he thought about it. The second is aimed at finding out how the respondent generally relates to this problem. The third is for getting answers on specific aspects of the problem. The fourth helps to identify the reasons for the views of the interviewee. The fifth is aimed at clarifying the strength of these views, their intensity.
Interview language. This aspect of the problem does not form a typology, but is important when compiling questionnaires. The main criterion for choosing the language and syntax of the questionnaire is the need to ensure the most complete and accurate communication of the meaning of the messages from the interviewer to the respondent and vice versa. In other words, the language of the interviewer should correspond to the common vocabulary of the interviewer and the respondent. Having a common vocabulary does not mean that the interviewer should use the same vernacular or vernacular expressions or speak with the same accent as the respondent. This means that the language spoken by the interviewer must be understood by the respondent, even if the respondent expresses the same thought in some other way. The respondent's answers also do not necessarily have to be formulated in the terminology of the interviewer, but they must be understandable to him. Vocabulary and manner of expression should be general in the sense that they form a single basis for understanding.
If the common language of the interviewer and the respondent is insufficient to discuss the topic of the interview, then it is necessary to expand the vocabulary of one or the other side. In relation to the respondent, this seems difficult, but as practice shows, it is quite possible preferable.
The opposite possibility is to expand or, more accurately, adapt the language of the interviewer to make it understandable to the category of people who are supposed to be interviewed.
Expanding the interviewer's vocabulary does not mean that he should try to imitate the respondent's speech. Such attempts can only lead to undesirable consequences. In particular, imitation of speech can seriously offend the respondent, since its reasons can be misinterpreted. Along with the problem of taking into account the specifics of the language of the respondents, there is the problem of the level of complexity of the questions. The degree of difficulty of the question should approximate the respondent's level of understanding. From a methodological point of view, it is undesirable to ask both too complicated and too simplified questions. Too much simplification of the wording of the questions emphasizes rather than levels the social distance, thus causing offense to the respondent. The opposite error, namely asking questions that are above the respondent's level of understanding, produces two obvious negative effects. The first is the difficulty in communication, when the respondent does not understand what they want from him.
The second problem is motivational. The respondent in this case may feel a large social gap between himself and the interviewer, so it will seem to him that he is talking to a person who will never understand him correctly. If this happens, the respondent loses one of the main motives for communication
Under initial The interview stage is understood as the achievement of a preliminary agreement with the respondent, if any, and the first minutes of direct communication with him, including the introductory or introductory part of the conversation and the first questions.
The beginning of the interview stands out as a special stage due to the fact that it performs specific functions. These functions are not associated with obtaining information, but with establishing psychological contact with the respondent. In foreign textbooks, the word "contact" is often defined by expressions such as "establishing an atmosphere of openness and trust" or "breaking the ice."
It is advisable to start describing the problem of establishing contact with the characteristics of two specific types of interviews, in which the nature of the phenomenon that can be characterized as “psychological contact” is most clearly presented. The first type is the so-called clinical or psychotherapeutic interviews. As you know, a clinical interview is used in psychiatry and medical psychology as a means to help the patient in realizing his internal difficulties, conflicts, hidden motives of behavior. At the same time, the decisive factor in the effectiveness of the therapeutic effect is psychological contact, based on mutual trust and the doctor's ability to empathize (empathy).
Communication Assistants
1. Striving for the fulfillment of expectations
2. The need for recognition and approval
3. Altruistic motives
4. Acquisition of new experience
5. Catharsis
Inhibitors
1. Find free time
2. Threat to self
Question types
Questions are classified according to various criteria.
1) According to the degree of expression in the text, questions can be:
- explicit - are expressed in the language completely, along with their premises and the requirement to establish the unknown;
- hidden - are expressed only by their premises, and the requirement to eliminate the unknown is restored after understanding the premises of the question.
2) According to their structure, questions are divided into:
- simple - structurally involve only one judgment. It cannot be broken down into elementary questions;
- complex - are formed from simple ones with the help of logical unions "and", "or", "if .., then ...", etc. When answering a complex question, it is preferable to break it into independent questions. The meaning of the unions that form complex questions is not identical with the meaning of the corresponding logical unions, with the help of which complex true or false judgments are formed from simple true or false judgments. Questions are not true or false. They may be right or wrong.
3) According to the method of requesting the unknown, they distinguish:
- clarifying - these are questions (or "whether" questions) aimed at revealing the truth of the judgments expressed in them. In all these questions there is a particle "whether", included in the phrases "is it true", "is it true", etc .;
- replenishing - these are questions (or "k" -questions) designed to identify new properties in the object under study, to obtain new information. The grammatical sign of a replenishing question is an interrogative word like "who?", "Why?" etc. It should be borne in mind that interrogative pronouns and adverbs do not always correctly convey the original meaning of the question, accurately and unambiguously setting the boundaries of the area of its unknown, and this, as a rule, negatively affects the understanding of the question.
4) By the number of possible answers:
- open - a question to which there is an indefinite set of answers;
A closed question is a question that has a finite, most often quite limited, number of answers. These questions are widely used in judicial and investigative practice, in sociological research.
5) In relation to the cognitive goal:
- nodal - this is a question if the correct answer to it serves directly to achieve the goal;
- leading - this is a question if the correct answer somehow prepares or brings the person closer to understanding the key question, which, as a rule, turns out to be dependent on the illumination of leading questions. Obviously, there is no clear boundary between key and leading questions.
6) According to the correct setting:
- correct - these are questions, the premise of which is true and consistent knowledge;
- incorrect - this is a question based on the premise of a false judgment, a contradictory judgment, or a judgment whose meaning is not defined. There are two types of logically incorrect questions:
a) trivially incorrect (meaningless) - this is a question expressed in sentences containing obscure (indefinite) words or phrases;
b) non-trivially incorrect - this is a question, the premise of which is a false statement. There is no true answer to such a question.
If the question posed is based on simple ignorance of the basis asking about the falsity, then the question is simply incorrect. If the questioner knows about the falsity of the basis of the question and asks the question for the purpose of provocation, confusing his opponent, then such a question is called provocative, and its statement is a sophistical device. Such questions sometimes put the logically unprepared in an uncomfortable position.
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