Table of Contents

Introduction. "Just Talk to People"? Interviews in Contemporary Political Science by Layna Mosley Part I. General Considerations: Research Design, Ethics, and the Role of the Researcher 1. Aligning Sampling Strategies with Analytic Goals by Julia Lynch 2. The Ethical Treatment of Human Subjects and the Institutional Review Board Process by Sarah M. Brooks 3. The Power of the Interviewer by Lauren M. MacLean 4. How to Report Interview Data by Erik Bleich and Robert Pekkanen Part II. Addressing the Challenges of Interview Research 5. Crafting Interviews to Capture Cause and Effect by Cathie Jo Martin 6. Using Proxy Interviewing to Address Sensitive Topics by Melani Cammett 7. Working with Interpreters by Lee Ann Fujii 8. The Problem of Extraterritorial Legality by William Reno Part III. Putting It All Together: The Varied Uses of Interview Data 9. Capturing Meaning and Confronting Measurement by Mary Gallagher 10. Elite Interviewing in Washington, D.C. by Matthew N. Beckmann and Richard L. Hall 11. Lessons from the "Lobbying and Policy Change" Project by Beth L. Leech, Frank R. Baumgartner, Jeffrey M. Berry, Marie Hojnacki, and David C. Kimball 12. Using Interviews to Understand Racial Group Identity and Political Behavior by Reuel R. Rogers Appendix: Sample Materials for Interview Research Notes References Index

About the Author

Layna Mosley is Professor of Political Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the author of Global Capital and National Governments and Labor Rights and Multinational Production.

Reviews

"Mosley (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), author of books on labor rights and on global capital, offers an edited volume on methodological aspects of interviews in political science... The content of this volume, in terms of the balance between positivist and interpretative-oriented approaches, mirrors the current state of the discipline, centered at the positivist end of the spectrum. The contributors address challenges associated with interview evidence: gaining access to interview subjects, sampling the right set of respondents, convincing others of the reliability and validity of interview data, and ensuring that research is conducted ethically. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate and research collections." - Choice (January 2014) "Apart from its value for filling a gap in the literature, this book has one additional merit: it reflects the epistemological diversity within the discipline, facilitating a dialogue between the positivist and interpretivist scholars. Overall, the book is a valuable source for understanding the key challenges behind interview-based research- such as ethics, sampling, validity, and reliability- and also contains practical advice for coping with interviews in the different stages of research." - Israel Solorio Sandoval, Political Studies Review (August 2016) "Interview Research in Political Science is a timely and immensely valuable resource. Political scientists use interviews more than any other field research technique, yet interviews are a method that is rarely taught, and there's great demand for ideas and advice. The chapters contain imaginative, thoughtful, and savvy examples of ways in which experienced scholars use interviews, including how they prepare, how they conduct the interview, and how they incorporate what they learn into their research programs, often in combination with other methods. Within a general theme of seeking rigor in interview research, the book provides a range of perspectives and approaches, and usefully addresses topics including sampling strategies and ethical considerations. Although it is targeted to political science, colleagues in many other disciplines will also find much of benefit here."-Benjamin Read, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of Roots of the State: Neighborhood Organization and Social Networks in Beijing and Taipei