‘You’ll come back another day’ Exploring the challenges of interviewing upper class elites

Abstract

This article addresses the challenges of undertaking elite interviews with members of the aristocracy and gentry who constitute the upper classes in Great Britain. It reviews the existing guidance on elite interviewing from a number of social science disciplines highlighting areas of commonality and difference. The aim of the article is to provide advice for those undertaking research on the upper classes. It draws on empirical examples to highlight strategies for undertaking broad and deep literature reviews and to present a pragmatic process for identifying, selecting, and undertaking interviews with members of the upper classes. Existing guidance on interview format is highlighted as being unsuitable. We argue for the need to allow for flexibility in interview structures ranging from fully structured to almost entirely unstructured, depending on the positionality and personality of the interviewee. We also explore how the presupposition of anonymity and confidentiality in the literature presents a dilemma for researching the upper classes that warrants wider debate.