Being and 'older' person I do research and interview all age ranges from teens to over 80s. By asking the question you are perhaps putting filter in place. I have interviewed 20's somethings who act like older people and older people that have minds of a teenager.

The points I use whoever I interview.

Be yourself and authentic.

Do not patronize or assume.

Ask questions about where they would be most comfortable with you sitting etc.

How much time do you have and how much do they have.

Take natural breaks. Follow the rhythm of the interviewee.

The type of methodology are you using - sounds like semi-structured.

In general all interviews are time consuming and I generally limit the time when working with business to 30 or 45 mins though for some video recorded session 2 hours has been the max.

Time is irrespective of age.

Attitudes and behaviors are irrespective of age. (remember there are differences between physical and mental restriction and one does not equal the other).

Make sure that your attitudes and worldview filters do not come through in the interview - otherwise the results become biased.

Lastly understand your own philosophical stance and what coping system or mechanism you are viewing the world through. This should be explicit in your findings.

Anyway this may be useful and most of it you may already know. Good luck and be prepared to learn from the interviewee and give them some learning in return.

See G.C. Wenger's handbook of interview research. It has a special section on interviewing older people. From my experience, you should factor in a lot of time for eating cookies and drinking coffee. They tend to discuss way more non-relevant stuff than less old people. Always bring a letter which displays your organization or credentials, they're quite wary of strangers. Finally, take into consideration that sound recordings can/will be hampered by the old-fashioned clocks and the wooden tables upon which coffee cups are placed. Put a writing pad below your sound recorder to filter out the sounds.

Thanks Lex, your answer made me smile be cause I recognize your points in some of my interviews. I will definitely look into the book you recommended. Some of the 'non-relevant' stuff I discussed with my interview persons actually turned out to be quite important in my analysis, however. But you are right mentioning the time consuming part.

Well, you need to have a good understanding of human nature ... and be alert to stop when they do not feel talking anymore or are bored with the issue that you are discussing - so, I believe it should be done in doses - on episodes!

Being and 'older' person I do research and interview all age ranges from teens to over 80s. By asking the question you are perhaps putting filter in place. I have interviewed 20's somethings who act like older people and older people that have minds of a teenager.

The points I use whoever I interview.

Be yourself and authentic.

Do not patronize or assume.

Ask questions about where they would be most comfortable with you sitting etc.

How much time do you have and how much do they have.

Take natural breaks. Follow the rhythm of the interviewee.

The type of methodology are you using - sounds like semi-structured.

In general all interviews are time consuming and I generally limit the time when working with business to 30 or 45 mins though for some video recorded session 2 hours has been the max.

Time is irrespective of age.

Attitudes and behaviors are irrespective of age. (remember there are differences between physical and mental restriction and one does not equal the other).

Make sure that your attitudes and worldview filters do not come through in the interview - otherwise the results become biased.

Lastly understand your own philosophical stance and what coping system or mechanism you are viewing the world through. This should be explicit in your findings.

Anyway this may be useful and most of it you may already know. Good luck and be prepared to learn from the interviewee and give them some learning in return.

Canan - good additions - luckily or not most of mime are online and when face to face it is usually in as setting where I am known. Point 2 is true I hate it when that happens to me.

Thanks Canan and John for your very useful comments. I totally agree.

I have now interviewed about 100 older persons during the years and plan to write a little article about it, E.g. such comments as yours seem to be overlooked perspectives in the interview litterature. Or maybe I have not reviewed the literature good enough? 

There was a NZ Radio programme last week about how intolerant we are of the elderly. For example if they tell the same story several times, you have told me that before grumpy response. In a child it is considered enchanting in the elderly boring and should know better. The elderly become invisible and as they retire to gated 'retirement' villages the skills, knowledge and experience is taken out of the broader community. Or they become lonely and isolated as in the UK. So perhaps interview techniques need to be aware of life conditions often hidden as well of the hidden values and beliefs. Just some thoughts.

These are all very good comments.

And Lotte, you are right about some of these points being overlooked in the interview literature as I have not come across them too.I have recently done a piece of research interviewing older adults and I can relate with your comments and other contributors'. 

An article with these important perspectives will be invaluable, especially for  researchers with no experienced of interviewing this group of participants.