Interviewing Elites, Experts and the Powerful in Criminology (eBook)

Preface 5
Contents 8
List of Tables 9
List of Text Boxes 10
1 Introduction 11
1.1 Introduction 12
References 16
2 Interviewing ‘the Powerful’ in Crime and Crime Control 18
2.1 Introduction 18
2.2 Conceptual Issues: Who Are the ‘Powerful’, ‘Elites’ and ‘Experts’? 19
2.2.1 ‘Experts’ 19
2.2.2 ‘Elites’ 20
2.2.3 ‘The Powerful’ (In Crime and Crime Control) 24
2.3 Particularities of Qualitative Interviews with the Powerful 27
2.4 Why Interview the Powerful? 31
2.5 Core Readings 33
References 33
3 Interview Models and Researcher’s Self-Positioning 37
3.1 Introduction 37
3.2 Informal and Ethnographic Interviews 42
3.3 Doxastic Interviews 46
3.4 Looking Glass: Researcher as a Peer 47
3.5 Active Interviewing 52
3.5.1 Epistemic Interviewing 54
3.5.2 ‘Light’ Socratic Dialogues as a Variation of Epistemic Interviewing 56
3.5.2.1 Shifts and Porous Distinctions Between Epistemic and Doxastic Modes 58
3.5.2.2 Types of Topics to Discuss During (Light) Socratic Interviews 59
3.5.2.3 Attentiveness to the Research Context and Interaction 60
3.5.2.4 Interviewer as Critic 61
3.6 Core Readings 62
References 62
4 Their Reign, Their Game? Accessing the Powerful 67
4.1 Introduction 68
4.2 Sampling 69
4.3 Gaining Access 75
4.4 Maintaining Access 90
4.5 Core Readings 95
References 96
5 Prepare, Prepare, Prepare 99
5.1 Introduction 99
5.2 Gaining Insights in the Setting and Its Ongoing Debates 101
5.3 Constructing a Topic List 104
5.4 Probing and Elicitation 110
5.5 Core Readings 111
References 111
6 Conducting the Interview 113
6.1 Introduction 114
6.2 Gaining Trust and Building Rapport 115
6.3 Dealing with Questions and Assumptions About Your Knowledge and Views 121
6.4 Ethics During the Interview Interaction 123
6.5 Language, Jargon, Body Language, Attitude 127
6.6 Getting into Sensitive Topics and Past Corporate Answers 131
6.7 Physical Setting 134
6.7.1 The Interview Venue 134
6.7.2 Interviewing in the Online and Off-Line World 139
6.8 Core Readings 141
References 141
7 Making Sense of the Data 145
7.1 Introduction 145
7.2 Transcribing and Coding 146
7.3 Researcher as a Situated Actor 150
7.4 Assessing Data Quality 151
7.4.1 Authenticity 152
7.4.2 Transparency 155
7.4.3 Consistency/Coherence 156
7.4.4 Triangulation 157
7.5 Ethics in Analysis and Reporting 161
7.6 Leaving the Field and Getting Back to Participants 165
7.7 Presenting Your Findings 167
7.8 Core Readings 168
References 169
Index 173