On Identifying Questions, Replies, and Non-Replies in Political Interviews

Abstract

It has been claimed that the question and answer format is the defining feature of the news interview, although the definition of what constitute questions, replies, or non-replies is by no means self-evident. Such definitional issues are central to theoretical disputes about the nature of the political interview, but nevertheless to date have received scant attention in the research literature. In the study reported here, a set of guidelines is presented for identifying questions, replies, and non-replies to questions; these are based on the detailed analysis of 33 televised British political interviews from the General Elections of 1987 and 1992, and also from interviews that John Major (the present prime minister) gave in 1990 and 1991. In addition to presenting these guidelines, it is argued that responses to questions in political interviews should not simply be dichotomised into replies and non-replies, but rather should be seen in terms of a continuum, with a substantial proportion of what are called intermediate responses occupying a position midway between a full reply and a complete failure to answer the question.

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