The joys and perils of social interviewing..
First rule: never assume anything. Especially not with dignified old ladies in their 80's.
Dateline late 2020.
I’ve been working in face to face social research for over ten years, and this job takes me right across Scotland.
But Lockdown rules applied. We called it ‘knock and nudge’ - meaning, you called on the front door, introduced yourself, and obtained a phone number for a call-back, (as opposed to interviewing in the home). Can’t have people sharing germs, now, can we?
Setting: a remote croft in one of the most isolated islands off Scotland. Or maybe a remote peninsula. Or wherever: I am not at liberty to share that data.
So I was interviewing an elderly widow (aged 81) on the phone (due to social distancing) who lives on a remote Scottish location. I have a script on my computer, and my duty as a researcher is to follow it blindly and word for word - though I admit that I sometimes make short-cuts to avoid offence. And she can slam the phone down at any moment - unlike face to face in-home interviews, where eye contact and physical presence gives better trust.
I do not normally ask elderly or married ladies and gentlemen if they are gay or bisexual, for example, as whilst this is scripted, ( to tick the box of the ‘Woke’ brigade in Edinburgh, London and Brussels who commission and pay for these surveys) , I have been literally thrown out of the house in the past: some older people of a conservative nature find this over-intrusive, if not to say darned cheeky.
The script in this instance concerns health and longevity, and includes the question : "and are either of your parents still alive" ? but obviously you have to be a bit careful how you say it to very old people. Like you sort of apologise for asking it, first. In 99.9% of instances, an 80 year old is unlikely to have a surviving parent.
“Oh yes” , she chirps up, “my mums nearly 102” !
I nearly dropped the phone!
(Whew, glad I handled that well this time)!