Arranging and Conducting Elite Interviews: Practical Considerations

Elite interviewing is an established research method in the social sciences. It offers researchers a number of advantages, particularly when the motivations and perceptions of participants are the subject of inquiry. I used elite interviews in my research on local government transnational networking. While I was confident this approach was well suited to the aims of my study, I remained uncertain about the practicalities involved in arranging and conducting interviews, and I was afraid that such practical aspects would have a detrimental impact on the reliability of my results. This case outlines the practical issues I faced when arranging and conducting interviews. This highlights the importance of these practical considerations in the success of elite interviews, in addition to its methodological suitability to a study.