Methodology

Justin Greenwood

Chapter 2 in Inside the EU Business Associations, 2002, pp 29-44 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The data-set upon which this research is based is unique. Interviews were undertaken with 49 EU business associations, and 151 of their members and non-members, making it easily the most comprehensive analysis of EU business associations ever undertaken. Yet ‘interest-group’ type research is notoriously weak and unreflective on methods, despite (and perhaps because of) the complexity of the topics being investigated. This complexity derives from the relational nature of most of the topics under investigation, such as the impact of a particular private interest source upon a public policy outcome, or the factors at play between an association and its members, or between its members. Because the conclusions drawn from an analysis are only as good as the methodology employed, this chapter identifies the approaches used, articulates the rationale informing the choices made, traces the steps undertaken in collecting the data, and discusses the issues that arose as the data were collected. In laying these out, the aim is to ensure that the reader can: understand how, and why, the author has been able to reach the conclusions reported in Chapters 4–6 trace the steps taken by the author in arriving at these; and reach an independent judgement of confidence in the conclusions and analysis presented.

Keywords: Public Affair; Deductive Reasoning; Inductive Experience; European Economic Community; Member Interview (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-50262-8_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9780230502628

DOI: 10.1057/9780230502628_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().