Elite interviewing

The first 200 words of this essay...

Why is elite interviewing regarded as a research technique of particular relevance to politics ? Discuss its particular strengths and limitations in relation to political research.

Increasingly, numbers of political analysts use and recognise elite interviewing as a major research method in modern political academics to obtain information and knowledge. One such reason is mainly because, there is a small social and economic elites who operate political power though, modern democracy promotes the participation of the citizen. Hence, elite interview plays a pivotal role in conducting political research and also in understanding the multifarious human interaction in the political apparatus. On the other hand it is not always the case where these interviews are agreed. The debate on how much "elite interviewing" should be brought into the political research is a vital question for current academics.

In order to understand this type of research method in depth, firstly, this essay is going to define 'elite interviewing' and regarding it as a research technique of particular relevance to politics. Then the following paragraphs will examine the strengths and limitations of elite interviewing.

When a researcher conducts a political research, a number of different methodological approaches are