Listening vs Reading, The Difference in Perception

During my research process, I started out by reading through all of the interviews with the students and alums assuming that would be the extent of my research. I quickly formed an idea in my head of what each student was saying and how they were reacting to the profound questions posed about social class, student life, and school curriculum. However, after hearing from some other students in our class about how important it was to watch the video of the interview, I decided to go back and listen. I assumed that my perspective on the student would not change, after all, how different could a video interview be from just reading it? I immediately learned that I was wrong. I discovered just how necessary it is to listen to an interview, especially if it contains deep questions relating to one’s personal life or controversial topics. An audio recording holds subtle nuances and tones of voice that can completely change one’s idea of what an interviewee is saying. 

#mindblown

My first student interviewer talked a lot about sports and the time he spends committed to his team. While reading through his interview, I substantially mistook his explanation of sports at the Croft School. Reading through his interview made it seem that this student was deeply committed to his sport, and his life revolved around athletics and academics. His competitive spirit pushed him to constantly try and work harder than his peers, and he never took a break for himself. In my mind, I pictured his student as a serious and hardcore student-athlete. However, when I heard him speak, my perceptions of who he was completely changed. Many of the answers to the questions had a tone of sarcasm I had not picked up on before, and even a few jokes that I assumed were meant to be an earnest comment. My student was more of a laid-back, comedic guy who no doubt worked very hard but did not take himself too seriously and had a completely different personality than what I had originally expected. The sarcasm was a crucial part of understanding my student’s answers and was almost impossible to pick up out of only reading through the questions. 

Another important aspect of watching these interviews was the facial expressions. This did not lead to the same level of alteration that listening to the conversations did, however, the facial expressions of my interviewee undoubtedly played a role in my understanding of the points they were trying to make. Listening to my interviewee talk was one thing, but closely monitoring their facial expressions was another. I quickly picked up on subtle eye rolls, smiles when the student was joking, or a more serious expression when my student was explaining how he really felt. 

Without watching the interview, my idea of this student and their perception of their school would have been a completely different idea and may have even changed my group’s paper topic. Luckily, now I know the importance of reading interviews with a grain of salt or going straight to the video/audio version if possible.