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The Palgrave Handbook of Methods for Media Policy Research pp 179–197Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Talking to People III: Expert Interviews and Elite Interviews

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Abstract

An expert interview is a qualitative semi-structured or open interview with a person holding ‘expert knowledge’. It is a method often used in policy analysis, be it as part of a more comprehensive set of methods or as a stand-alone method. The methodological literature on expert interviews in the field of communication policy studies is limited. As a result, scholars and students refer to the more extensive methodological literature on expert interviews and elite interviews in other fields. Although there are similarities between expert interviews and elite interviews, there are differences as well. The main points of contention are: (1) whether expert interviews can lead to objective knowledge, (2) what we can understand under elites and/or experts, (3) how power and bias influence the outcome of the data obtained. In this chapter, we start with the discussion on the differences between expert interviews and elite interviews. We move on to discuss types of expert knowledge and the resulting types of expert interviews. In the last section, we focus on the procedure and practical conduct in relation to expert interviews.

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Further Reading

  • Bogner, A., Littig, B., & Menz, W. (2009). Interviewing experts. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Desmond, M. (2004). Methodological challenges posed in studying an elite in the field. Area, 36(3), 262–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, W. S. (2011). Strategies for conducting elite interviews. Qualitative Research, 11(4), 431–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herzog, C., & Ali, C. (2015). Elite interviewing in media and communications policy research. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 11(1), 37–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. iMEC-SMIT, Department of Communication Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Leo Van Audenhove

  2. CoLAB, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

    Leo Van Audenhove

  3. iMEC-SMIT, Department of Communication Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Karen Donders

Authors
  1. Leo Van Audenhove
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  2. Karen Donders
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA

    Hilde Van den Bulck

  2. Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Manuel Puppis

  3. Department of Communication Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Karen Donders

  4. Department of Communication Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Leo Van Audenhove

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Van Audenhove, L., Donders, K. (2019). Talking to People III: Expert Interviews and Elite Interviews. In: Van den Bulck, H., Puppis, M., Donders, K., Van Audenhove, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Methods for Media Policy Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16065-4_10

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