Preface 4
Chapter 1. Introduction 6
Chapter 2. Interviewing ‘the powerful’ in crime and crime control 12
1.1. Introduction 12
1.2. Conceptual issues: who are the ‘powerful’, ‘elites’ and ‘experts’? 12
1.3. Particularities of qualitative interviews with the powerful 18
1.4. Why interview the powerful? 21
1.5. Core readings 23
References 24
Chapter 3. Interview models and researcher’s self-positioning 27
2.1. Introduction 27
2.2. Informal and ethnographic interviews 31
2.3. Doxastic interviews 34
2.4. Looking glass: Researcher as a peer 34
2.5. Active interviewing 39
2.5.1. Epistemic interviewing 40
2.5.2. ‘Light’ Socratic dialogues as a variation of epistemic interviewing 42
2.5.3. Interviewer as critic 46
2.6. Core readings 47
References 47
Chapter 4. Their reign, their game? Accessing the powerful 52
3.1. Introduction 52
3.2. Sampling 53
3.3. Gaining access 58
3.4. Maintaining access 69
3.5. Core readings 73
References 74
Chapter 5. Prepare, prepare, prepare 77
4.1. Introduction 77
4.2. Gaining insights in the setting and its ongoing debates 78
4.3. Constructing a topic list 80
4.4. Probing and elicitation 85
4.5. Core readings 86
References 86
Chapter 6. Conducting the interview 88
5.1. Introduction 88
5.2. Gaining trust and building rapport 88
5.3. Dealing with questions and assumptions about your knowledge and views 93
5.4. Ethics during the interview interaction 95
5.5. Language, jargon, body language, attitude 98
5.6. Getting into sensitive topics and past corporate answers 101
5.7. Physical setting 104
5.7.1. The interview venue 104
5.7.2. Interviewing in the online and offline world 108
5.8. Core readings 109
References 110
Chapter 7. Making sense of the data 113
6.1. Introduction 113
6.2. Transcribing and coding 113
6.3. Researcher as a situated actor 116
6.4. Assessing data quality 117
6.5. Ethics in analysis and reporting 126
6.6. Leaving the field and getting back to participants 129
6.7. Presenting your findings 131
6.8. Core readings 132
References 133
