Dr. D is conducting an interview with Amber, who works as a cocktail waitress. Here is an excerpt:
Dr. D: What shift do you typically work?
Amber: Night. I come in a around 7:00 p.m. and work until 2:00 a.m.
Dr. D: Cocktail waitressing has a bad reputatio

There is a potential problem with the interviewing technique of Dr. D in this excerpt. The problem is that he is making assumptions based on the stereotype of male customers. By asking Amber, “As the evening progresses, the men give you more and more problems, don’t they?”, Dr. D is making an assumption that male customers in particular are more prone to causing problems for employees than other customers. Dr. D should ask more open-ended questions that focus on Amber’s specific experiences. For example, instead of asking, “As the evening progresses, the men give you more and more problems, don’t they?” he could ask, “What do you typically do when customers cause problems?” or “How do you respond when customers behave inappropriately?” This would allow Amber to describe her experiences in her own words, and it would help Dr. D gain a better understanding of how she deals with difficult customers.