WRITING INTERVIEW SUMMARIES
Purpose and Goal
Collecting oral histories is a research endeavor, where the purpose is to collect primary data
through recollections. Because interviews are unpredictable, in that they are not scripted, the
information collected may or may not be relevant to the topic or provide added or new
understanding to the body of knowledge. Thus, “summaries” are created in an effort to highlight
the information most relevant to the topic and that which helps to enhance the historical record.
Writing a Summary
The goal of the summary is to capture the main points of the interview in 1-2 pages. The
summary should focus on the content that is relevant to the research, and provide a well rounded
context for that content.
A note on context: In anthropological research, context is very important; it helps to preserve
the true sentiments of a person, as opposed to highlighting a statement to fit an agenda, such as
making something sound good, bad, or funny, when it was not the intent of the speaker.
When including quotations, statements which are interesting, fun, and humorous can be included
as long as they contribute to the research, and as long as they can be included tastefully (i.e. not
at the expense of demeaning the interviewee). Also, when including quotations, the passages
used should be reviewed, as best as possible, for accuracy. Because interviewees provide their
memories, recollections, and opinions, the information provided can sometimes be conflicting or
historically inaccurate. While a disclaimer about oral history data is provided for the entire
report, caution should be taken not to directly quote information that is known to be inaccurate.
For the summary as a whole, below is a list of some useful tips:
• Read the original text carefully, jotting down notes or highlighting important points.
• Arrange your information in a logical order, for example, chronologically.
• As you revise and edit your summary, compare it to the original and ask yourself
questions such as:
o Have I rephrased the interviewee’s words without changing their meaning?
o Is there any additional information I could include that would help clarify the
context?
• Consider whether things that may be politically sensitive are appropriate in the summary.
The entire interview will be included in the report, and therefore there is no need to
highlight something unless it is necessary to the meaning of the research.
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