Questionnaires and Phone Calls

I'm getting closer and closer to contacting the interviewees for my thesis and it is rather exciting. I've been writing down every question I could think of in preparation for the actual interviews. My game plan as of right now is to call each place first. I want to introduce myself professionally, explain who I am, what I am interviewing them for, and ask them who I should contact, and in what way.

I want them to feel as though I'm really looking out for them--which I am. As a future public historian it is important to make it known that I am not against the practices that some of these institutions use. While I may not always agree with them, I am not in a position to tell them how to run what many of them may see as their own business. If they agree to interview with me, I will give them three choices: A phone interview, a google survey, or a written/e-mail interview. Each one will ask the same questions, and all of them will be recorded.

I have been asked however, what will I do if my interview is turned down? From here I will only evaluate their websites, and informational brochures if I can get my hands on them. I will still do it respectfully, as I do not intend this Thesis to be a bashing of methods, but simply a look at them and an ethical study of them. Questions I want to ask are the why, who, and what went into doing things a certain way. Why market the death and violence in your history this way, why leave that out, how do you justify this decision? How long has it been put in place and was it even your decision to begin with?

By the end I should know the ins and outs of every place and methodology on my list. If they do my interview, at least.