Oral History Interview & Importance Part 14
Sample Query
Hamid Qazvini
Translated by Natalie Haghverdian
2017-7-25
Features and characteristics of a good query were discussed in the previous note. In this note, to offer further clarification and detailed discussion, samples of various types of queries and questions are provided. In this note, good queries are compared versus bad ones for the audience to be able to have a comparative study. There are occasions where multiple questions are to be asked to reach the intended response or answer.
Improper Queries
- Which mourning ceremonies did you attend in Muharram?
- Did you participate in the army club programs?
- Where you ever scared of anything in war?
- Did you walk to work?
- Did you travel then?
- Where your parents against your decision to join the fronts?
- Did your family experience any problems during your service in the war?
- Did your martyr son help you with chores at home?
- Had you met your spouse?
- How many casualties did the enemy endure?
- Why were you injured?
- Was this a successful operation?
- When did you join the forces?
- What is your opinion of Mr. …?
- Were you happy with Mr. …?
- Is it true that Mr. … didn’t have many followers?
- Did they whip you during torture?
- How long did you resist under torture?
- Did your father beat you?
- Where you successful in your studies?
Proper Query
- Which of the programs and activities in Muharram do you remember? How would the neighborhood contribute in these programs?
- Were the programs in army club mandatory?
- What were the programs? What incentives were in place to entice participation?
- How was the interest in these programs?
- How would you travel to work?
- How was your travelling schedule? Was it feasible?
- When would fear and anxiety dominate the armed forces?
- How would you control it?
- How did your family react to your service in the fronts?
- What challenges were your family exposed to when you were serving in the military and how did they manage it?
- How would your martyr son contribute at home?
- When did you first meet your spouse?
- How much did the enemy suffer in this operation? Describe it.
- Tell us about your injury?
- What were the goals of the operation and were these goals realized?
- When and how were you deployed?
- Tell us about Mr. … .
- What was the general opinion about him?
- How many followers did he have then compared to other leaders?
- What torture means were employed?
- What methods would the prisoners employ to resist torture? How successful were you in resisting?
- How would you act under torture to give burnt or general information?
- How would your father punish you?
- How was your education? Were the times difficult or fun?
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 1 - Oral History, Path to Cultural Dialogue
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 2 - Characteristics of an Interviewer
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 3 - Selecting a Subject
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 4 - Narrator Identification & Selection
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 5 - Goal Setting
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 6 - Importance of Pre-interview Data Collection
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 7 - To Schedule & Coordinate an Interview
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 8 - Required Equipment & Accessories
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 9 - Presentation is vital
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 10 - Interview Room
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 11 - Pre-interview Justifications
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 12 - How to Start an Interview
Oral History Interview & Importance Part 13 - Proper Query
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According to the Oral History website, a meeting for critique and review of the book “Oral History: Essence and Method” was held on Monday morning, November 10, 2025, with the attendance of the book’s author, Hamid Qazvini, and the critics Mohammad Qasemipour and Yahya Niazi, at the Ghasr-e Shirin Hall of the National Museum of the Islamic Revolution and Sacred Defense.Challenges of Interviewing in Oral History
After years of studying the theoretical foundations of oral history, conducting numerous interviews and going through their post-interview stages, as well as reading the available body of oral history literature, I was eventually given the opportunity to evaluate the edited versions of dozens of oral history projects.
