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106 Chapter 4

Paraphrasing is the restating of the perceived meaning of the speaker ’ s message but
using your own words. The goal is to check the accuracy with which the message was
conveyed and understood. Examples would include:

• What I believe you said was . . .
• If I am wrong, please correct me, but I understood you to say . . .
• In other words, . . .
• As I think I understand it . . .
Clarifying lets the expert know that their message was not immediately understand-
able. These responses encourage the expert to elaborate or clarify the original message
so that the interviewer gets a better idea of the intended message. Always focus on
the message and not the expert ’ s ability to communicate, and encourage them to
elaborate or explain by using open questions wherever possible. Examples would
include:
• I don ’ t understand . . .
• Could you please explain . . .
• Please repeat that last part again.
• Could you give me an example of that?
Summarizing helps the interviewer compile discrete pieces of information from a
knowledge acquisition session into a meaningful whole. Summarizing helps confi rm
that the expert ’ s message was heard and understood correctly. The summary should
be expressed in the words of the interviewer. Examples would be:
• To sum up what you have been saying . . .
• What I have heard you say so far . . .
• I believe that we are in agreement that . . .
Finally, refl ecting feelings mirrors back to the speaker the feelings that seem to have
been communicated. The main focus is on emotions, attitudes, and reactions, and not
the content itself. The purpose is to clear the air of some emotional reaction or nega-
tive impact of the message. Some examples are:

• You seem frustrated about . . .
• You seem to feel that you were put on the spot . . .
• I sense that you are uncomfortable with . . .
Transcripts of interviews are then analyzed in order to identify key concepts,
common themes, major methods, and techniques that were mentioned. If multiple