Columbo was a TV show that aired periodically from 1971-2003. Most episodes begin by showing who the murderer is and exactly how the murder was committed. Then, the show is all about how Columbo solves the murder, with the main focus on his interview techniques. One of my professors in graduate school recommended the show as a way to study how to do an interview for Functional Assessments, typically conducted as a first step in determining why a student is engaging in problem behaviors. At first, emulating Columbo might seem like a bizarre suggestion, but there are useful things we can learn from the show. I believe watching Columbo has made me a better interviewer.
Conducting interviews is one of those subtle social skills where it is very hard to specify exactly what we want the interviewer to do during the discussion. Conducting an effective interview is much more than reading the list of questions and transcribing the answers from the parent or teacher. It is often a delicate situation as people are often upset and emotions are high. How should the interviewer respond if the parent starts crying? If the teacher starts to get angry that this is a waste of time? If the paraprofessional starts blaming the administration for all the problems at the school? Social skills are tricky because you can’t specify in advance what to do for each and every scenario that might arise.
There is no substitute for experience, but I think watching Columbo is helpful in giving us general interview guidelines. First, he is very curious. He wants to know every little detail. Second, he listens to what the person says very carefully. Third, he looks for contradictions with what the person says and the evidence. When he sees it, he is always “confused” and asks further questions to clarify in as non-confrontational a way as possible. Finally, he is almost always extremely polite.
On the other hand, Columbo frequently is so annoying that he upsets the person he is interviewing. He wears an old, rumpled raincoat, always forgets his pencil, and gets cigar ashes everywhere. More importantly, he lies and withholds information all the time. Therefore, knowing what you should copy and what you shouldn’t is important. Still, I think anyone who has to interview people as part of their job would benefit from watching a few episodes. It leads to good discussions when teaching people about how to conduct interviews.