A Critical Approach to Interviewing Academic Elites: Access, Trust, and Power

To date, research on elite interviews has primarily focused on political or business settings in European and Anglo-American contexts. In this study, we examine the procedures involved in conducting elite interviews in academic settings, drawing on fieldwork with 53 senior scholars at 10 universities across five regions of northern China. We provide a detailed, critically reflective account of strategies to gain access, develop trust, and manage the power imbalance. Our account reveals the importance of the researcher’s professional identity in gaining participants’ trust and determining adequate forms of reciprocity.