If you decide to tape-record the interview, there are some important features to look for in a recorder to make the interview go more smoothly. Cassette recorders are now widely used for interviewing because of their light weight and ease of operation. But if you already own or can obtain a reel-to-reel machine, it will probably produce a better recording. Portable recorders operate on varied power sources: disposable batteries are expensive and do not last long in recorders, and wall current may force you to crawl under a table or behind a sofa in search of an outlet. Plan on using a rechargeable battery, but take along some extra batteries and an extension cord just in case. A recorder with a battery meter will let you check on current flow without playing back some of the tape and interrupting the interview. A remote microphone, rather than one built into the body of the machine, enables you to keep the recorder itself close to you for easy operator. Sound fidelity is enhanced by a “condenser” microphone and flywheel drive rather than cassette, though an end alarm serves about the same purpose.
You will need strong, durable tape, because you will probably subject it to much start-stop action while writing your paper. A long playing cassette will have thin, easily torn tape, so it is best to buy cassette with no more than a sixty-minute capacity – thirty minutes on a side.
If you are not familiar with the recorder, practice operating it. Learn to load the reel or cassette and to start the machine easily and quickly. Setting up the recorder should not distract the interviewee or subtract from the allotted time. You will also want to be able to be aware of how much tape is left, so that, rather break. Practice doing it quickly a few times.
Meanwhile, a few days in advance of the interview, it is a good idea to call the interviewee and remind him of the appointment. I know from hard experience that one can trevel far for an interview only to arrive at an ampty house or office. This is at least as likely to happen with prominent and busy persons as with ordinary citizens. The interviewee may also be concerned aboud your faithfulness and will probably be grateful for a reassuring call or letter. Do not count, either on his remembering the reasons for an appointment made weeks or months earlier. Be prepared to explain your purpose to him in the same general terms you used in your initial letter or contact.
Finally, spend a few minutes examining your own preconceptions, especialy those about the interviewee. Most likely, he or she will be old, so try ti exorcise any feelings of condescension you have tward the elderly. The myth propagated in our youth-conscious culture of intellectual impairment and bad memory in the aged is only my myth, perhaps entirely flase and certainly greatly exaggerated. Psychological tests have shown that the elderly, despite their frequent feelings and complaints to the contrary, often have good memories. It is no more possible to generalize about the intellectual capaticies of the aged than to do so about those of any other group. The minds of some may weaken quickly and greatly but for others it is possible, psychologists say, or growth to continue till very old ege. But another cliche about the aged-that they are cautious-is generally accurate and may help explain why they parform far more poorly than the young in situations where there is risk and help the interviewee parfom well by treating him tespectfully. By doing so you not only will be acting decently but also will be greatly improving your chances or getting a successuful interview.