Rethinking Elite Interviews Through Moments of Discomfort: The Role of Information and Power

Abstract

Interviews with policy and political officials are central in social science research. While these actors are traditionally conceived as elites, holding similar or more power and information compared to the researcher, a growing body of research documents that elite constitutes a variable category. We argue that researchers can glimpse the dynamic nature of power and information elites hold in moments of discomfort that arise throughout interview research. These moments illustrate the shift that takes place when the expectations of the elites regarding the researcher’s perceived resources shape the conditions of the production of knowledge. We call for problematizing professional status as the main marker of elite category in fieldwork preparation and training, as labeling people on a single marker of identity shapes how researchers conceive and approach them. The article presents examples from three moments of discomfort by focusing on recruitment of and social interaction with officials working on diaspora policy in Cameroon.

Understanding the role of institutions in the multiple streams approach through the recognition of the diaspora as a development agent in Cameroon

“…Because I was interested in understanding the perceptions and experiences of people who took part in the process, as well as how they thought about the problem and how they addressed it, I used semi-structured interviews ( N = 15) to obtain information that could not be derived from the documents. Elite interviews show the perspectives of actors who played major roles in the emergence of a policy and make legible processes that led to major policy decisions (Ntienjom Mbohou & Tomkinson, 2022 ). The respondents are or were members of organizations that contributed to the emergence of the diaspora option in Cameroon.…”

Critical Analysis of Policy Integration Degrees between Heritage Conservation and Spatial Planning in Amsterdam and Ballarat

“…In particular, this paper aimed to present the results of five in-depth, semi-structured interviews with municipal officers from Amsterdam and Ballarat Town Halls with relevant roles in heritage conservation (hereinafter HC) and urban planning-related departments (hereinafter UP). In-depth interviews are a well-established qualitative method in policy research, in order to address more complex issues related to individuals' perceptions of a specific phenomenon [46].…”

“…Organizations, especially governmental, are highly stratified and hierarchical structures that might limit the participation of their members in research-related activities [55]. Moreover, civil servants, despite their powerful roles, when exposed, might feel vulnerable, for instance, to "the adequacy of their level of knowledge, and experience personal and emotional impacts of policy" [46] (p. 2). Indeed, those limitations were identified and influenced the number of municipal technicians who agreed to contribute to this study: two in Amsterdam and three in Ballarat.…”

Hope and Heartache: Unpacking the invisible struggles of involuntary childlessness and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) use in Zimbabwe and New Zealand

“…In some instances, I was given times which were changed upon my arrival for the interview, and I had to contend with the doctor's schedule until I ultimately managed to interview them. Mbohou et al, (2022) indicate that interviewing individuals who wield more authority than the researcher does not necessarily act out as an imbalance were the researcher is overwhelmed by the elite research participant.…”