Constructing interview questions

Getting the questions down

In my first question, shown below, I included a succinct intro to the topic that expanded on the deck (see my November 12 blog post):

“A television news program journalist asked if you were sorry you used the word “cure” in the paper, and a report about the Lancet article appeared in Science magazine regarding your use of the “C word.” Why is mentioning “cure” in the context of HIV research so provocative?”

This question was constructed to jumpstart our conversation. You can see how it’s open-ended, so there can be no single-word response—those tend to bring interviews to a dead end. I used the same technique to write questions 2 and 3. Read the whole interview here.

It pays to think carefully about question construction in this regard so the conversation keeps moving. If the answers you get to your questions are too vague or skirt the issue, don’t be afraid to push a little for more specific answers—politely, of course.

Any questions?