Home > Just for Kids > Oral History > What questions do you want to ask?

Start with some easy questions that give some basic background information about the focus of your interview. Basic questions can be based on the questions a reporter might ask:

• Who, what, when, and where.
• Then ask "why" questions, since they lead from the above four.

You will also need to think about the order of your questions. Do some of the questions lead into others? Will some be easier for an interviewee to answer later in the interview rather than at the beginning? To help you think up the questions, remember there are two different types of questions that will give you different kinds of answers:

• Closed-ended questions give you one answer, such as a yes or no response, or a short, particular answer. Examples of closed-ended questions are "Were you living in Boston during World War II?" or "What was the name of your first best friend?" If you are asking a relative for information about your family history, then you may want to ask some closed-ended questions about where and when people in the family were born.
• Open-ended questions give you any number of answers to a question, as there is no "right" or only one answer to the question. Examples might be "What was it like growing up during World War II?" or "What can you remember about your first best friend?" or "What kinds of things did you two do together?" Open-ended questions are great for getting at the "what was it like" aspect of a family history or any event or time in the past.

Suggested topics and questions

Relationships: Ask about parents, friends, children, and husbands/wives. How did you meet? What things did you do together? Funny or sad experiences you shared? Were there family jokes, or sayings that only the family knew about or laughed about?

Home Life: Where did you live, and what was the house or apartment like? Were there pets? Farm animals? Did you have chores? Can you draw a floor plan of your home?

Personal: What was your favorite thing to do as a child, teen or adult? What was the most hated thing? What kind of mischief did you get into? What are your favorite foods? Books? Your favorite music or songs? Did you have a hero? What are your special talents? What things have you always had a hard time doing?

Experiences: What celebrations, big events, both happy and sad, or big changes in your life occurred? Did you live through any natural disasters?

Community life: What was it like living in the town/city/village when you were a kid? When you were older? What was school like? Did you attend religious services? What other events happened in the community? Did you take part in community gatherings?

Emigration: Did you leave from one country and move to another country? Why? What was your trip over like? What was life like here when you arrived? Where did you live? What were your first impressions of the United States?

Check the bibliography and web sites for more ideas about questions to ask. Once the interviewee and you are warmed up, you can ask more personal questions:

• What are some funny or sad things that have happened to you?
• What was your favorite job you had?
• What was your happiest memory from when you were a kid?
• What was your saddest memory?
• What has been the most important thing that ever happened to you?
• If you could change anything about your life, what would you change?

If you want to see a sample oral history session, see the Library of Congress American Memories web site.