Errors in the Identification of Question Types in Investigative Interviews of Children
| Author | Mairi S. Benson,Belinda Guadagno,Martine B. Powell,Rebecca Steinberg,Stefanie J. Sharman |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijps.2013.15.2.308 |
| Date | 01 June 2013 |
| Published date | 01 June 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Paper |
Errors in the identification of question
types in investigative interviews of
children
Martine B. Powell‡, Mairi S. Benson†, Stefanie J. Sharman†,
Belinda Guadagno†and Rebecca Steinberg†
‡(Corresponding author) School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Hwy,
Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9244 6106; email:
martine.powell@deakin.edu.au
†School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia
Submitted 13 June 2013; accepted 3 October 2013
Keywords: investigative interviews, interview training, question types,
practice
The authors
are academics based in the School
of Psychology, Deakin University, with a particu-
lar research interest in investigative interviewer
training.
A
BSTRACT
This study examined the incidence and nature of
the errors made by trainee coders during their
coding of question types in interviews in which
children disclosed abuse. Three groups of trainees
(online, postgraduate and police) studied the
coding manual before practising their question
coding. After this practice, participants were given
two-page field transcripts to code in which chil-
dren disclosed abuse. Their coding was assessed
for accuracy; any errors were analysed thematic-
ally. The overall error rate was low, and police
participants made the fewest errors. Analysis of
the errors revealed four common misunderstand-
ings: (1) the use of a ‘wh’ question always
denotes a specific cued-recall question; (2) ‘Tell
me’ always constitutes an open-ended question;
(3) open-ended questions cannot include specific
detail; and (4) specific questions cannot elicit
elaborate responses. An analysis of coding accur-
acy in the one group who were able to practise
question coding over time revealed that practice
was essential for trainees to maintain their accur-
acy. Those who did not practise decreased in
coding accuracy. This research shows that trainees
need more than a coding manual; they must
demonstrate their understanding of question codes
through practice training tasks. Misunderstand-
ings about questions need to be elicited and
corrected so that accurate codes are used in future
tasks.
BACKGROUND
When suspected child abuse is reported to
law enforcement, authorised members of
the police or a child protection organisation
conduct an investigative interview with the
child. These interviewers are usually from
an investigative unit specifically set up to
handle child abuse and/or sexual assault
matters. In many jurisdictions, the inter-
view is recorded and used as an evidentiary,
as well as an investigative tool (ie, it
becomes the child’s evidence-in-chief
should the matter proceed to court). The
investigative interview is therefore of para-
mount importance, particularly for its evi-
dentiary purpose: an effective interview can
decrease the amount of time a child must
Errors in the identification of question types
Page 144
International Journal of Police
Science and Management,
Vol. 15 No. 2, 2013, pp. 144–156.
DOI: 10.1350/ijps.2013.15.2.308
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