INTERVIEWING IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN BIG COMPANIES

Abstract

Top business executives—“important people in big companies”—are both visible and inaccessible. This situation poses unique challenges for the sociologist interested in learning about what executives think and do. To go beyond caricature or public relations imagery, researchers must devise creative strategies for getting access and data. This article offers some reflections on the barriers to access and data and how they can be surmounted, with specific attention focused on the importance of preparation—of both the researcher and the people being researched.