Triangulation and Elite Interviews: Lessons From Published Studies

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 79
  In Roundtable Session: Triangulation and Member Checking

Abstract

Elite interviews are a crucial data source for studies examining public policy, policymaking processes, and power relationships. Elites provide valuable information from a unique and knowledgeable perspective, but gaining access to elites for interviews can be difficult, and researchers must be knowledgeable about the elites they interview. As a result, the use of triangulation in studies using elite interviews is very important. This paper analyzes more than 100 peer-reviewed articles that use elite interviews as a data source to determine common methods of triangulation employed in such studies, as well as the value that triangulation brings to studies using elite interviews depending on the researcher’s interpretive framework.

Author

• Rebecca S. Natow, Hofstra University