Science-Based Interviewing
A research-validated discipline for gathering accurate, complete, and defensible information in high-stakes conversations.
Evidence, not assumption.
Science-based interviewing (SBI) is a body of practice developed over decades of empirical research in cognitive psychology, memory science, deception detection, and behavioral analysis. It replaces confession-driven, accusatorial interrogation with methods designed for one purpose: to gather information that is accurate, complete, and defensible.
SBI is the operational standard already adopted across modern democratic policing — and increasingly recognized by corporate, legal, and HR investigation teams that need their fact-finding to withstand legal and reputational scrutiny.
The cost of getting it wrong is enormous.
Wrongful outcomes
Coerced statements have produced wrongful convictions, reversed cases, and reputational disasters.
Lost information
Pressure-based interviewing closes doors. Subjects withhold, witnesses freeze, victims disengage.
Indefensible records
Process matters. If a fact-finding process cannot be defended, neither can the decision built on it.
The pillars of SBI practice.
Rapport over coercion
Trust is the precondition for accurate information. SBI begins by establishing genuine human rapport, not pressure.
Open questions over leading ones
Questions are designed to invite memory, not contaminate it. Quality of question determines quality of information.
Active listening over interrogation
Practitioners hear what is said — and what is not — and respond to the actual content in front of them.
Strategic Use of Evidence
Evidence is disclosed with deliberate timing and intent — never used as a bluff or pressure tool.
Cognitive interviewing
Research-validated techniques help witnesses and victims retrieve detailed, accurate memory without suggestion.
Red teaming the theory
Working hypotheses are stress-tested before they harden — protecting cases against confirmation bias.
A side-by-side comparison.
Upgrade the Way Your Organization Gathers Information.
Bring evidence-based interviewing, red teaming, and defensible decision-making into your agency, company, or leadership team.