Interrogation

Interrogation is a highly emotive subject that brings up pictures of spies, terrorists and criminal masterminds. Yet it is a reality of both the modern world and past ages and is used by police, lawyers, parents and suspicious partners as well as the military. The pages here include an exploration of some aspects of this subject. Interrogation is...: Description and discussion. Rules of interrogation: Rules of the game for both interrogator and respondent. Rules for respondents: If you need to resist interrogation. Four stages of interrogation: Formation, preparation, interaction and completion. Interrogation questions: Questions that lead to answers. Interrogation tactics are many, and include: Already know: Say that you already know what is required. Authority and power: Play on symbolic authority. Dire consequences: Exaggerate the bad things that may happen. Direct question: Just ask the question. Easiest way out: Exchange required information for release. Extreme tactics: Used in military and other areas. False replay: Repeat their story incorrectly. Friends and family: Leverage emotional relationships. Good cop, bad cop: Classic hurt and rescue. Informality: Being their friend and catching them in vulnerable moments. Inquisition: Sustaining an ideology through confession. Lie detectors: Using a polygraph or other machines to detect lies. News: Allow them filtered contact with the outside world. Nobody cares: Show them that they have been abandoned. Only way out: There is one choice: confession or some form of extinction. Rapid fire: Ask many questions, quickly. Silence: Just wait. That's all. Story reverse: Get them to tell you their story backwards. Sympathy: Be sympathetic to their situation. Truth switching: To identify lies. There is a significant literature on interrogation, although much of this is primarily available to professional organizations such as the police and the military.

These are two types of questions you can use that are very different in character and usage.

Closed questions
Definition:
There are two definitions that are used to describe closed questions. A common definition is: A closed question can be answered with either a single word or a short phrase. Thus 'How old are you?' and 'Where do you live?' are closed questions. A more limiting definition is: A closed question can be answered with either 'yes' or 'no'. Thus 'Are you happy?' and 'Is that a knife I see before me?' are closed questions, whilst 'How are you?' and even 'How old are you?' are not, by this definition, closed. This limited definition is also sometimes called a 'yes or no' question, for obvious reasons. Using closed questions Closed questions have the following characteristics: They give you facts. They are easy to answer. They are quick to answer. They keep control of the conversation with the questioner.

This makes closed questions useful in the following situations:

Usage

Example

As opening questions in a conversation, as it It's great weather, isn't it? makes it easy for the other person to answer, and doesn't force them to reveal too much Where do you live? about themselves. What time is it? For testing their understanding (asking yes/no So, you want to move into our apartment, with questions). This is also a great way to break your own bedroom and bathroom? into a long ramble. For setting up a desired positive or negative Are you happy with your current supplier? frame of mind in them (asking successive questions with obvious answers either yes or Do they give you all that you need? no ). Would you like to find a better supplier? For achieving closure of a persuasion (seeking If I can deliver this tomorrow, will you sign for yes to the big question). it now?

Open questions
Definition:
An open question can be defined as: An open question is likely to receive a long answer. Although any question can receive a long answer, open questions deliberately seek longer answers, and are the opposite of closed questions. Using open questions Open questions have the following characteristics: They ask the respondent to think and reflect. They will give you opinions and feelings. They hand control of the conversation to the respondent.

This makes open questions useful in the following situations:

Usage

Example

As follow-on from closed questions, to develop What did you do on you holidays? a conversation and open up someone who is rather quiet? How do you keep focused on your work? To find out more about a person, their wants, What's keeping you awake these days? needs, problems, and so on. Why is that so important to you? To get people to realize the extend of their I wonder what would happen if your customers problems (to which, of course, you have the complained even more? solution). Rob Jones used to go out late. What happened to him? To get them to feel good about you by asking How have you been after your operation? after their health or otherwise demonstrating human concern about them. You're looking down. What's up?

Open questions begin with such as: what, why, how, describe. Using open questions can be scary, as they seem to hand the baton of control over to the other person. However, well-placed questions do leave you in control as you steer their interest and engage them where you want them. When opening conversations, a good balance is around three closed questions to one open question. The closed questions start the conversation and summarize progress, whilst the open question gets the other person thinking and continuing to give you useful information about them.

Funnel questions
Funnel questioning seeks further information either that goes into more specific detail or becomes more general. More information bout more <= = Decreasing detail topics, less information about specific topics Increasing detail = => More information bout fewer topics, less in formation bout more topics.

