Methodological challenges posed in studying an elite in the field

Desmond, Margaret

doi:10.1111/j.0004-0894.2004.00223.x

Cited by 76 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…De intervjuades istället på grund av deras yrken, på grund av särskilda färdigheter och kunskaper de hade. Intervjuerna hade därför likheter med vad man metodologiskt benämner som att intervjua eliter (Ostrander, 1993;Desmond, 2004;Czarniawska, 2005;Smith, 2006). I denna litteratur betonas ofta svårigheter med att göra intervjuer med eliter, som exempelvis att få tillträde till fältet eller att få informanterna att tala om de frågor som intresserar forskaren.…”

Section: Bilder I Djupintervjuernaunclassified

Att resa rätt är stort, att resa fritt är större: Kommunala planerares föreställningar om hållbara resor

Henriksson¹

2014

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Section: Bilder I Djupintervjuernaunclassified

Att resa rätt är stort, att resa fritt är större: Kommunala planerares föreställningar om hållbara resor

Henriksson¹

2014

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“…Though often ordinarily conceived and depicted as a class or status connotation (see Whitty, 2001), the terms 'interviewing-up' and 'interviewing down' (Desmond, 2004;Kezar, 2003) and 'studying up' and 'studying down' (Gusterson, 1997) are used in elite interview and research literature to refer to perceived knowledgeability, positionality and power relationships between the interviewer and interviewee prior to the interview. These perceptions often inform the researcher's preparations and need to demonstrate knowledge in the interview process (Bygnes, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elite interviews: critical practice and tourism

Darbi

Hall

2014

Current Issues in Tourism

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The elite interview method has been applied to the study of politics and policy-making and to other social and organisational contexts, although it has been relatively little applied in a formal fashion in tourism research. Nevertheless it is a method that has the potential of enhancing the quality and quantity of research data given the power and influence of elite subjects. The conduct of elite interviews suggests that there are qualitatively different aspects in interviewing 'up' as compared to interviewing 'across' or 'down'. The article provides a review of some of the major issues involved in the conduct of elite interviews and highlights some of the tactics that researchers may use in the interview process as well as some of the potential ethical and publishing constraints. Even though there are a number of potential methodological challenges in using this method it provides a valuable approach in tourism research, especially studies that aim to understand decision-making processes, policy-making and perceptions. It is shown that individual ingenuity and reflexivity are required in order to overcome some of the challenges reported in existing studies.

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“…McDowell has pointed to the contribution of (feminist) geographers in considering positionality in the production of knowledge: '[T]his aim Á the construction of committed, passionate, positioned, partial but critical knowledge Á is one which is eminently geographical in its recognition of the locatedness of knowledge' (McDowell 1992, 413). Positionality has been analysed in relation to diverse issues such as peer reviewing of journal articles, interviewing elites and being a foreign speaker in AngloSaxon academia (Berg 2001;Desmond 2004;Helms et al 2005). We find that reflecting critically on the issue of positionality is important when doing insider research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Studying the making of geographical knowledge: The implications of insider interviews

Adriansen¹,

Madsen²

2009

Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography

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L.M. 2009. Studying the making of geographical knowledge: The implications of insider interviews.The article addresses the issue of being a 'double' insider when conducting interviews. Double insider means being an insider both in relation to one's research matter Á in the authors' case the making of geographical knowledge Á and in relation to one's interviewees Á our colleagues. The article is a reflection paper in the sense that we reflect upon experiences drawn from a previous research project carried out in Danish academia. It is important that the project was situated in a Scandinavian workplace culture because this has bearings for the social, cultural, and economic situation in which knowledge was constructed. The authors show that being a double insider affects both the interview situation and how interviews are planned, located, and analysed. Being an insider in relation to one's interviewees gives the advantage of having a shared history and a close knowledge of the context, and these benefits outnumber the disadvantages. Being an insider in relation to one's research matter makes it difficult to contest hegemonic discourses and tacit values and ideas. Recommendations on how to handle the double insider situation are given. The article concludes that for analytical purposes, it is useful to separate the two roles, but in reality they coexist and are intertwined.

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Methodological challenges posed in studying an elite in the field

Cited by 76 publications

References 21 publications

Att resa rätt är stort, att resa fritt är större: Kommunala planerares föreställningar om hållbara resor

Att resa rätt är stort, att resa fritt är större: Kommunala planerares föreställningar om hållbara resor

Elite interviews: critical practice and tourism

Studying the making of geographical knowledge: The implications of insider interviews

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