Interview or Interrogation? The Types of Interviewers You Don’t Want to Be

There’s an art to interviewing, and there’s an art to interrogating. One is great, one is only great if you’re working in the Police force or for MI5. At Acumen, we’ve been around the block enough times to know that how a question is asked often matters more than what’s on the page.  

So, let’s talk about where researchers can go wrong, and how the best ones get it right. 

The Chat GPT-er

This interviewer clings to the guide like it’s the only thing keeping them afloat. Every question is asked in order, word for word, no deviation, no follow-up, no real conversation.

The participant says something gold, and instead of diving deeper, we get:
“Okay, next question…” 

It’s robotic. It’s rigid. And it kills rapport.

Fix: The topic guide is a map, not a satnav. You’re allowed to explore, detour and backtrack if it leads to something meaningful. Trust yourself. You’re a human, not a robot. We hope...  

The Interrupter

We get it, you’re on a schedule.

But cutting someone off mid-sentence because you’re chasing the next question? That’s a one-way ticket to surface-level insight.

Participants need space to think, explain, and feel heard. If they sense they’re being rushed, they’ll shut down or keep it safe.

Fix: Pause. Let silence do some work. Sometimes the most valuable insights come just after someone says, “I’m not sure if this is relevant, but…” 

The Leading Questioner 

“Would you say that service was difficult to access and caused distress?”
Yikes. That’s not a question, it’s a verdict. 

Leading questions don’t just skew data, they bulldoze nuance. They push people toward a narrative that might not reflect their true experience.

Fix: Strip your assumptions. Ask: “Can you tell me about your experience accessing that service?” and then shut up. Let them fill in the blanks. 

The “Me Me Me” Moderator 

Ah, the accidental oversharer. A participant says, “I struggled with the side effects,” and the interviewer jumps in with, “Oh my gosh, I had the exact same thing with my medication! Mine made me feel so tired…” 

Suddenly, it’s less insight-gathering and more therapy group.

Fix: Empathy is brilliant, over-identification is not. Validate, reflect, but don’t steal the spotlight. It’s their story, not yours. 

The Box Ticker 

Focused solely on “covering the guide,” this interviewer thinks success is asking every single question. Doesn’t matter if the answers are rushed, confused, or contradictory – if all 12 questions are ticked, job done. 

Spoiler: Job not done.

Fix: Quality over quantity. If one question unlocks 15 minutes of useful insight, let it breathe. The best interviews feel like a natural conversation, not an exam. 

The Acumen Approach

At Acumen, we train our moderators to: 

• Build rapport, fast, even over Zoom 
• Ask open questions without leading 
• Embrace silence (no need to fill every second) 
• Read body language, tone, hesitation, not just words 
• Spot insight in the “offhand” comments 
• Loop back if something doesn’t quite add up 

And we always debrief.

Because every good interview raises more questions and helps us refine how we ask the next. 

A great interview gets under the surface. It doesn’t just collect answers, it collects meaning. It gives people the space to be real, and it gives clients insights that aren’t just data points, but decisions-in-the-making.

Bad interviews can lead to flat insights, fuzzy findings, and frustrating follow-ups. But when interviewing is done right? It’s magic. It’s human. And it’s where the real value lives.

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