Increasing detail
You can use questions to find out increasing detail about some particular topic of interest. This narrows the funnel, giving you more information about a smaller area. Increasing detail is similar to deductive reasoning, where thinking goes from general to more specific. Say 'Tell me more about' Asking 'tell me more' is a very open and general question that also focuses the other person on a particular area, giving you more information about this. As an open question it allows the other person more leeway in what they say and gets you more detail. This causes a slower convergence (but this may not be a bad thing). Person: I was leaving the building and had to wait until a red truck moved before I could get to my car. You: Tell me more about the red truck. Person: It was a Malters truck, I think, with a long yellow stripe down the side. You: What do you remember about the yellow stripe. Use precision words Using words like 'specifically', 'actually' or 'particularly' gives the person subtle direction to give you more detail in a particular direction. Use these alongside Kipling questions such as 'What', 'How' and 'When'. You said that the person told you they were leaving. What, specifically, did they say? When exactly did you go home? Who in particular seemed interested in the presentation?

Decreasing detail
The reverse of narrowing the funnel is to broaden the funnel, asking questions that give you less specific information and more information about more general topics. Decreasing detail is similar to inductive reasoning, where thinking goes from specific to more general. Use broadening questions Use questions that give you less detail about a small area and more information about related topics. Thus ask 'Who else', 'What else', etc. What other things are you planning on doing? Who else will be there? Use vague questions You can also use vague questions. When the real purpose of the question is not clear, the other person has more leeway to answer the question in any associated way. So what do you think? What else?

Probing questions
When seeking more detail, there are a number of types probes you can use, depending on what they are saying and what you want to discover.

Clarification
When they are vague or have not given enough information, seek to further understand them by asking for clarification. What exactly did you mean? What, specifically, will you do next week? Could you tell me more about?

Purpose
Sometimes they say things where the purpose of why they said it is not clear. Ask them to justify their statement or dig for underlying causes. Why did you say that? What were you thinking about when you said?

Relevance
If they seem to be going off-topic, you can check whether what they are saying is relevant to the main purpose of inquiry. Is that relevant to the main question? How is what you are saying related to what I asked?

Completeness and accuracy

Repetition
One of the most effective ways of getting more detail is simply by asking the same question again. You can use the same words or you can rephrase the question (perhaps they did not fully understand it first time). Where did you go? ... What places did you visit? You can also repeat what they have said ('echo question'), perhaps with emphasis on the area where you want more detail. He asked you to marry him?

Examples
When they talk about something vaguely, you may ask for specific examples. This is particularly useful in interviews, where what you want to test both their truthfulness and the depth behind what they are claiming. Sorry, I don't understand. Could you help by giving an example? Could you give me an example of when you did?

Extension
When they have not given you enough information about something, ask them to tell you more. Could you tell me more about that, please? And what happened after that?

Leading questions
One way of influencing a person is to ask them questions that are deliberately designed to make them think in a certain way. Leading questions include the answer, point the listener in the right direction or include some form or carrot or stick to send them to the 'right' answer. Note that not only the words can lead the question, you can also lead people by your body Language and voice tone effects such as emphasis. Leading questions are often directional in that, whilst they do not indicate an answer, they close off undesirable alternatives and guide the person in a desired direction.

Assumptive questions
Leading questions can use Assumption principle, for example by moving the subject of the sentence: "How much will prices go up next year?" This assumes that prices will go up next year - the subject of the question is about how much prices will go up. In fact it is very difficult to avoid assumptions. Even if you said: "Do you think prices will go up next year?"
You

are still forcing the other person to think first and possibly exclusively about prices going up (If they answer 'no' then this may mean they will be stable - a thought about them going down may not have been made).

Linked statements
You can lead questions using the Association principle by things you said previously and are still in the mind of the person being questioned (they will stay there longer if you put emotion into them). For example: "I really hate this government!!...What are your thoughts about the XX party?" You can also put something within the question. "What do you think about John Richards? Many people are opposed to him, by the way." Note the social coercion in this statement. You could also add desirable carrots in the statement: "Would you prefer to live in Alba or in Barta, where the crime rate is very low?" Note that the crime rate in Alba is not mentioned, but the link of low crime with Barta will still make it more desirable.

Implication questions
Asking questions that get the other person to think of consequences or implications of current or past events links the past with the future in an inescapable chain of cause-and-effect. "If you go to the party tonight, what will happen in your examination tomorrow?" "If you vote for that party, then what do you think will happen to taxes? What happened last time they were in power?"