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An audit interview is an evidence gathering procedure -- a method of obtaining evidence by asking questions, listening to and evaluating the responses and then asking appropriate follow-up questions. As a class of evidence-gathering procedures, audit interviews are one of the most effective and efficient available to the auditor.
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Professional interviewers know that a question's phrasing can significantly influence the response. The question "We don't have a major inventory obsolescence problem, do we?" is biased, and will produce an entirely different response than the neutrally phrased question, "How does the company identify potentially obsolete inventory items?" Interview questions can be classified in two ways: (1) whether the question is open-ended or closed, and (2) whether the question is biased or unbiased; see exhibit 1, page 122.
Open and closed questions. The openness of a question affects the likely range of responses. Open questions allow the interviewee to determine the range and scope of his or her response and to express it in his own terms. Closed questions restrict the range of the interviewee's response, frequently to either yes or no.
At first, some may conclude an auditor should always ask open questions. However, each form of question has its particular strengths and is appropriate in different circumstances. Open questions provide greater information to the interviewer, but they also extend the length of the interview, require greater interviewing expertise and are not appropriate when the auditor requires specific representations on an issue.
Closed questions permit the interviewer to obtain considerable information in a shorter period of time, especially if the questions are asked as part of a checklist (for example, an internal control checklist). However, closed questions restrict the amount of information gain to those areas already known by the interviewer and they don't deal with "why" questions.
An auditor may appropriately use both forms of questions in an interview. For example, an auditor may begin an interview with, "How was the allowance for uncollectibles estimated?" (an open question) and conclude with, "Has the account been estimated using the same methods as last year?" (a closed question).
Biased and unbiased questions.
The bias of a question affects the validity of the responses. The auditor's objective in conducting an interview is to obtain valid,...