Interviewing

Never forget that the interviewer or investigator is human too. They are subject to the same human factors as the witness. Never make assumptions. Assumptions can make you miss asking essential questions and equally important information. Always remember that the interviewee may have the information you want. The biggest mistake an investigator can make is "confirmation bias," seeking or only taking note of information that fits his/her preconceived theory.

The Ten Commandments of Interviewing

1. Stop Talking

You cannot listen if you are talking.

2. Put the Witness at Ease

Help the witness to feel that he/she is free to talk.

3. Show That You Want to Listen

Look and act interested. Listen to understand what is being said rather than concentrating on your next question. This is difficult as the next question may desert you, but it may return and, with a full story, maybe answered anyway.

4. Remove Distractions

Don't give the impression you aren't listening or that you would rather be elsewhere.

5. Empathise

Try to put yourself in the other person’s place.

6. Be Patient

Allow plenty of time, do not interrupt.

7. Hold Your Temper

Any impatience or anger can pass the initiative to the interviewee.

8. Avoid Argument and Criticism

Causing the witness to become defensive and possibly qualify answers or «clam up».

9. Try to Make Your Question Flow Responsive to His/Her Priorities

This will show that you are listening and that you understand. Try not to break continuity, you can always return to other issues later.

10. Stop Talking

This is the first and last command.

Planning and Preparation

What is the aim of the interview?

• To establish what happened.
• To understand the involvement of the interviewee in the incident.
• To identify events and conditions and establish causes of the incident.
• To prevent a recurrence.

When planning, do it with the aims of the interview in mind:

• Analyse what evidence you already have.
• Consider what other evidence you need.
• Go through the factors and elements as you understand them.
• Draw up a list of those that should be interviewed – who may have information.
• Consider venue(s).
• Design a flexible approach.

Setting Up the Interview – Where, When and How

The investigator will have to decide on a place to conduct interviews. It often involves multiple locations. Investigators may have to interview one or more ship’s crews (or members of such), port officials, administration officials, casual witnesses, etc.

It is invaluable for the investigator(s) to visit the ship and its various control centres to get some perspective of what those involved saw and did. It gives a sense of how long tasks or duties would have taken. A quiet office or venue away from the ship also has its advantages. It avoids interruption. It may put the investigator on ”home ground.”

It is a matter of judgment and may depend on how the interview is recorded and how many support staff the investigator(s) may want to involve, e.g., stenographers. In some countries, the policy is ”to go to the witnesses” and use a tape recorder.

Often, for accurate recall and detail, it is best to conduct interviews on the ship (say on the bridge), which will allow the witnesses to point out and demonstrate what went on. Psychologists have shown that people remember better when at the place where an event occurred.

Who Should You Interview (Bearing in Mind Your Role as a Safety Investigator)?

You should make sure that anyone involved gets interviewed during an investigation. It includes any person in charge of the operation, eyewitnesses, any person who can add to the understanding of the events and conditions, or any person who can provide evidence or corroborative evidence. Non-crew members may be interviewed at their place of work, an investigator’s office, at their home, or on some neutral ground. The venue is a matter of judgment balanced against convenience, usually the witness’s convenience.

Preferably interviews should be conducted after all other evidence has been analyzed. In the real world, this is never possible, particularly where a ship may be delayed. Anyway, it takes a reasonable period to get all the evidence and evaluate it.

As a rule, as many facts as possible should be gathered and analyzed before interviews start and the facts and analysis updated as the investigation progresses. Remember, do not be narrow-minded and be prepared to amend your ideas and analysis. Never assume anything. Assumptions make asses of you and me. At interviews, three heads are better than two. That means two interviewers and an interviewee.

General Types of Witnesses

The purpose of an interview is to obtain information, and most people will describe events as they saw and remembered them. Most people will try to recall the facts truthfully, though they may selectively embroider portions of an incident, and put the best interpretation on their actions. Witnesses do interpret events differently, and may also be mistaken as to times or sequences. There are certain types of witnesses described below and on the following slides, but one witness may have attributes of other kinds:

• An impartial witness has nothing to gain or lose and is often the best type of witness.
• A biased witness has an interest in the outcome of an investigation and could embellish his recalling of events.
• A hostile witness might be opposed to an investigator or authority in general, and it is essential to ensure that the witness understands his obligations, and his right to have a legal adviser present.
• An untruthful witness is often biased or hostile and may say what he or she believes the investigator wants to hear or may say things that would distance him or her from responsibility.
• A reluctant witness is one whose reluctance to assist is attributable to loyalty to a colleague, or who might feel intimidated by the process of the interview.
• An expert witness relies on knowledge of factual information to use his/her expertise.
• A negative witness is one who heard, saw, and remembered nothing, even though it is apparent that the witness saw something of consequence.
• A foreign-language witness needs to be addressed through an interpreter.

A witness recalling an event is human and subject to different human factors. Regarding a witness, there are three crucial factors that an investigator should be aware of when assessing the credibility of an event, particularly the fine details:

• Acquisition – the perception (experience) of the event in which the information perceived is encoded in the memory system.
• Retention – the time that passes between the event and the last recollection of the information.
• Retrieval – the recall of stored information.

Interviewing Techniques

There are two primary means of interviewing:

• The cognitive approach.
• Conversation management.

Listening Traps

When interviewing and not talking, several traps await investigators, these are Daydreaming; Detouring; Debating & Prior planning.

Any of these traps can prevent proper listening. It then becomes difficult for the investigator to pick up the threads of the interview and resume listening.

Steps to Improve Listening Skills

• Concentrate – Try to improve your listening span.
• Do not interrupt.
• Attentive silence – Silence when a witness stops talking often prompts the witness to think that he/she should add more. It can lead to information that the witness was reluctant to divulge becoming apparent.
• Pay attention to non-verbal dues – Body language and how the witness reacts.
• Listen to the message being given – Listen for underlying emotions, attitudes, and prejudices.
• Remain neutral, do not pass judgment.
• Listen to everything, not just what the investigator wants to hear.
• Encourage – The investigator should use non-verbal prompts (nodding the head, leaning forward, making positive eye contact).
• Train yourself to return attention to the witness if daydreaming or detouring.
• Investigators should, in the first instance at least, minimize note-taking to increase focus – Tape recording interviews means that the interviewer is almost entirely hands-off. However, have a tape with an alarm, to ensure that concentration is not on the tape but at the interview.