Collecting information

Semi-standardised in-depth interviews with relevant representatives of companies, regional networks or clusters, i.e., with experts, are an important qualitative method of collecting data for people who in some way or other are responsible for a co-operation context. They are a systematic, methodical and reliable way of obtaining relevant information from experts on the economic and social tissue constituting a network or any other co-operation context. Their relatively open, adjustable and dialogue-based form permits a large number of applications. Such interviews may be part of a case study (cf. 4B3) on the respective regional or sector context. They can equally take the form of probing stand-alone research into the complexity of such an economic context. However, if solidly analysed, even a small series of them will quickly provide you with a valuable fund of information and assessments from experts related to your co-operation context. The accumulation of such interviews will eventually provide you with an exceptional overview and make you an expert in your own right since hardly anybody else will have collected the same sort of information and knowledge.