Want to Interview a Politician? Ways to Prepare for Digital Vetting by Political Staffers

Abstract

This article outlines how the advent of digital-communications technology, particularly social media, has contributed to an increased wariness by political elites to grant interviews to researchers. Errant remarks, misquotes, and comments taken out of context can exact a heavy price. Thus, politicians and their gatekeepers are far more cautious and risk averse than in decades past, which puts qualitative research methods—and the rich data they produce—in peril. Insights drawn from 32 qualitative, semi-structured interviews with social scientists, political journalists, and political staffers in six countries revealed that academics who submit interview requests should expect to be subjected to online scrutiny—a vetting—by gatekeepers before any access is granted. Digital screening aims to assess the authenticity and objectivity of the researcher. Our findings suggest that scholars who want to pursue qualitative research with politicians must practice online reputation management and perhaps even delve into personal marketing.

Snowball Sampling and Facebook: How Social Media Can Help Access Hard-to-Reach Populations

“…Moreover, in many cases, Facebook is the only way a researcher can look up and contact people mentioned in other interviews or whose name has appeared in a news story, blog, or Facebook group. When using virtual contacting, researchers must be prepared that they will be subject to some type of "digital vetting" (Lennox Esselment and Marland 2019).…”