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How to Evaluate SourcesStrategies for Evaluating the Evidence Presented in an Interview: Step 1Interview ExcerptGL: What about your friends? You said they all vote? Sarah Hails: Well, most of my friends are like me—politically active. But there are some kids in my dorm who aren't going to vote. GL: Do you know why they aren't? SH: One girl says it's too hard to do an absentee ballot. Another girl says she doesn't know about either candidate enough to vote. I think a lot of the kids in my dorm just don't see the point-they don't think that their single vote is going to make a difference. We were having a discussion about the electoral college the other day and about how it's such an unfair system, and some kids were saying they weren't going to vote because of that. I think some kids are just lazy too. They'd rather be partying than out voting. ... GL: So basically, it sounds like you think most college-age kids don't vote because they are either too lazy or don't think their vote will count. SH: Pretty much. It's really sad. I don't like that there are so many people my age who don't vote. It's embarrassing. I mean, it's embarrassing how few Americans vote in general. GL: Is there anything else you want to add? SH: I guess I'd just add that I think some college kids don't vote because they don't think the issues that are being discussed really affect them. I mean, Medicare and Social Security seem a long way off. It's like the politicians aren't really talking to them—to us. I think that they need to make it clearer to students why voting matters. Sometimes interviews and correspondence produce a wealth of information; at other times, you'll come up empty. As you reflect on your interview, ask yourself whether you have collected enough evidence. Have you compared different people's opinions or accounts? In general, the more viewpoints, the better. Gaele Lopez knew that the interview he conducted was relevant to his project, but he also knew he needed to conduct more interviews to determine whether students agreed on the reasons why young people often didn't vote. Gaele proceeded to conduct a number of additional interviews with college students. As you can see to the right, the second interview Gaele conducted, with Sarah Hails, although somewhat different than the first, did back up many of the ideas the initial interviewee, Thomas Clark, expressed (see yellow highlighting). Click on the Continue button to continue.
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