The only interview I have ever done that I can remember was back in tenth grade. I had to interview my grandmother about geneology and I remembered handwritting the interview. I didn’t mind it but I wish I had used a tape recorder instead. A couple of times I had to ask my grandmother to repeat herself because I had somehow missed the first part of what she had been saying. She had to speak slowly enough so I could write down everything she said which, for me, was kind of awkward. With tape recorders you can look at the person you’re interviewing with and take note of facial expressions and anything else you wouldn’t be able to notice if you’re looking down at a piece of paper. On the downside using a tape recorder could intimidate the person you’re interviewing which wouldn’t help you gather the information you want. For any upcoming interviews I may have I think I would choose to use both the tape recorder and handwritten notes. Both have positives and negatives but I think they outweigh each other. By doing both you’re able to get down anything you may have missed during the interview (specific quotes, etc).
Then there’s the ethical use of tape recorders. You can only use tape recorders when you have permission from the person you want to tape. That’s a good rule but when it comes to the well being of other people I think it’s okay to use a recorder without permission. It’s like in the movie Horrible Bosses when the one boss threatens to kill his employee and his two friends. If they hadn’t been recording then the three guys would have gone to jail for murder. There are other instances where it should be okay to bend the rule without worrying about getting sued. For example, the incident with the one coaches wife where she knew that her husband was molesting kids and someone got her on tape saying that she knew what he was doing the whole time. The ethical line is a fine one and I think that it should looked at again.
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