Research methods

In this section I will outline the research methods used in this project and why they were the most appropriate methods for tackling the research questions and hypotheses detailed in the previous section. I will also look at the ethical considerations raised by these methods. In order to tackle the research questions in this project, the kind of data that was required was detailed qualitative data such as that which could be obtained through interviewing. Specifically, semi-structured elite interviews were used for this project as it has been seen that elite dynamics are central (Pridham, 2007b: 527).

Using semi-structured interviews offers greater leeway in how to ask the questions that have been pre-prepared in the interview schedule (Bryman, 2008: 438). This allowed me to detour if important and interesting points arose, and also allowed for the interview to flow more as a conversation rather than following a strict question order. This flexibility was useful when interviewing elite subjects as it was a factor in reducing the power asymmetry that is inherent in the interview situation (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009: 147). In other words, allowing the interviewee to move away from the set questions of the interview schedule made the interview more like a conversation and helped identify issues that I was not aware of and was not planning to cover. Elite interviewing has its own specific advantages and disadvantages and modes of operating, and there is a small but significant literature on how to interview elites

(Morris, 2009: 215). Political elites will be used to being interviewed, and may well have learned how to be interviewed and to give the kind of answers that previous interviewers have wanted (Dexter, 1970: 112-113). As such they may well have well developed ‘talk tracks’ that they are used to delivering about a certain subject, and getting beyond these rehearsed lines of argument will take considerable skill on behalf of the interviewer (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009: 147). This was indeed sometimes a problem with the interviewees, especially when some of the interviews were of a fairly short time duration.

Further, what is said by elite interviewees may be exaggerated or else false (Lilleker, 2003: 208) and only careful triangulation with other sources can fully guard against this. In this project, I made extensive use of official documents and media coverage in order to triangulate. These dangers are of course the necessary price for the utility of elite interviews to shed light on processes and events that only a limited number of people are able to provide information about. The nature of the subjects in elite interviewing, not least the fact that the people concerned are very busy people, places an even greater emphasis on good preparation by the interviewer in order to legitimate the expenditure of the subject’s time (Zuckerman, 1972: 166).

There is also the question of how to identify potential interviewees and how to secure access to them. In this project, interviewees were identified using a combination of sampling methods – positional/reputational and also snowball/chain referral. In other words, potential interviewees were initially identified by their position in their organisation, and where there was success in securing an interview, that person was asked who else they thought should be interviewed (Goldstein, 2002: 671). In this way, the sample frame ‘snowballed’ with the ultimate aim of identifying as many of the key individuals as possible within the population (Bryman, 2008: 184). Use was also made of social media websites, in particular LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, in making connections with potential interviewees. Telephone and email interviews were also used in this project, and whilst these are not as ideal as face-to-face interviewing, they did allow a greater number of data sources to be accessed than would have been otherwise possible. The use of telephone interviewing definitely increased the chance of gaining access to ‘elite’ individuals, as they were perhaps more willing to give their time to a telephone conversation than to a face-to-face appointment.

The sample size in this study was 40 interviews, and the interviewees were in senior key positions, and/or had significant relevant experience, and were therefore credible and well informed sources. In Brussels, interviewees were in senior positions within EU institutions, whilst in the case study countries the interviewees included current or former Members of Parliament, former Ministers, former government advisors or employees of NGOs or other organisations within civil society. A full list of interviewees is given in the Appendix. Data was drawn from interviewees in each of the three case study countries, Poland, Croatia and Ukraine, as well as Brussels. Interview schedules were derived from the research questions and these were used in the interviews. Specifically, the interviewees were asked about the following:

1) The EU officials were asked about the development of the EU’s policy approach to potential new members, how receptive the political elites were to EU influence, and how active pro-EU civil society was in the three cases.

2) The political elite actors were asked about their receptivity to EU influence, their working relationships with civil society, and how active pro-EU civil society was in their country.

3) The civil society actors were asked about their engagement with the EU, their working relationships with their domestic government(s), and about how active pro-EU civil society was in their country.

This interview data was triangulated with other data from EU documents from the Commission, Council and European Parliament relating to the various policy instruments, and to strategies on EU enlargement, ENP and the EaP. Media coverage in the case study countries was also used, as well as documents produced by NGOs, think tanks and other institutions. All of the data has been analysed and used to inform the categorisation of the variables for the different cases under investigation.