Process Tracing and Elite Interviewing.

This paper focuses on the relationship between process tracing and the role of elite interviewing as a means of data collection, and makes two central points about the relationship between these two aspects of comparative research.First, the paper highlights the importance of elite interviewing as a means of collecting the kind of data necessary to carry out process tracing studies. While previous work on process tracing does mention the role of interviewing as a means of gathering data, the principal emphasis to date has been on documentary research. This paper highlights the advantages that elite interviewing can have relative to documentary research, such as the ability to gain information that may not be included in released documents, and the opportunity to probe individuals with further questions once they have advanced what may be the 'official' version of events.Second, the paper also addresses the implications of using alternative sampling approaches when employing the process tracing approach. In particular, the paper argues that when using the process tracing methodology, it is more appropriate to employ non-probability sampling techniques for identifying elite interview subjects. In probability studies, randomisation is used to ensure that the final sample is representative of the population from which it was drawn, and this enables researchers to generalise findings taken from the sample to the broader population. With process tracing, however, the aim of conducting interviews is not to generalise to the population, but rather to uncover specific data from key individuals concerning a particular chain of events. The paper explores different forms of non-probability sampling, as well as the criteria that should be considered before choosing between them. The paper argues for using a combination of reputational and positional criteria when selecting interview subjects - that is, interview respondents are chosen not just by virtue of their political positions and their known involvement in the process of interest, but also by virtue of their reputation among their peers as established through the method of chain-referral, or snowball, sampling. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]