Studying elites using qualitative methods / edited by Rosanna Hertz, Jonathan B. Imber.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hertz, Rosanna.

Imber, Jonathan B., 1952-

Series:

Sage focus editions ; 175.

Sage focus editions ; 175

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elite (Social sciences).

Power (Social sciences).

Social classes.

Prestige.

Physical Description:

xi, 210 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications, 1995.

Summary:

Few social researchers study elites because elites, by their nature, are difficult to access. The contributors to this volume provide valuable insights on how researchers can successfully penetrate elite settings. As the authors reflect on their experiences, they provide constructive advice as well as cautionary tales about how they learned to maneuver and become accepted in a world that is sometimes otherwise closed to them. This book's coverage includes three broad research domains: business elites, professional elites, and community and political elites. Although the studies focus on qualitative methodology, even researchers who emphasize more quantitative methods will benefit from this volume's thoughtful observations on how researchers gather data, construct interview strategies, write about their subjects, and experience the research process.

A wide range of researchers in organizational studies, sociology, political science, and many other fields will find this volume to be an important guide to the subtle and elusive features of conducting successful research with elite groups.

Contents:

Part I. Business Elites 1

1. Interviewing Important People in Big Companies / Robert J. Thomas 3

2. Reaching Corporate Executives / Michael Useem 18

3. Fielding Hot Topics in Cool Settings: The Study of Corporate Ethics / Peter Cleary Yeager, Kathy E. Kram 40

4. Using Electronic Media to Support Fieldwork in a Corporate Setting / John P. Workman, Jr. 65

5. Tales From the Field: Learning From Researchers' Accounts / Paul M. Hirsch 72

Part II. Professional Elites 81

6. Stopping the Spin and Becoming a Prop: Fieldwork on Hollywood Elites / Joshua Gamson 83

7. Reflections on Fieldwork in a Complex Organization: Lawyers, Ethnographic Authority, and Lethal Weapons / Jennifer L. Pierce 94

8. Negotiating Status: Social Scientists and Anglican Clergy / Alan Aldridge 111

9. How I Learned What a Crock Was / Howard S. Becker 124

Part III. Community and Political Elites 131

10. "Surely You're Not in This Just to Be Helpful": Access, Rapport, and Interviews in Three Studies of Elites / Susan A. Ostrander 133

11. Local Knowledge and Local Power: Notes on the Ethnography of Local Community Elites / Albert Hunter 151

12. Research as a Communication Act: A Study on Israeli Women in Local Politics / Hanna Herzog 171

13. Exploding Anthropology's Canon in the World of the Bomb: Ethnographic Writing on Militarism / Hugh Gusterson 187.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0803970366

0803970374

OCLC:

32349524