“SURELY YOU'RE NOT IN THIS JUST TO BE HELPFUL”

Abstract

Starting from a premise that greater knowledge about elites will facilitate a challenge to their position, and based on three distinct research projects that include or focus entirely on elites, this article lays out a range of strategies and techniques for gaining access, establishing rapport, and conducting successful interviewing. The author suggests that the difficulties of gaining access and rapport have been exaggerated, whereas issues of how to protect the integrity of the research have been rarely discussed. She shows how the special concerns of interviewing elites arise from the social positions they occupy and from the way in which elites—especially upper-class elites—are typically raised to privilege. She urges researchers not to be overly deferential, to be straightforward (as elite subjects most often are), and not to be so concerned about rapport that challenging questions are avoided.