The origin, experimental basis, and application of the standard interview method: An information‐gathering framework

Abstract

The standard interview method (SIM) is a guidance framework for information gathering interviews. This article describes the purpose, scope, origin, experimental basis, and practical application of the SIM. It provides an informative overview of developments to date for psychologists and researchers within the behavioural sciences, as well as for practitioners who might use the SIM. The SIM contains core evidence-based components but is otherwise open to tailoring and modifications to suit a variety of interviewing purposes such as policing, justice, education, and business. It provides an interview structure and exemplar dialogue, aligned with research into best-practice interview technique. Method: A detailed overview of the SIM's interview phases, instructions, and exemplar dialogue is provided. The basis for these elements is explained in terms of the experimental and qualitative research that has informed their development. Results: The SIM provides evidence-based guidance for investigative interviewers, and numerous versions have been created to suit different investigation types, interviewee groups, and jurisdictional or organisational requirements. It is continually refined as new findings from experimental research around best-practice interviewing emerge. Conclusions: Rather than a single entity or completed product, the SIM represents a dynamic evolution of research, collaboration, and testing. Its flexible nature will allow it to keep pace with the ever-progressing knowledge base that informs interview protocol and guidance development, and adapt to local cultures, legislation, processes, and systems of operation.

Children’s Signaling of Incomprehension: The Diagnosticity of Practice Questions During Interview Instructions

“…Powell and Brubacher (2020) emphasize that “practice examples need to be developmentally and culturally appropriate so that all children can complete them successfully” (p. 6). Children’s apparent difficulty with the IDU instruction in Danby and colleagues’ study led Powell and Brubacher (2020) to warn interviewers against the metacognitive challenges of signaling incomprehension, and to recommend that interviewers only introduce one instruction per interview, preferably the don’t know instruction. Our results suggest that an alternative approach would be to utilize the IDU instruction and to accept less than explicit references to incomprehension as appropriate responses.…”

Urgent issues and prospects at the intersection of culture, memory, and witness interviews: Exploring the challenges for research and practice

“…The Standard Interview Method (SIM) is a protocol framework developed to accommodate these adaptations (Powell & Brubacher, 2020). A new SIM is created in every new partner relationship in which we work.…”

The use of a guided peer review assessment for investigative interviewers of child witnesses

“…A guide for investigative interviewers to use in evaluating their peers may be a necessary but not sufficient tool. Interviewers would have to be sufficiently skilled interviewers themselves to accurately evaluate performance (Lamb et al , 2018; Powell, 2013; Powell and Brubacher, 2020). A study with 50 nursing students in Thailand showed that peer ratings using an assessment scale were uncorrelated with ratings by experts using the same scale the first time it was used, but by the second assessment, ratings from students and experts were significantly related (Lai, 2016).…”

“…Who is Lolo?” [After child’s response] “Tell me more about what happened in the tent with Lolo”). A non-exhaustive list of guidelines structured in this manner includes the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development protocol (Lamb et al , 2018); Tom Lyon’s 10 step version (Lyon, 2005); the National Children’s Advocacy Center’s (NCAC) Investigative Interview Structure (NCAC, 2019); Guidance for Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings (Ministry of Justice, 2011) and the standard interview method (SIM; Powell and Brubacher, 2020).…”

“…In addition to using best-practice questioning approaches, interviewers are also encouraged to follow prescribed interview phases (e.g. ground rules and episodic memory training; La Rooy et al , 2015; Powell and Brubacher, 2020, for reviews). Further, there are effective behaviors that interviewers can use to enhance the quality of their interviews.…”