Interview Research in Political Science - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801451949 ISBN 13: 9780801451942

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Interviews are a frequent and important part of empirical research in political science, but graduate programs rarely offer discipline-specific training in selecting interviewees, conducting interviews, and using the data thus collected. Interview Research in Political Science addresses this vital need, offering hard-won advice for both graduate students and faculty members. The contributors to this book have worked in a variety of field locations and settings and have interviewed a wide array of informants, from government officials to members of rebel movements and victims of wartime violence, from lobbyists and corporate executives to workers and trade unionists.

The authors encourage scholars from all subfields of political science to use interviews in their research, and they provide a set of lessons and tools for doing so. The book addresses how to construct a sample of interviewees; how to collect and report interview data; and how to address ethical considerations and the Institutional Review Board process. Other chapters discuss how to link interview-based evidence with causal claims; how to use proxy interviews or an interpreter to improve access; and how to structure interview questions. A useful appendix contains examples of consent documents, semistructured interview prompts, and interview protocols.

About this title

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0801451949
• ISBN 13: 9780801451942
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312
• Editor: Mosley Maria Elayna